Airbnb News

A new system that enables the sharing of guest data between hotels and the authorities is meant to increase productivity at hotels. Really? Better communication is needed.

That Airbnb chose the Olympic Games for its first-ever global sponsorship deal makes sense — the event both aligns with the brand's ethos and will be a boon for its bottom line as it aims to go public in 2020.

Airbnb — and other players in the short-term rental space — have a daunting task in trying to verify millions of home listings, along with an expanded array of tours and activities. With this push, it might just open up more players to liability from content offered on their platforms.

Airbnb has avoided these policies under the guise of being just a platform, much like the rest of the tech platform companies. We just hope at some point that tragedies are not the only way to propel change that lots of stakeholders have been asking for all along.

House parties and out-of-control guests are the scourge of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms. The industry has to fix this — fast.

When guests stay in short-term rentals, they shouldn't have to worry that hosts might be sharing their intimate photos and personal information on Facebook, whether it be in nominally private groups or not. Airbnb, Vrbo, Facebook, and others need to be more vigilant so that their hosts aren't violating privacy policies on their platforms or elsewhere.

Expedia, Booking.com, and Ctrip are boosting the supply of sightseeing and experiences options that can be booked in merely a few clicks. But several factors are complicating any plans they may have to dominate bookings in this sector the way they have in flights and hotels.

Airbnb may never become a clone of its online travel agency competitors, but it will eventually go more mainstream to attract a wider range of travelers and locals, as the Tiqets investment suggests.

In online travel, everything is tactical and not necessarily permanent. But for now, at least, those coveted Airbnb listings are appearing in Google's vacation rental pages in some European cities. This could have big implications for both companies if those listings remain.

The online juggernaut isn't satisfied with dominating urban markets. Airbnb wants to take the beaches and the mountains, too, in the battle for short-term rental bookings. So the company is becoming savvier in how it approaches local property managers.