Airbnb tips

Intrepid Travel has overhauled its marketing strategy in the past few years.

The Indian government is exploring adventure tourism as an avenue of promoting destinations across the country. For instance, earlier this month, the newly appointed minister of tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat went skydiving in Haryana on World Skydiving Day. 

Short-term rental properties have reportedly been smeared with excrement as anti-tourism protests reach fever pitch in Spain.

Vrbo last month reversed a longstanding policy on guest refunds and host cancellations, tipping the benefits toward guests and away from hosts when there are major travel disruptions.

A months-long CNN investigation found that Airbnb has worked to keep thousands of complaints about properties with hidden indoor security cameras out of the public domain. Airbnb banned indoor cameras in March.

With its number of hosts and bookings in the Paris region booming ahead of the start of the Olympics this month, a new Airbnb commercial is advising travelers to avoid hotels if they want to discover the essence of the city.

Thousands of protestors marched in Barcelona over the weekend against overtourism.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, July 9, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. 

Travelers heading to destinations along the Atlantic coast for the Fourth of July weekend booked short-term rentals in large numbers. However, New York City didn’t see as many short-term rentals as it did last year for the holiday.

Vacation rentals still represent a relatively small segment in India’s hospitality industry. Research we put out last August (India on the Move: A Traveler Survey) showed around 62% of Indian travelers prefer hotels for domestic trips, and only 7% opt for vacation rentals. 

In Paris, the fanfare usually associated with the build-up to the Olympic Games have been overshadowed by another event taking place — a snap parliamentary election.

The Big Three travel booking sites — Booking.com, Airbnb, and Expedia/Vrbo — all appear to be complying with California’s new junk fee transparency law. But they way they are doing it varies considerably.

Airbnb boss Brian Chesky has a ton of experience with regulations. The company faces a ban in Barcelona in a few years, was nearly erased from New York City, and has to deal with countless other regulatory battles around the world.

HomeToGo, the short-term rental price comparison business, plans to go a couple of steps further than Airbnb to comply with the California junk fee law that kicks in July 1.

Airbnb said in 2021 that it had been taking “more aggressive action” to ban violent members of dangerous organizations. Its policies followed violent incidents and riots from the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017 to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, during which participants had stayed in Airbnbs.

Airbnb’s head of policy Jay Carney said recently that New York City Local Law 18 is an example of how not to regulate short-term rentals. But Barcelona officials don’t agree – and think regulations can go further.

People who visit Airbnb’s website and app in the U.S. first view the nightly rate and they can toggle to view the total price with all fees before taxes.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, June 21, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Roughly nine months since New York City cracked down on short-term rentals by requiring hosts to register, the Office of Special Enforcement has approved just 2,242 applications.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

From mid-term rentals to the regulatory environment and artificial intelligence, executives speaking at the recent Skift Short-Term Rental Summit in New York addressed a myriad of topics pertaining to the rapidly booming sector.