This year has been an eventful one for short-term rentals around the world: The boom-bust saga and seeming unending fights about new regulations.
06.12.2023 - 04:18 / skift.com / Srividya Kalyanaraman
Happy Friday, folks! I’m still in rainy London trying to catch up with the news, and meet industry folks in Europe.
Speaking of catching up with European news, I saw that German software company for B2B travel, Lanes & Planes, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Now this got me thinking about whether tech companies serving the hospitality sector are doing any better (read: raising more money, generating more profits) than, say, a short-term rental upstart.
I took my questions to Philip Lolis, who is an investor at travel tech investor Thayer Ventures and a venture partner at Derive Ventures. Lolis spoke at the STRz summit this week in London.
Lolis’ view is that it depends on the market and the inflationary and macroeconomic environment we live in.
“Right now, given the increased cost of capital, it’s challenging to make operating business a venture investment,” Lolis said. “The Marriotts and Hiltons of the world took about 30 years to build. Sure, we live in a new era when you can build things faster for sure, but sometimes when you’re building trust, it takes longer than traditional venture capital is willing to wait for.”
Lolis is still bullish on short-term rentals and investing in that market.
“Short-term rentals versus long-term rentals, there is a cap-rate arbitrage where longer rentals will have lower net operating income but short-term rentals will have a higher net operating income because it’s more hands-on and entrepreneurial,” Lolis said.
Cap rate is an assessment of the yield of a property over one year. But specifically, Lolis is interested in the property management (prop-co) and operating company (op-co) businesses because they complement each other.
“There is a flywheel, if you have a strong operating company and a long term property managing partner,” Lolis said. “These are some issues Vacasa perhaps has to deal with, with third party owners and they cannot build the quality and consistency of a brand that they otherwise could.”
“Marriott and Hilton have the last names there for a reason.”
Ultimately, Lolis concluded that there is still a lot of opportunity for short-term rental businesses and venture capitalists investing in them, but maintained that growth, scale and building both trust and a brand takes time and patience.
Canadian guest management platform Enso Connect has integrated with Airbnb. This integration brings Enso Connect’s capabilities, designed to facilitate, configure, and monetize guest interactions, directly into Airbnb messaging and more.
Notable features from this integration include: AI-driven responses, unified inbox integration and improved Airbnb inquiry conversion.
Desert Hot Springs in California has moved to regulate short-term vacation rentals,
This year has been an eventful one for short-term rentals around the world: The boom-bust saga and seeming unending fights about new regulations.
Although it has been years since I’ve traveled in mesmerizing Tokyo, my memories are as vivid as though they had been sparked yesterday—pleasures aswirl in unique flavors and noises, creativity and ingenuity. So when luxury publisher Assouline released the new book Tokyo Chic, I dove into its 312 lush-paper-stock pages, with more than 200 photographs and illustrations, which are bound in an outsize (10-by-13-inches, 6.4-pound) format—a hefty hardcover wrapped in silk. The brainchild of Andrea Fazzari, whose deft imagery and words are love letters to the inimitable capital, Tokyo Chic showcases a massively enthralling—yet strikingly intimate—city. Currently based in Tokyo, Fazzari is a James Beard Award-winning photographer, author and restaurant maven with notable backgrounds in fashion and film. Born in New York City, she has lived in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain and Thailand—and speaks four languages. What a sophisticated guide to have at your armchair traveler’s fingertips! Indeed, this coffee table tome would make a treasured holiday gift for those who have already vacationed in Japan or simply dream of doing so.
HomeToGo, the short-term rental comparison-shopping engine, acquired a 51% majority stake in two German companies: KMW Reisen and Super Urlaub.
One summer, many years ago when I was 17, I met a Dutch girl in a pub who was backpacking around Ireland. She said she was staying in hostels and was off to Doolin in County Clare the next day. Somehow, I hadn’t realised it was that easy to strike out and see the world. The next morning I took the bus to Doolin and began a lifelong love of independent travel and the open road. I never saw the Dutch girl again despite a full search of every pub in the village.
The ancient Kingdom of Fife is steeped in rich history and dramatic scenery. The region is located on a sprawling peninsula on Scotland’s east coast, appreciated for its cinematic scale, ambience, and pure sense of drama. The name ‘Kingdom of Fife’ derives from its historical significance as one of the major Pictish kingdoms, once known as Fib. This four-day itinerary guides visitors through the region’s charming fishing villages, to iconic landmarks and across wild coastal paths. It's a place where visitors can escape, relax and unwind. Explore the historic home of Scotland’s ancient monarchs and tuck into world-class local produce — all within an easy drive from Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city.
Blue Lagoon Iceland will reopen its geothermal spa and some restaurants to guests on December 17, it said in an statement Friday.
Illinois is brimming with festive activities and unique experiences, promising to be the go-to destination for an unforgettable winter experience. Lean into the holiday season in December, partake in outdoor winter activities and meet the Bald Eagles of Illinois in January, and indulge in Chicago’s theatre scene and automotive heritage in February.
In some parts of Europe, high prices and Christmas markets go hand in hand. But in others, this year’s soaring costs have come as a shock.
The White House is announcing billions of dollars in new funding for train projects from coast to coast.
Dealmaking has kept short-term rental businesses in Europe busy. The past few months have seen an uptick in activity — be it mergers, or acquisitions or rebrandings.
Happy Thanksgiving, folks! I know you’d rather carve a turkey than open your inbox, so we will keep this brief.
You read it here first: Swiss travel investor Viadi Group has acquired British luxury villa rental marketplace, Edge Retreats.