Hotel CEOs Won’t Back Down When It Comes to Pushing Direct Bookings

Are hotels’ direct booking efforts really working? That was the question on many analysts’ minds during the first quarter earnings calls hosted by major U.S. hotel companies.

While Hilton and Marriott have been leading the charge to push for more direct bookings in an effort to take away market share from online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia and Booking.com, they’ve been joined in recent weeks by their fellow hotel competitors, including Hyatt, Wyndham, and Choice, to name a few.

Judging by their collective statements, it’s clear hotel CEOs aren’t going to stop their campaigns for more direct bookings any time soon, even if they’re quietly making arrangements to offer those exclusive lower rates to travel agents. Or even if the OTAs themselves are hoping to strike deals with them to offer those preferred lower rates, too.

Here’s what the hotel CEOs had to say, put into context with comments they’ve made previously about booking direct.

Hilton: Direct Bookings Are Working

In February, Hilton launched its largest global marketing campaign ever, called “Stop Clicking Around,” encouraging guests to become Hilton HHonors loyalty program members so they can secure the lowest possible room rates on Hilton.com or via the Hilton HHonors app.

Although, Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta made some conciliatory remarks about the OTAs being Hilton’s “good partners” during the World Travel & Tourism Council’s Global Summit in April, he was much more confident about touting his company’s direct booking successes during the first quarter earnings call.

“Early results are very positive with HHonors enrollments increasing nearly 90% since launch, helping drive HHonors occupancy to a record 55% in the quarter, an increase of more than four points versus last year,” he said. “The business we’ve received through web direct is higher than it’s ever been and is growing faster than ever, thanks to increasing share shift. The share of web direct channels in our distribution mix is growing five times that of the OTA share growth in the quarter, and business generated from our mobile app is up nearly 150% year-over-year with downloads exceeding 70,000 a week, an increase of 200% over last year.”

Read more @https://skift.com/2016/05/16/hotel-ceos-wont-back-down-when-it-comes-to-pushing-direct-bookings/

Activists say Airbnb drives up rents. But is that actually true? L.A. needs to find out

The city of Los Angeles is considering an ordinance that would force thousands of small businesses to close their doors. These businesses currently provide a valuable service to customers and much-needed income to their owners.

The ordinance I have in mind is the one targeting Airbnb rentals. Hosts could offer only one unit for at most 90 days per year, with draconian financial penalties for violations. Since many hosts currently offer multiple units, each for 365 days per year, the ordinance would radically shrink the city's Airbnb market. And since the city has the right to collect taxes on the income Airbnb hosts earn, the ordinance would also severely limit a potentially important source of revenue.

Read more @ http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0513-yaffe-airbnb-ordinance-la-20160513-story.html

Dem urges Airbnb to crack down on racial discrimination by hosts

A California Democrat is urging Airbnb to take action against hosts who appear to be discriminating against minority customers.

Rep. Eric Swalwell said that he hoped the company “will act against any host demonstrating a pattern of discrimination,” in a statement first reported on Wednesday night by BuzzFeed.

Swalwell, who has been active on issues related to the on-demand economy, said the impact of bias was a “constant concern” for companies in the field, which include firms like Uber and Lyft.

“Any discrimination must be addressed immediately and decisively,” he said.

His comments came after Airbnb’s director of diversity, David King, said in a blog post that the company was working to respond to allegations of racial discrimination against guests.

“We realize these goals will be difficult to reach and we have a lot to learn, as we are confronting an age-old problem,” King said in the blog post. “While no single company is going to eliminate discrimination in the world, we have long been committed to fighting discrimination and working to eliminate unconscious bias on our platform.”

King said the company was offering more unconscious bias training and planning to better highlight guests' ratings. He also said the company’s “data science teams will closely examine machine learning models and other tech tools we can use to help enforce our anti-discrimination policy.”

Swalwell was supportive of King’s comments.

Read more @ http://thehill.com/policy/technology/279706-dem-airbnb-should-take-action-towards-discriminatory-hosts

Airbnb party house wreaks havoc on Mississauga neighbourhood

Residents in a quiet Mississauga neighbourhood are looking to city council for action after an Airbnb rental turned into a party house nightmare for neighbours.

• Use Airbnb? Pilot project aims to highlight rights, responsibilities

"First we didn't know what was happening. We just thought it was people that purchased the house and then there was parties happening every weekend," said Sharon Kwok, who lives across the street from the house. 

"I have two young children so I don't want them exposed to that." 

Months of late night parties

Almost every weekend for the past three months a house on Snowflake Lane in Mississauga has been overrun with partygoers, many of them parking on the street and leaving the remnants of their partying, from soiled mattresses to shot glasses and party cups, behind.

