Airbnb News

Airbnb is pledging to make improvements to hosts' tools, some of which the company merely announced because implementation will take several months. Hosts will be looking to see if there is substance beyond public relations exercises.

The relative stability found in the U.S. will help companies in the online travel agency and vacation rental orbit fuel growth for the next few years — but don’t completely write off Asia and Europe. Most major hotel companies see those regions as the way to continue adding thousands of hotels to their portfolios.

Optimism about recovery, a wariness about the tricky nuances of each sector, and suppliers demanding respect from online brands were among the themes at the Skift Short-Term Rental and Outdoor Summit. Plus: the past year's boom isn't a one-off.

Laurence Tosi and Allen Mask both have skin in the game when it comes to the prospects of Airbnb and Sonder. Are they downplaying Airbnb's challenges, and Sonder's breakout potential?

Airbnb seemed to be disciplined about its marketing spend during the first quarter, and didn't return to the bad old days of 2019 in terms of freewheeling spending. The true test will be this summer when rivals crank up their performance marketing campaigns.

Short-term or vacation rentals are being touted as the winners of the pandemic, and in many ways the sector is taking big steps to becoming mainstream. But losers are emerging, too, and the impact of the pandemic will reverberate for years to come.

In Skift's top stories this week, we covered the Maldives' experiment with new tourism models, the blurring of work and travel, Priceline's acquisition of an airline technology startup, and a Skift research analysis of hotel direct booking.

Which short-term rental companies and strategies are building momentum, and can they maintain it when a full travel recovery takes hold? The Skift Short-Term Rental and Outdoor Summit will feature executives who'll have much to say about these issues May 19, and beyond.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company expects to add millions of new hosts in the next few years, and it has plans to simplify the host signup process. But Airbnb has to be concerned that over the last six months that strategic growth imperative has been tough going.

Vrbo indeed seems to be stealing a bit of market share from Airbnb in the U.S. in recent months, albeit from a much smaller base. Vrbo's aggressive marketing campaign earlier this year appears to be paying off.