Skift: Why Short-Term Rentals Are Mainstream and Booming
The travel landscape has evolved substantially since the dawn of the internet in 1991. Today’s tech giants – Amazon and Google – started between 1994 and 1996. In the travel space, Expedia and Booking.com (then bookings.nl) also launched in 1996. A big year for Chinese players was 1999, with Alibaba and Ctrip both launching. Online travel agents brought new opportunities for hotels, but also disrupted the traditional relationships between hotels, travel agents, and Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Younger companies like Airbnb are now stepping forward as the next wave of disruption in the lodging industry.
SHORT-TERM RENTALS ARE BOOMING
We are at a stage today where it is unlikely to imagine a lodging landscape without short-term rentals. Often labeled as one of the biggest disruptors in the travel industry, Airbnb has moved into the mainstream. Short-term rentals have a long history in many countries, often unregulated and in the form of informal exchanges. Companies like HomeAway and Airbnb have paved the way for the short-term rental market to move online, and have given homeowners an easier entry into the business of hosting. Today we see that short-term rental bookings are mostly made online using an intermediary. In this aspect, the short-term rental category is miles ahead of the hotel industry.
Source: Skift
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