Sometimes we even think it's underage, you know where they can't get into the clubs so they're coming here," said Kwok.

Franklin Guzman lives two houses away from the party house and said the noise has kept him and his family awake at all hours. 

"We have experienced some major disruptions at nighttime," Guzman told CBC News.

read more @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/airbnb-party-house-mississauga-rental-1.3576210

The Crazy Reason This Man Was Rejected by Airbnb

Apparently, it's really hard to get an Airbnb room reservation when you're Black.

Just ask 25-year-old Greg Selden. He recently tweeted his story about getting turned down from a racist Airbnb host.

When Selden first attempted to rent a room from a potential host, he was told it was unavailable. He was about to accept his fate and move on when he noticed that the room was still advertised for the dates that he requested.

That's when he decided to create two fake profiles of white men with similar information to his own. He wanted to see if his skin color was to blame.

Read more @ http://www.attn.com/stories/8202/black-airbnb-user-accepted-fake-white-profile

The best early bird ski deals in Australia and New Zealand

With less than six weeks till the Australian and New Zealand ski seasons begin Australian resorts celebrated with the first flakes hitting the ground last weekend.

There's still time to save money with early bird ski and snowboard holiday bookings available for this year for beginners through to heli skiers in Australia and across the ditch.

In Australia, if you book and pay before May 31 withwww.Skimax.com.au then you could score five nights in Thredbo from $A777 per person in a quad share two bedroom Thredbo Alpine Apartment and a five-day Thredbo ski pass. You must travel between June 10 and 25 or August 28 and October 3.

Thredbo.com.au also have the Torah Bright Beginners Pack on sale until June 10. Pay for two days of lessons, lift pass and ski rental and get the third day free.

Read more @ http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/3895905/the-best-early-bird-ski-deals-in-australia-and-new-zealand/?cs=34

High-End Hotels Shouldn’t Fear Airbnb Says Wall Street Exec

In his bullish call on Hyatt Hotels Corp., John Khoury of Long Pond Capital LP said the high-end leisure market shouldn’t worry about Airbnb Inc. The budget hotel market, however, may be in for a rough ride.

Speaking at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, Khoury touted Hyatt, saying shares have more than a 60 percent upside despite lodging being the most “out of favor” piece of the real estate sector. One of the reasons he cited for his optimism is that, unlike leisure travel, Airbnb and its online community of accommodations is unlikely to damage the industry’s revenue stream from business and high-end travelers.

A number of Wall Street firms recently pointed to this trend. A note from Cowen & Co. last month showed that hotels have a clear advantage among business travelers. The survey also revealed that respondents who used Airbnb were more likely to use hotels for business travel.

Read more @ https://skift.com/2016/05/04/high-end-hotels-shouldnt-fear-airbnb-says-wall-street-exec/

Meet Wudstay, a profitable startup offering budget hotel bookings, retirement and PG homes

In the relatively crowded and ‘discounted’ space of what is called budget hotel booking services, the startup Wudstay works with accommodation owners to ensure an end-to-end solution for its customers. Founded in April 2015, Wudstay was born with the sole objective of establishing uncompromised and quality accommodation across the country, says founder and avid traveler Prafulla Mathur.

It isn’t just limited to the hotel bookings, as Wudstay also caters to students and working professionals looking for PG accommodations, and also for senior citizens looking for retirement homes. “We also recently launched Wudstay Pride, in which we partnered 25 Grade A Retirement Homes across Delhi NCR and Mumbai,” points out Mathur. Overall, it has a network of over 200 PGs and more than 500 hotels across the country. It is accessible as of now on the web, and as apps for Android and iOS.

Read more @ http://tech.firstpost.com/startup/meet-wudstay-a-profitbale-startup-offering-budget-hotel-bookings-retirement-and-pg-homes-313053.html

BBB warns consumers about vacation rental scams

With summer inching closer, many people are getting vacation plans in order. The Better Business Bureau has a warning for those people - beware of scammers ruining those summer vacation plans. The BBB advises you do your research when booking vacation rentals...because of "bait and switch" reports. Scammers will create online rental listings with photos to attract renters to a home that isn't available. The phony landlord collects an upfront deposit - often times leaving the vacationer with a fake address or a rental that looks nothing like the photos online.

In 2015, the BBB received more than a thousand consumer complaints regarding vacation rentals nationwide. Most complaints reported issues with contracts, refund and exchange, and customer service. Because online advertising can be deceiving, visit websites that offer secure payment solutions, customer reviews and rating systems.

To avoid falling victim to a vacation rental scam, BBB warns of the following red flags:
Don't be fooled by photography. Scammers will post beautiful photos of homes and condos, some real and some fake. It may be a good idea to ask for additional photos - an honest landlord will always have them.

