Worldwide: Inspired by Spotify’s Wrapped series, we revisit the 20 stories in 2023 that defined a year for short-term rentals, as well as our favourite video, podcast and webinar from the last 12 months.
- Saudi Arabia to launch tourism portal to rival major OTAs – January
Saudi Arabia is launching its own property rental portal to take on global marketplaces such as Airbnb, after a new tourism law was approved in the Kingdom.
In order to rent out properties through the portal, citizens will be required to obtain a permit and provide proof of ownership, as Saudi Arabia prepares to open up for more foreign tourism and investment opportunities in the lead up to Saudi Vision 2030.
- European Camping Group acquires Vacanceselect for €1bn – February
European Camping Group [ECG], a tour operator specialised in the mobile home holiday market, completed the €1 billion acquisition of French campsite brand Vacanceselect Group.
The deal saw ECG triple its campsite portfolio to include 500 sites across France, Spain, Italy, Croatia and the Netherlands, making it the largest provider of outdoor accommodation in Europe.
Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest bank at the time in the United States, was closed on 10 March by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The collapse of SVB, which specialised in lending to tech firms and startups, was the largest failure of a US bank since Goldman Sachs during the 2008 financial crash, and sent shockwaves around the world.
Following a frantic weekend of negotiations, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen approved measures that enabled the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] to complete its resolution of Silicon Valley Bank, thereby protecting all creditors and “strengthening public confidence” in the US banking system.
- HomeExchange acquires Love Home Swap – March
French home exchange platform HomeExchange acquired British competitor Love Home Swap to strengthen its position in the UK, the United States and Australia. Prior to that, the company had raised around €54 million in funding and recorded 225,000 home exchanges in 2022 – a 32 per cent rise on 2019 figures,
It was HomeExchange’s first purchase since 2019 when it bought NightSwapping for an undisclosed amount, although the company later bought French competitor My weekend for you – also in March. Co-founder Emmanuel Arnaud was a speaker at October’s inaugural STRz Summit in London.
- Sonder reduces workforce by 14 per cent – March
Short-term rentals lodging firm Sonder made around 100 corporate employees redundant at the start of March, amounting to close to 14 per cent of the startup’s overall workforce.
The layoffs took effect at the end of the first quarter, representing the latest round of redundancies at Sonder after letting go of 21 per cent of its corporate team and seven per cent of its frontline staff in June 2022 as part of a restructuring.
Prior to that, Sonder cut its workforce by 22 per cent at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- PSG leads $175m capital raise for Hostaway – May
All-in-one vacation rental software and management system, Hostaway, announced a $175 million capital raise in May.
The funding was led by PSG, a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies to help accelerate their expansion.
The company planned to use the proceeds to propel its growth trajectory, expand globally, grow headcount, strengthen customer service, enhance onboarding processes, and pursue both organic and inorganic opportunities to expand market share.
- Habitas raises $400m for hotel circuits in Saudi Arabia – June
Habitas, a luxury hotel brand, experiential travel lodging and experiences company, received US$400 million [1.5 billion riyal] from the Saudi government and investment community as the Kingdom builds up its travel and tourism industry for a wave of international visitors in the coming years.
The money was invested through a ‘Habitas Fund’, created by The Saudi Tourism Development Fund [TDF], to help the company’s expansion across the Kingdom and attract more tourists.
The company is reportedly planning to expand in more destinations such as Jeddah and Riyadh.
- Lyric relaunches under new ownership after Black Swan purchase – June
Apartment-style accommodation provider Lyric was revived under new ownership after being acquired by investment advisory firm Black Swan.
The news came two and a half years after the original company was forced to pivot from leasing due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a year after revenue management software Wheelhouse spun out of Lyric [its parent company].
Originally founded in 2014, Lyric sold its last remaining location at 70 Pine Street in New York City in November 2020 to New York-based operator Mint House. In April 2019, the startup raised $160 million in a Series B round led by Airbnb but it laid off around 20 per cent of its staff at the start of the pandemic a year later.
