Airbnb News

Join at 5pm EST on September 21 to watch our free livestream of interviews with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and geopolitical author and strategist Parag Khanna.

Old school travel companies still largely dominate in terms of stock market valuation, but there is no denying the disruption sparked by Airbnb’s debut on the stock market.

Our opening evening for Skift Global Forum 2021 will now be livestreamed free to anyone who wants to tune in. Expect compelling conversations around the future of human movement in coming years and decades.

In Skift's top stories this week, the European Union recommends further restrictions be placed on U.S. travelers, two major companies go public, U.S. travel brands turn to TikTok to attract younger travelers, and Radisson's CEO explains why the company split in two.

Critics blasted Airbnb for relying too heavily on Google advertising to obtain customers in 2019. But in the beginning of 2021, Expedia outspent all of its rivals on paid marketing and made some gains. Expedia and its Vrbo brand are making no apologies for it.

As happened with major online travel agencies, there will eventually be several winners in short-term rentals beyond Airbnb. But will these come from the independent property managers trying to build consumer brands, or will the larger players take them out as is customary?

Will Vacasa and Sonder have the wherewithal as public companies to build their own brands independent of relying on Google and Airbnb, and will their business model challenges be surmountable? There's a ton of potential and so much work ahead for each of the companies.

Consider Tripadvisor's excruciating marketing decisions: It wants to shout to the world that travelers can save hundreds of dollars on a Hilton or Marriott booking for their next trip when enrolled in the subscription program, Tripadvisor Plus. But that's going to piss off Hilton and Marriott.

In Skift's top travel stories this week, we covered the Expedia CEO's take on Airbnb, the Hyatt-Apple Leisure deal, two online travel veterans launching a hotel distribution network, the unpaid fines of unruly flyers, among other topics.

Hosts of those bigger houses on Airbnb could very well retire early based on the spending habits of 400 startups over the past few years.