Read more @ http://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/bbb-warns-consumers-about-vacation-rental-scams

It's now illegal to Airbnb your entire apartment in Berlin

As of this month, Berliners renting out their full apartments on Airbnb can face a fine of up to €100,000 ($115,000), under a new law aimed at curbing a rise in housing prices. The law, called Zweckentfremdungsverbot ("prohibition of improper use"), was passed in 2014 and went into effect on May 1st, the AFP news agency reports. Homeowners can still rent out individual rooms on Airbnb and similar property-listing sites, but renting out entire homes or apartments is now forbidden across the German capital.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin's head of urban development, has said that the law is "a necessary and sensible instrument" to keep housing affordable. Rents in Berlin are still low relative to other European cities, though they increased by 56 percent between 2009 and 2014. Officials say Airbnb Clone and similar sites have helped fuel that rise as more Berliners use their apartments exclusively for short-term rentals, thereby exacerbating the city's housing shortage.

Read more @ http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/2/11564370/airbnb-berlin-illegal-apartment-housing-price

Hate to burst the bubble, but we should regulate Airbnb, VRBO and the like

Chicago residences rented through Airbnb, VRBO and other websites without proper licensing and regulation may irreparably harm Chicago's tourism industry. A vibrant tourism industry is critical to the Chicago economy and provides thousands of jobs to local workers.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce does not want to see these jobs and tax revenue at risk because a segment of the marketplace is not licensed.

The chamber embraces the shared economy. In the case of lodging, it brings activity to neighborhoods, provides supplemental income to residents and keeps Chicago current with other global cities. Services like Airbnb, however, have become big business. Instead of our neighbors renting their home for a week each year, entrepreneurs are buying up blocks of condos for the exclusive purpose of renting them out 52 weeks a year.

More troubling is that less than 200 of the more than 6,000 Chicago short-term rentals are licensed and few, if any, follow hotel industry safety protocols.

The hotel industry and condominium associations have implored the city to crack down on illegal rentals, but very little has been done.

New ordinances were recently introduced in the City Council that make regulation somewhat murkier, but we envision a simple fix: All laws must distinguish between somebody's primary residence versus the non-primary business operations described earlier. One hundred percent of non-primary residences must be licensed and adhere to similar regulations as hotels.

Read more @ http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160427/OPINION/160429859/hate-to-burst-the-bubble-but-we-should-regulate-airbnb-vrbo-and-the-like

Chicago’s Domestic Tourist Arrivals Hit Record 51 Million in 2015

That was close to a 5 percent increase over the previous year.

An announcement Tuesday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office said Chicago was one of just three U.S. cities to rack up more than 50 million visitors.

Emanuel’s office said marquee events helped boost the numbers. Those included the NFL Draft and the James Beard Foundation Awards. Both events are returning to Chicago over the coming week. And this summer, Chicago and Lake Michigan will host the America’s Cup. It’s the first time in the sailing competition’s 164-year history that it will be held in a freshwater setting.

In this report, we look at ways airlines can build more reliable paths to true passenger personalization, to reinforce brand, build strong loyalty relationships, reduce the burden on front-line personnel empowering them with the tools and information to respond appropriately to customer needs, and to raise purchase rates of ancillary and a-la-carte products and services.

Read more @ https://skift.com/2016/04/19/new-skift-report-how-airlines-can-create-a-customer-centric-digital-experience/

Is Airbnb really helping New York City’s historically black neighborhoods?

A recent report published by Airbnb claims that the “home-sharing” platform has provided a marked “economic opportunity” to New York City’s historically black neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy and West Harlem. According to Airbnb’s analysis, in the past year it saw the most significant growth of its userbase in black neighborhoods as compared to any other kind of neighborhood in the city.

“In the 30 New York City zip codes with the largest black populations by percentage, the number of Airbnb guests grew 78% year-over-year, versus 51% citywide,” the report explains. “In fact, of the 1.26 million people who visited New York City via Airbnb last year, 1 in 7 stayed with a host in these neighborhoods.”

Taken at face value, Airbnb’s claim of providing black retirees and empty nesters with the chance to make a bit of money on the side reads like a good thing. But there are some local New Yorkers who are skeptical of the story the company’s trying to sell. Specifically, there’s no real way that Airbnb can prove that actual black people are using and benefitting from its business.

Murray Cox, a data analyst working out of Bed-Stuy, contends that Airbnb is actually one of the forces contributing to the gentrification of these neighborhoods.

Read more @ http://fusion.net/story/295484/airbnb-nyc-black-neighborhoods/

San Francisco wants Airbnb to help enforce rental law

Airbnb could be held responsible for policing San Francisco listings that violate the city's short-term rental law.

