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Airbnb scraps apartment suite plans at Rockefeller Center
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: A year to the day after acquiring ten floors at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York to operate “high-end apartment-style suites with a diverse mix of amenities”, Airbnb is cancelling its agreement with landlords RXR Realty at the proposed development. Owing to to fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, plans to create 200 luxury hotel rooms […]
Airbnb opens frontline responders programme in Mexico and Colombia
Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: Airbnb is expanding its frontline responders programme, which allows hosts to offer their properties for free or at a discounted rate for Covid-19 medical responders, into the Central and South American markets. The company is growing its programme into the countries of Mexico and Colombia and has said that it is committed to waiving fees for […]
Chesky: Airbnb to improve host relations by facilitating “human connections”
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: In an interview with Skift CEO and founder, Rafat Ali, Airbnb co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, has outlined how he intends to forge better relations with its hosts to become a facilitator of “human connections”, as well as how the platform will incorporate more extended stays in the future post-pandemic. Speaking on The Long […]
Airbnb hosts claim lack of payments from $250 million relief fund
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Many Airbnb hosts are complaining that they have been unable to access relief funds promised by the company. Airbnb created a $250 million relief fund for hosts to access earlier, in order to help their community weather the current global pandemic. CNBC noted that hundreds who had applied for the available funding had yet […]
AirDNA report: How mid-term stays may rescue the short-term sector
Reading Time: 2 minutesBarcelona: A report published by global short-term rental data firm AirDNA reveals that mid-term stays might represent the key to the recovery of the vacation rental sector. Pivoting from its ‘short-term’ roots, 50 per cent of nights booked globally on short-term rental platform Airbnb have been for stays of over two weeks. In March, travel […]
Booking.com plans for lay offs after landing $4bn loan
Reading Time: 2 minutesNetherlands: Online travel agent Booking.com has told employees in an internal memo that layoffs from the company are “probable”, just days after the Financial Times reported it had received a $4 billion loan in bonds from investors to fend off severe effects caused by the coronavirus crisis. In a video conference held with hundreds of […]
Amsterdam bans holiday rentals in city centre neighbourhoods
Reading Time: 2 minutesNetherlands: Amsterdam City Council is prohibiting the operations of holiday rentals in certain neighbourhoods within the old city and canal area, and has pledged to introduce permits for hosts to operate rentals in other parts of the city from 1 July. The ban, covering sections of the 1012 and 1017, has been implemented to reduce […]
Airbnb secures further $1 billion loan
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Just one week after raising $1 billion in funding from the likes of Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners, Airbnb has secured a further $1 billion loan in senior debt, reportedly through the same private equity firms, as well as Apollo Global Management, Oaktree Capital Management and Owl Rock. The emergency finance injection, coming […]
European capitals permitted to rein in rentals during Covid-19 pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutesEurope: European capitals will be permitted to carry out more rigorous vetting of short-term lets to combat a perceived shortage of long-term housing, according to a ruling by an advisor to Luxembourg’s Court of Justice of the European Union [CJEU]. Among the European tourist hotspots to have taken umbrage at Airbnb’s operations in their operations are […]
Airbnb announces the launch of Online Experiences
Reading Time: 3 minutesWorldwide: Airbnb has taken its Experiences division into the virtual realm by launching ‘Online Experiences’, allowing it to provide a “new way for people to connect, travel virtually and earn income during the Covid-19 crisis”. As the coronavirus continues to restrict travel mobility for the foreseeable future, the company is aiming to help people discover […]