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Airbnb expands Silicon Valley office presence
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: With major plans to go public in 2020, short-term rental platform Airbnb has acquired a 300,000 square foot office lease in Santa Clara. The lease, which takes up two major office buildings, will allow the tech firm to expand its hiring and operations in expectation of that offering. The San Francisco company’s current secondary […]
Navajo traditional homes become unique Airbnb destinations
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Entrepreneurs in the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States are using Airbnb’s platform to promote their traditional housing to generate further tourism in the region, as reported in The Navajo Times. The Navajo home, which is more commonly known as the Hogan, is the second largest federally recognised tribe in the United States. According […]
Government announces rental law reform in Scotland
Reading Time: 2 minutesScotland: The Scottish government today announced its intention to place a comprehensive set of regulations on the short-term lets market in Scotland. Scottish housing minister Kevin Stewart noted: “We are empowering local authorities to implement a system that works for their area. By giving councils the power to set conditions around short-term lets licences and […]
Holiday property site Vaycaychella acquired by major investor
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: WSGF Inc. (World Series of Golf) recently announced the acquisition of holiday property technology website Vaycaychella, a prequel application to rental sites such as Airbnb and VRBO. Unlike other major applications, all of which connect renters with vacation property owners, the new site attempts to “empower people to become vacation property owners in the […]
Airbnb de-lists 28 properties in mass action on party house ban
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: 28 properties have been removed from Airbnb’s listings in Los Angeles after the LAPD identified them as ‘chronic party houses’. This is the first of the platform’s de-listings after the decision to ban party houses from the platform in November following a tragic shooting on Halloween. Police reports have said that the properties were […]
Airbnb introduces trait analyser software for guests’ compatibility
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Airbnb has introduced its latest technology that it believes can search the Internet to estimate the likelihood that a potential guest will damage a host’s home. A Daily Mail story has reported on the company’s ‘trait analyser’ software that will employ artificial intelligence [AI] to identify people ‘associated’ with drugs or alcohol, hate websites […]
Developer sues Airbnb for £723,000 after property gatecrashing
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUK: According to a report in The Sun newspaper, a property developer is suing Airbnb for £723,000 after 500 partygoers descended on his Chelsea mansion even though his property was only listed on Airbnb for a family of four. Michael Harold, 67, has brought forward a case against the short-term rental platform at the High […]
Airbnb guests celebrating NYE with heritage trips and farm stays
Reading Time: 2 minutesWorldwide: Airbnb has revealed where travellers will be spending their New Year’s Eve [NYE] celebrations around the world and it indicates that many of us are now booking heritage trips and farm stays in local neighbourhoods and lesser known cities. As more and more travellers look for short-term rental accommodation to welcome in the New […]
Airbnb joins forces with Rutopía for eco-friendly experiences in Mexico
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMexico: Airbnb has teamed up with Mexican travel startup Rutopía to offer travellers a variety of immersive, eco-friendly experiences, including pulque tasting, volcano climbing and jungle exploring. The startup, which was founded by Emiliano Iturriaga, Sebastián Muñoz, Diego Espinoza and Leslie Pérez in 2017 offers the experiences most notably among its unique rural and indigenous […]
Domio raises $100 million in Series B funding for expansion
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Hospitality startup Domio, which designs then rents out aparthotels and furnished apartments on a short-term basis, has announced it has raised $100 million to expand its business in the United States and into 25 global markets by the end of 2020. The Series B funding includes $50 million in equity and $50 million in […]