Short-Term Rental and Vacation Rental News

Expect more fascinating results from this big collision happening on the alternative accommodation side, and not only will it affect the traditional online travel agencies, but also the organized hotel sector as well.

Airbnb has spawned an ecosystem of startups offering ancillary services, but Handy has a leg up on its competition with a brand and customer base already built up around the country.

The City of Portland, Oregon recently proposed similar amendments to its short-term rental law but was slow to impose any penalties. Since Airbnb is headquartered in San Francisco you can only imagine how much bloodier this battle has become.

HomeAway is facing a relatively tough time in Europe where its subscription listing business is off and foreign exchange woes are impacting performance.

The Evercore report might be read as ammunition for one of the big online travel agencies to acquire HomeAway. On the other hand, it shows that the commission model in vacation rentals will face much resistance.

New competition means hotels need to fight back and put hospitality and community first.

This is a good indicator of how millennials could still be retained by the organized hotel sector, though of course catering to the specific needs of this demographic is still important.

Making Airbnb lawful might actually give regular citizens a chance at using it to make an extra buck, but to say that's the gross majority of its hosts in London, or any city, is a tale of two very different cities.

It might be an exaggeration to say these are early days for the global hotel and lodging industry but when you survey the geographic opportunities it really becomes apparent that there are huge growth opportunities ahead.

Airbnb's growth in the market isn't just a concern for supposed direct competitor Homeway, but also bigger online travel booking players as well as established hospitality companies. While revenues are still much smaller than others, its growth rate is surely beating everyone else by magnitudes.