Airbnb Attempts to Ease Discrimination by Hosts

Florence has been at the top of my travel bucket list for years, and this summer I finally crossed it off. It's since made its way to the top of another list of mine—my ranking of favorite cities. The food, the architecture, the rich history, and, of course, the gelato make it a city like no other. What I loved most about Florence was how surprisingly small it is—every restaurant, museum, and tourist attraction I hoped to visit was in walking distance of one another, which made seeing everything I possibly could see during my three-day stay doable. Hoping for an accommodation that was a little more homey and spacious than a hotel, my partner and I booked a gorgeous Airbnb with a private terrace in the heart of Florence.

Home was close for Emma Giantisco and Dylan Marton. 

The late Jimmy Buffett’s popular song “Margaritaville” was based on his time in Key West. Although Margaritaville was a fictional oasis (turned restaurant and resort) where people operated on island time, the Florida Keys is a real-life sanctuary where the sun sets in the west and it's always five o’clock. It's also a great place for a group trip. I hadn’t been on one of this magnitude since my high school marching band and I bombarded the staff at Kalahari. During the week-long vacation with 14 friends, I was most interested in going to the beach, enjoying the pool, and napping in the sun (lathered in sunscreen, of course) without a care in the world.

September 5 was the first day of New York City’s short-term rental registration rules, but the city’s electronic verification system isn’t operational yet, Skift has learned from three sources familiar with the new process.

Hosts of at least 23,000 short-term rentals in New York City are being forced to reevaluate or end their businesses as Airbnb blocks them from making new bookings. 

Staying in an Airbnb when visiting Kyoto is a great idea for anyone looking to experience the city like a local. An Airbnb rental gives travelers access to unique neighborhoods and accommodation options that can’t be found elsewhere. Furthermore, many Airbnb rentals are located close to popular tourist attractions, making them ideal for those who want easy access to the area’s must-see sights. These Kyoto Airbnbs showcase the best of the city.

Airbnb launched its latest brand campaign, “Get an Airbnb,” last week, using animation styles reminiscent of the previous “Airbnb It” campaign from last fall that targeted hosts. 

HotelTonight co-founder and CEO Sam Shank, who steered the hotel booking app even after it was acquired by Airbnb in 2019, recently announced he would be leaving the short-term rental giant. Shank wrote on his LinkedIn account that he would take some time before making plans for a future outside of the travel industry.

Among the options that Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is mulling to remedy what he said is a “huge problem,” namely cleaning fees, is giving hosts the ability to levy “variable” cleaning fees.

Airbnb took several steps to ease the process of onboarding new hosts, increased damage protections, and added a half-dozen new search categories, including trending homes and those adapted for wheelchair access.

Despite lots of vacation rental industry talk about making inroads in attracting more direct bookings, a global survey of property managers and individual hosts reported those percentages were stable, if not decelerating.

Building on initiatives that had mixed results in the past, Airbnb is debuting an Airbnb-Friendly Apartments program to enable long-term renters in multifamily buildings where landlords permit it to list their rooms or apartments on Airbnb.