Short-Term Rental and Vacation Rental News

With the combination of local advice and low-cost production, this type of campaign fits well within Airbnb's sweet spot.

HomeAway's new communications' system was a year-and-a half in the making, and likely was very costly, but it was necessary not only to corral wayward owners, but to restore confidence in light of a phishing epidemic. HomeAway customers will be happy to know the company assembled a war room to deal with their backlash, but battle averted, for now.

Airbnb clearly was on weak ground against HomeAway in this trademark lawsuit, and apparently withdrew the campaign. The gloves are off, however, and the two rivals can expect to see their competition against one another get nastier in coming years.

By offering full-service support, local contacts, insider access and members' club privileges, Oasis Collections is introducing the sharing economy to a new market of international travelers.

Although these companies represent only a piece of the growing vacation rental market, their calculated combination suggests that other rental competitors could see the benefits in similar deals in the next few years.

You can really like Airbnb and the effect it has had on how we travel while not supporting the rule breaking that happens in cities like New York. But it's very hard to appreciate a deep-pocketed astroturfing campaign that tries to pretend it is grassroots-driven.

Hotels and the sharing economy don't compete as much as they complement one another. Understanding what makes the innovators work, though, can improve the operations of hotel chains and properties.

HomeAway, which is way behind, but pushing hard to improve its e-commerce capabilities, is beginning to feel some heat from Booking.com on one side and Airbnb on the other. You could therefore look at this follow-on public offering as a defensive move. On the other hand, HomeAway's acquisition spree is an aggressive tack, and the public offering signals that HomeAway has no intention of slowing down.

Dubai has the opportunity to become an example of how cities can gain control of their currently unregulated rental markets while strengthening their tourism offerings.