Tag: Coronavirus

Reopening plans unveiled for UK hospitality

Reading Time: 5 minutesUK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled plans for the nation to exit lockdown in a “one-way road to freedom”, with hotels, pubs and restaurants permitted to open indoors from 17 May. Speaking to the Commons, Johnson delivered the government’s plans for the gradual easing of lockdown measures over the coming months. The success of […]

Airbnb introduces Health Safety Attestation tool

Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Airbnb’s latest voluntary tool will enable hosts to request that guests state they are clear of Covid-19 symptoms and have not knowingly been recently exposed to the virus. The Health Safety Attestation is being developed in line with guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).  In […]

STAA calls for clarification over UK government lockdown grants

Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: The Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) has called on the government and local authorities to make sure that short-term rental businesses are explicitly included in the latest lockdown grant scheme for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. STAA says that last year, many companies in the short-term rental sector had their grant applications refused, due […]

US rentals suffer from lack of ‘snowbird’ business

Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Snowbirds, elderly travellers, predominantly from Canada, who hire vacation rentals in the south of the US, are not travelling due to Coronavirus fears and restrictions. Snowbirds typically leave Canada to head for warmer climes for up to six months. But this year they are not travelling. “It’s not worth taking a chance. It’s not […]

Hospitality to shut for one month as England goes into national lockdown

Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a one month national lockdown for England, effective Thursday 5 November and lasting until 2 December. The lockdown will see the closure of non-essential retail, leisure and entertainment venues, as well as bars, pubs and restaurants. Takeaways and deliveries will however be permitted. There will be a ban […]

Ireland plans to buy empty Airbnb properties

Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: In an interview with Irish publication The Journal.Ie, Ireland’s new housing minister Darragh O’Brien has confirmed an interest in purchasing empty Airbnbs. O’Brien suggested the measure as a part of the government’s July Stimulus package, in an attempt to help increase housing stock in Ireland. Ireland has been attempting to limit the presence of […]

Scotland begins to reopen hospitality venues

Reading Time: < 1 minuteScotland: As of 15 July 2020, hospitality venues in Scotland are allowed to reopen providing that mitigations are met. Bars, restaurants, cinemas, tourist attractions, hairdressers and barbers, places of worship and childcare centres can now all reopen. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that it’s “the biggest step so far” since the country entered lockdown March […]

Culture Secretary suggests short-term rentals reopen for staycations

Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden suggested that Airbnbs may be the first piece of the British tourism industry to reopen. Dowden will be urging brits to be going on staycations from July, to help boost the tourism industry after its long term closure. The Culture Secretary spoke on potential recovery strategies in the House of […]

Loftium cuts staff, misses rent payments due to coronavirus

Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Seattle based hybrid short-term rental firm Loftium has struggled to stay afloat due to the travel drop caused by the global pandemic. According to The Seattle Times, the company has laid off approximately half of its staff and has begun withholding lease payments to its landlords. Loftium was founded in 2017 as a platform […]

Airbnb chief ethics officer departs

Reading Time: < 1 minuteUS: Airbnb has parted ways with its chief ethics officer and former general counsel Robert Chesnut. Chesnut, who joined Airbnb as its in-house legal chief in April 2016, left the company on May 27. “I’ll wake up tomorrow without a full time ‘day job’ for the first time since law school,” Chesnut wrote on his […]