Short-term rentals tips

Silkhaus, a United Arab Emirates-based platform for short-term rentals, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $7.75 million in a seed funding round.

In an era when travelers see short-term rentals as an ever-more attractive choice, Booking.com’s mix of bookings for these types of accommodations on its platforms in the third quarter ticked up just “slightly” compared with 2019 to around 30 percent, the company said. Isn’t this an historic failure? Shouldn’t Booking.com be gaining more ground?

Three travel tech startups raised nearly $202 million this week.

Airbnb said that the flexible search features it has rolled out since early 2021 have so far diverted bookings from destinations coping with overtourism and peak travel times, according to data it shared on Friday.

Marriott International is debuting an extended-stay brand offering serviced apartment stays in the U.S. and Canada. The Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy product will play in the premium and luxury segments, syncing with Marriott’s overall portfolio — which is in the upper half of lodging categories.

Airbnb’s move to get more transparent and show up-front a stay’s total price before taxes in most of the world outside Europe will have a ripple effect across much of the short-term rental sector because of the company’s substantial influence.

Four travel tech startups raised $158.5 million over the last week and a half.

A venture studio shut down its remote working startup after discovering its business model wasn’t really meeting its goals.

CEO Christopher Nassetta said Hilton expects to organically develop its own new brands rather than chase costly acquisitions in part because “we don’t want to have to fix other people’s problems.”

Three travel tech startups raised $87.2 million this week. 

Tech startups involved in the travel industry raised nearly $118 million this week.

Five tech startups in the travel industry have raised $258.6 in venture capital this week. 

Much of the travel industry is continuing to recover after the pandemic and despite growing anxieties about the economy, with some metrics better than ever last year. 

Outsite, a membership-based hospitality company that focuses on remote workers, has raised $1 million through an alternative method: crowdfunding.

The most important story I wrote about online travel and short-term rentals in 2022 was my massive, three-part .

Appealing to people’s emotions is becoming a more effective way for hotel groups to woo travelers because guest needs are evolving in ways that undercut the traditional branding recipe. Many hotel executives are fine-tuning what their brands stand for and how they communicate that message to guests as they try to grab market share.

Google has added San Francisco-based startup Whimstay as a vacation rental partner.

To hear Expedia Group officials tell it, 2023 is shaping up as a year when lots — but not all — of the tough, behind-the-scenes tech work will have been completed, and the company will start to reap the benefits.

Skift has published hundreds of stories on funding for travel startups since our launch in 2012, featuring Airbnb and tours and activities provider GetYourGuide among other companies in some of those early articles. We took our coverage even further three years later with a weekly roundup of startups that had received or announced funding from investors.

Pending legislation in Puerto Rico would limit the use of short-term rentals in residential areas to 30 percent of the property, a move that an Airbnb official characterized as a “defacto prohibition.”

As the founder of a short-term rental software platform dedicated to people with disabilities, Lorraine Woodward said she sees a lot of lip service about accessibility from big travel companies.