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06.12.2023 - 04:35 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal
Airbnb recently reminded hosts that it plans to shutter its email alias feature September 30. The feature enables hosts and guests to email and share documents, such as PDFs of property guides, passports and other IDs from their regular emails accounts without having to log into Airbnb.
Airbnb says there are safety reasons for the move, but it clearly also seeks to reduce the risk of the next booking taking place direct rather than on Airbnb’s platform. That’s a challenge because many hosts readily share their WhatsApp contact information or phone numbers with guests, for example.
Airbnb, which initially announced in March that the masked emails would become history in September, said it’s safest to communicate with guests on the Airbnb platform, and that “you can still securely send documents by sharing a link with your guests in the Airbnb inbox.”
Off-platform communications, however convenient, also leave guests and hosts vulnerable to Airbnb customer service issues. The company would likely not go to bat for either party when off-platform communications are in the mix.
The looming demise of Airbnb’s email alias feature has spurred property manager Red Awning to develop a communications hub that enables hosts to communicate with guests through their email vendor or communications method of choice as these communications would be repurposed via an API into the Airbnb inbox. Hosts would be able to do this without logging into Airbnb, according to Red Awning.
The property manager expects other platforms to follow Airbnb’s lead so Red Awning’s new communications hub would enable hosts to likewise send communications into the Booking.com inbox, the inboxes of other platforms, and Red Awning’s mobile app, as well.
An anonymous whistleblower letter purported to be from employees at property manager Village Realty and affiliated brand RealJoy, one of the largest management companies in the U.S. with around 3,700 properties combined, alleged nepotism and discrimination against women employees, and the creation of a hostile work environment.
The letter, sent to owner LightBay Partners, vacation rental professionals and journalists, alleged that Chief Operating Officer Jakob Dwyer in recent months has fired a number of female employees, and replaced them exclusively with “heterosexual white males” whom he previously knew or had personal relationships with.
Village Reality, headquartered in Nags Head, North Carolina, and RealJoy, based in Destin, Florida, have responded to the allegations. Board Chairperson Roger Zino said they have launched an investigation into the issue with the help of outside counsel, and in the interest of “legal compliance and workplace diversity.” He encouraged the whistleblowers to
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors unanimously determined the unsolicited exchange offer from Choice Hotels International to acquire all outstanding shares of the hospitality company is not in the best interests of its shareholders.
The Summer Olympics are returning to Paris exactly a century after it last hosted the event. A country where fine wine and haute cuisine prevail means Paris doesn’t have a reputation for being particularly affordable. To make the Games more accessible, some events around the Seine will have free viewing zones – including the opening ceremony. But we’re still living in a material world and you’ll need to pay the rental on your humble flat. With nightly rates circling $150 or less, these are the most budget-friendly Airbnbs for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The past year has seen a flurry of cabins crop up near the shores of Broken Bow Lake in southeast Oklahoma. Cloaked in pine and pawpaw trees, this rural region likely has a higher permanent population of black bears and bald eagles than people. Fishing, hiking, and boating have maintained steady tourism but the recent boom in new chalets has put the teensy hamlet of Hochatown on the map, literally. Airbnb is credited with creating this vacation bubble in the aftermath of the pandemic as travelers in OK and TX seek countryside getaways closer to home.
Airbnb’s departing Global Head of Hosting Catherine Powell will receive her current base salary and her outstanding equity awards will continue to vest as she stays on in an advisory role through June 30, 2024.
Airbnb launched its Host Clubs in 2016, in part to help with local campaigns against regulatory clampdowns. Now, it is seeking to expand these clubs.
Booking Holdings Chief Financial Officer David Goulden said this week that the flagship Booking.com brand launched its short-term rental business as a supplement to hotels “15-plus years” ago, which is roughly around the time Airbnb got going in San Francisco.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, December 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Despite the La Niña weather pattern that dumped snowfall by the foot last winter at many mountain resorts in the western United States, global warming fundamentally threatens the survival of the ski business. In response, ski areas are increasingly investing in efficient snow-making and carbon emissions reductions. Some areas, especially in the West, are also pursuing another method: developing terrain higher up mountains where colder climes or steeper, tree-filled terrain are more likely to hold the snow.
Stat of the Day: Thinking that you, like us, are wondering what’s happening to occupancy levels this summer, we had some numbers crunched for us by data analysis firm Beyond Pricing and this is what it found: U.S. occupancy for July is pacing about 5 percentage points down year-on-year, from 37 percent in 2022 to 32 percent in 2023.
If you’ve read the various hot takes on the state of the housing market as indexed by Airbnb revenue, here are a few concerns you can put to rest. What will happen to the housing market in a recession is anybody’s guess, but speaking purely of Airbnb as a stock, the company has a few things going for it.