- Expedia launches loyalty programme One Key – July
Expedia Group introduced its new loyalty programme across its three travel brands for travellers to earn and use rewards on eligible flights, hotels, vacation homes, car rentals, cruises and activities.
One Key unifies the group’s three travel brands – Vrbo, Expedia, and Hotels.com – into one flexible loyalty programme. It is currently available in the United States and will roll out globally from next year.
The programme will have more than 168 million members across the combined brands with membership divided into four tiers.
- Expedia Group “terminates” supply partnership with Hopper – July
Expedia Group terminated its vacation rental and hotel supply relationship with online travel agency [OTA] rival Hopper, accusing the latter of “exploiting consumer anxiety and confusing customers”.
The group, which had supplied Hopper with vacation rental and hotel inventory for several years, informed its competitor that it would be ceasing the partnership with immediate effect. Expedia Group’s statement led to a swift riposte from Hopper, which said the decision had been made because Expedia saw Hopper as “a significant competitive threat”.
In October, Hopper also terminated its hotel partnership with Booking.com.
- Casai ceases operations in Mexico and Brazil – July
Proptech startup Casai ceased operations in Brazil and Mexico in July after its founders sold their operations and portfolio to other operators based in Latin America.
In a candid letter posted on LinkedIn by Nico Barawid, co-founder and CEO of Casai, he confirmed that the company had transferred its homes to other operators in Mexico and Brazil, including Blueground, Wynwood House and Oasis Collections.
The bombshell announcement came less than three years after Casai raised $48 million in a Series A round. At the time, the round was the largest Series A raised by a company in Mexico and one of the largest in the history of Latin America.
- Airbnb reports optimistic outlook after most profitable Q2 ever – August
Airbnb recorded its most profitable second quarter to date, including a 72 per cent year-over-year increase in quarterly net income on Q2 2022 figures. It also delivered a net income margin of 26 per cent – its highest second quarter ever – up from 18 per cent in 2022.
Airbnb’s second quarter revenue surged 18.1 per cent to $2.48 billion, which was driven by “solid growth” in nights and experiences booked and “stable” average daily rates [ADRs].
Urban nights reserved saw a 13 per cent YoY increase as guests made a return to cities, while analysts stated that the strong position of the US dollar had enticed more consumers to book flights to overseas destinations, as well as domestic stays.
- New York City short-term rental restrictions come into effect – September
New rules on short-term rentals in New York City came into effect in September, affecting tens of thousands of listings.
The move came after a state Supreme Court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by Airbnb against New York City over what it called “extreme and oppressive” restrictions and a “de facto ban” against its short-term rental operations in the city.
Eligible hosts must now prove that they live in the dwelling they are renting out and that the home meets municipal safety codes and other regulatory requirements, otherwise they could face fines of up to $5,000.
- Bid to delay short-term let licensing scheme in Scotland denied – September / October
A motion to halt a short-term let licensing scheme in Scotland was denied after a vote failed to pass in the Scottish Parliament.
Using its parliamentary business slot, the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party forced a vote on a 12-month delay to a national short-term let licensing scheme ahead of a deadline on 1 October. The party argued that the implementation of the proposed new rules would have a significantly detrimental effect on the Scottish tourism sector and wider economy.
The deadline had already been extended for hosts to apply for licences until 1 October to hold more consultation on the matter. However, Scottish National Party [SNP] leader Humza Yousaf ruled out a second extension to the deadline after protests from accommodation providers.
- Hyatt to debut Homes & Hideaways vacation rental platform – September
Global hospitality company Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that it was introducing a new short-term vacation rental platform – Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt.
World of Hyatt loyalty scheme members will be able to book a diverse range of private rental accommodation in the United States, from beachfront escapes to mountainside ski chalets, and earn and redeem points if they move away from a traditional hotel stay.
While planning to grow Homes & Hideaways on a global scale in the future, Hyatt sold the entirety of its existing vacation rental management business to real estate investor, developer and manager, Lowe.
