Short-Term Rental and Vacation Rental News

Both Airbnb and New York City have missed out on a real opportunity to set precedents for the business. If Airbnb would bend a bit, and if New York leaders didn't think it was pure evil we could have seen a solution similar to what then-Mayor Bloomberg's was able to do with smart rules for Uber and e-hailing. More fighting on the horizon.

Even as CEOs of major hotel chains argue that Airbnb doesn't threaten their bottom lines, the projection that some short-term rental companies will have higher room sales than some hotels by 2020 makes their footing less secure.

These are the hospitality trends we were talking about this week.

Airbnb has now removed one of its most egregious limitations by now enabling third-parties to place business travel bookings. But travel agents and travel management companies are still left out of the picture.

Hostelworld needed to automate the online booking of hostels because there just wasn't enough money in it if employees or call center agents had to handle bookings over the phone. The company gave away free software to attract owners and then came up with a business model that was midway between Expedia's prepay model and Booking.com's pay at the hotel formula.

It's still a little too early to call this, but it's understandable why Airbnb and other alternative accommodations providers can have an advantage on peak nights: their supply is flexible, whereas the number of hotel rooms is not.

As the vacation rental industry grows up, the gap between those players embracing modern ways of operating and the rest is widening. Given the high expectations of today’s travelers and the leg up provided by digital tools, this divide will widen and the savvier operators will quickly dominate.

Before you write off the idea of staying in a dorm past the age of 22, you may want to take a look at these new co-living arrangements popping up around the world.

The big question on everyone's mind is what will happen if and when the market takes another downturn. And if it does, who will have the upper hand? Airbnb? The online travel agencies? Or the hotels?

Regardless of whether or not you believe the numbers from the American Hotel & Lodging Association or those from Airbnb, Miami's short-term rental situation demonstrates a clear need for better legislation and/or better enforcement to address short-term rentals.