Airbnb News and Short-Term Rentals

Airbnb continues to be a major force in the travel industry, redefining how people book and experience accommodations worldwide. At PhocusWire, we bring you the latest Airbnb news, along with broader coverage of the short-term rental sector, including platform innovation, market trends, and regulatory developments that shape this fast-moving space.

Updates on Airbnb, short-term rental trends, and regulatory shifts

Track how Airbnb is evolving its product offerings, enhancing guest and host tools, and adapting to consumer demand for more flexible, immersive travel. Our stories examine the intersection of tech innovation, policy, and platform strategy—providing insight into how short-term rentals continue to influence the broader hospitality landscape.

Lords above! OTAs face possible UK competition investigation
News / Distribution
Lords above! OTAs face possible UK competition investigation
By Martin Cowen | April 22, 2016
UK-based lawyers at Expedia, Priceline and TripAdvisor are rubbing their hands with glee at the possibility the UK government's Competition Authority might launch an investigation into the entire onli Read More
Move along tourists as Airbnb campaigns for the local experience
News / Technology
Move along tourists as Airbnb campaigns for the local experience
By Linda Fox | April 20, 2016
Airbnb says personalisation is at the heart of its updated mobile application launched this week alongside 'Live There' - it's largest brand campaign. The enhanced app aims to understand travellers Read More
Airbnb continues to build presence in India
News / Distribution
Airbnb continues to build presence in India
By Martin Cowen | April 18, 2016
Airbnb has announced a strategic partnership with India's largest media conglomerate The Times Group. Some reports in media outlets owned by the Times Group say that its investment arm - Times Glob Read More
Airbnb hosts get destination guide building service
News / Online
Airbnb hosts get destination guide building service
By Kevin May | April 15, 2016
The idea of "living like a local" is, in reality, a fallacy - a local often has far more mundane and real-life things to do than experience their own city. But the rise of so-called sharing economy Read More
Airbnb acquires a team of blockchain techies
News
Airbnb acquires a team of blockchain techies
By Sean O'Neil | April 13, 2016
Home rental giant Airbnb has acquired several top employees of ChangeCoin, a startup that created a micro-payments platform based on blockchain technology. The news was first reported by Quartz and Read More
Airbnb is forecast to have $12.3 billion in bookings in 2016
News / Distribution
Airbnb is forecast to have $12.3 billion in bookings in 2016
By Sean O'Neil | April 11, 2016
Hard data on the financials of private company Airbnb are notoriously difficult to nail down. But a new estimate by US investment bank Cowen & Company predicts that the bookings site will process Read More
HomeRez woos Euro 4 million from Expedia vet and others, plots expansion
News / Distribution
HomeRez woos Euro 4 million from Expedia vet and others, plots expansion
By Kevin May | April 11, 2016
Vacation rental online booking and distribution service HomeRez has banked Euro 4 million from a panel of angel investors and two financial houses. Investing in the two-year-old company are Entrepr Read More
Artificial intelligence-based travel concierge - not hard to break it
News / Technology
Artificial intelligence-based travel concierge - not hard to break it
By Kevin May | March 23, 2016
Trip planning startup Tripoto recently announced rather grandly that it has created the "world's first AI-based travel concierge". Online virtual assistants in the travel industry are not new by an Read More
HomeAway's new fee sparks some anger the company tries to quell
News / Online
HomeAway's new fee sparks some anger the company tries to quell
By Sean O'Neil | March 15, 2016
Dozens of owners of vacation rental properties have spoken out online against HomeAway's new fees, introduced as part of a switch in model from classified listings to an instantly bookable, transactio Read More
Airbnb to let neighbors report on bad hosts
News / Online
Airbnb to let neighbors report on bad hosts
By Sean O'Neil | March 14, 2016
Next month, Airbnb is going to enable neighbors to provide comments on nearby hosts, a company executive said on Monday. The virtual comment box will debut in Japan and then roll out worldwide, sai Read More
Even the UNWTO is talking about the sharing economy
News / Distribution
Even the UNWTO is talking about the sharing economy
By Kevin May | March 10, 2016
The World Tourism Organization is probably best known for a diplomatic and often high-brow approach to travel affecting the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. That's fair enough, given that Read More
There's a hole in my Bucket - RIP another trip planning startup
News
There's a hole in my Bucket - RIP another trip planning startup
By Kevin May | March 10, 2016
"With a heavy heart, today we announce that we'll be closing our doors on Bucket," says the email to users of the trip planning startup this week. In short, CEO and co-founder Julia Lam has shut th Read More
Large study of Airbnb hosts hints at who is making the money
News
Large study of Airbnb hosts hints at who is making the money
By Sean O'Neil | February 29, 2016
There's an ongoing debate about how home-sharing sites like Airbnb are performing, and a new study from LearnAirbnb, a consultancy, casts some fresh light. LearnAirbnb did a 119-page study of the h Read More
Think leisure players aren't touching business travel, think again
News / Distribution
Think leisure players aren't touching business travel, think again
By Linda Fox | February 29, 2016
The business travel community swings between denying any impact from Airbnb, Uber and the like, to worrying what to do about them. Yet there they were, at last week's Business Travel Show in London Read More
Best Western CEO has concerns over Airbnb (but doesn't mind selling rooms on it)
News / Distribution
Best Western CEO has concerns over Airbnb (but doesn't mind selling rooms on it)
By Kevin May | February 23, 2016
Back in July 2015, Best Western CEO and president David Kong started writing a blog known as "It's Personal". "As the name implies, I’ll take on issues that I’m passionate about," Kong wrote in his Read More
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