- Google debuts price comparisons for vacation rental searches – October
Google introduced price comparisons as part of its vacation rental search experience, building on its existing offering for hotels and flights. Travellers will be able to see multiple travel sites on which a property is listed and choose the site with which they want to book as they browse for vacation rentals on Google.
The new feature launched “in most parts of the world” in November, with more EU countries planned to follow in 2024.
Google wants price comparison to help travellers save money, book with confidence and make travel planning easier, as well as drive more traffic to participating partner travel sites by increasing the number of impressions for each property and helping users make more informed decisions.
- OYO aiming to raise $250m in pre-IPO funding round – October
Ahead of its initial public offering [IPO], Indian hospitality chain OYO was seeking to secure $250 million from investors in a pre-IPO funding round. A substantial portion of the funding is set to be directed to settling OYO’s $660 million term loan B and eliminating its debt.
The chain first filed to go public via an IPO in 2021 but its prospective listing has been delayed multiple times. At the time of writing, OYO has still not closed its IPO and senior figures have departed.
- Airbnb acquires AI stealth company GamePlanner.AI – November
In November, Airbnb made its first purchase as a public company, buying GamePlanner.AI, a stealth AI company led by Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer and Siamak Hodjat, for around $200 million.
Notable acquisitions leading up to Airbnb’s IPO in 2020 included hotel booking service HotelTonight, extended stay accommodation platform Urbandoor, French concierge services company Luckey Homes, and Danish booking site Gaest.
Airbnb is using the expertise of GamePlanner.AI to accelerate select AI projects and integrate tools into its own platform. It already uses AI across its platform, including large language models, computer vision models and machine learning, plus an AI-powered Photo Tour tool unveiled during its Winter Release.
- Brookfield scraps £4bn-plus Center Parcs sale – November
Canadian private equity firm Brookfield scrapped plans to sell holiday village chain Center Parcs in a £4 billion transaction due to high interest rates and inflation. The deal would have involved the sale of Center Parcs’ six holiday villages across the UK and Ireland.
Center Parcs was put up for sale by Brookfield in May for a figure between £4 billion and £5 billion, more than double the £2.4 billion it paid to buy the chain from Blackstone eight years ago. However, Brookfield was unable to find a buyer when no formal bids were declared by a deadline at the end of July.
- Airbnb welcomes “watershed” EU data collection agreement – November / December
In November, The European Council and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a draft regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term rental accommodation services across the European Union [ EU ], in a bid to “promote a balanced tourism ecosystem”. The legislation is expected to be formally confirmed this month.
The proposal for a regulation aims to enhance transparency in the short-term rental sector across the EU, as well as help public authorities appropriately regulate the segment. The new rules will require unique registration numbers to be displayed on property websites in order to improve the collection and sharing of data from hosts and online platforms.
- Our favourite webinar of 2023: Leading on advocacy round table: Why your industry needs you [September]
Steve Milo [VTrips], Ben Edgar-Spier [Sykes Holiday Cottages], Viktorija Molnar [EHHA] and Keiran Craig-Jones [STAAA] discussed the existential threats to the short-term rentals industry, what advocacy organisations are doing to combat disproportionate regulations, and why now is the time to join an industry association.
- Our favourite video interview of 2023: Catherine Powell, Airbnb [April]
Catherine Powell, the first global head of hosting at Airbnb, spoke about enhancing safety and security on the Airbnb platform, prioritising sustainable and responsible tourism, and how AI and machine learning will create a more personalised booking search experience.
- Our favourite podcast of 2023: Chip Conley, Modern Elder Academy [September]
We recorded an insightful conversation with Chip Conley, founder of the Modern Elder Academy, to discuss how his time with Airbnb motivated the launch of MEA, the growing necessity for entrepreneurship, and Airbnb’s greatest opportunity as a data company to shape the future of travel.
- 2024 predictions webinar [Tuesday 12 December]: Join STRz editor Paul Stevens in conversation with Hector Hughes [Unplugged], Jessica Gillingham [Abode Worldwide], Neely Khan [I-PRAC] and Bram Gallagher [AirDNA] to discuss 2024 predictions for the short-term rental space – sign up here