San Francisco Supervisors David Campos and Aaron Peskin plan to introduce legislation on Tuesday that will hold sites like Airbnb responsible for verifying that hosts are following the city's law. Current law requires hosts to register, carry liability insurance, pay transient occupancy taxes and uphold a 90-day cap on unhosted rentals, among other things.

The supervisors are proposing that any hosting site that doesn't follow the mandate would face fines of up to $1,000 per day per unregistered, aka illegal, listing.

"The legislation I am introducing tomorrow with Supervisor Peskin will ensure that Web platforms are supporting -- and not hindering -- the enforcement of our short term rental law in San Francisco," said Campos in a statement. "This is not about changing the current law, it's about enforcing the current law."

Read more @ http://www.cnet.com/news/san-francisco-wants-airbnb-to-help-enforce-rental-law/

Pictures of hosts, not homes, key for Airbnb renters, study shows

If you’ve always been told that you have a face that can be trusted, you might be able to make a killing renting out your place on Airbnb, the online sharing economy rental site.

New research from Hebrew University indicates that it is not location, price, size, or customer reviews of a property that is most important for Airbnb users when they make a decision on renting a place – but whether or not they feel the renter can be “trusted,” based on their profile photo.

While the effect of product attributes such as apartment size and location is rather obvious, consumers’ responsiveness to seller attributes such as reputation and personal photos has yet to be studied,” said Prof. Aliza Fleischer, the Yekutiel X. Federmann Chair in Hotel Management in the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at the Hebrew University.

Read more @http://www.timesofisrael.com/pictures-of-hosts-not-homes-key-for-airbnb-renters-study-shows/

Airbnb Announces Strategic Ties With The Times Group

Airbnb, The world’s leading community driven hospitality company, announced its strategic partnership with The Times of India Group. The partnership comes as part of Airbnb’s plans to focus on developing the Indian travel market. As a part of the partnership, The Times Group will drive awareness of Airbnb accommodations, and help Airbnb create a truly localized presence for India, leveraging The Times Group’s vast network of media and operational resources.

What is clear is that India is becoming a priority market for Airbnb. The tie-up will enable Airbnb to develop a “localized presence” in India while giving it access to the Times Group’s “vast network of media and operational resources”.
Earlier this year Airbnb announced that it was working with Thomas Cook India, offering international “flight plus Airbnb” packages.
And just over twelve months ago Times Group invested in Uber. The statement at the time said that Times Group reaches more than 200 million Indians across its digital, print and TV channels.

Read more @ http://techstory.in/18042016-airbnb-announces-strategic-ties-times-group/

Airbnb is the big sleeper for Mantra Group, Citi says

We've had the Uber effect on Cabcharge, now prepare for the Airbnb effect on hotel groups such as market darling Mantra Group. 

That's the view from Citi retail and leisure analyst Sam Teeger, who has started coverage on Mantra with a non-consensus "sell" call and $3.50 a share price target. 

Teeger reckons Mantra faces significant competition from Airbnb and online travel agents, and increasing supply in some of its key markets. 

It's the sort of disruption theory that is very topical among fund managers but hard to value given limited data available on the likes of Airbnb. It also comes as The Grattan Institute ralled governments and policymakers to encourage the sharing economy rather than try to nobble it with new rules. 

"Google Search and Airbnb review data indicates a significant increase in Australian Airbnb activity over the last 12 months, which in our view has been masked by strong hotel demand," Teeger told clients on Thursday morning. 

"However, we expect Airbnb to exacerbate the cyclicality in the hotel industry when demand slows.

"We currently see the economy leisure sector as most vulnerable to Airbnb, which is where Breakfree is positioned (~20% of Mantra's properties).

"Further downside could arise if Airbnb breaks into the corporate market through the BridgeStreet agreement or should property owners increasingly bypass Mantra and list their units on Airbnb." 

Mantra shares were down 2.9 per cent to $3.98 on Thursday morning.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/street-talk/airbnb-is-the-big-sleeper-for-mantra-group-citi-says-20160421-gobm3m#ixzz46Qx0YkxV 
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How Airbnb has lost its soul

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t was the summer of 2008 in San Francisco and a small company called Airbnb had a dream. People with spare bedrooms would welcome strangers into their homes and share their restaurant recommendations with them for a small fee.

Fast forward to 2016 and the now quite big and successful Airbnb is considered one of the mainstays of what we have come to call “the sharing economy”. It is also, in every article written on millennials, the business that defines the mentality of a generation.

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Why? First, because it has subtly commoditised the “unique” experience. It offers people a way to feel both spontaneous and that they are somehow circumventing the world of big business. The word that Airbnb uses to describe the kind of holiday its users might have is “authentic”. “We make it easy for you to get to know hosts,” boasts the website, picturing a smiling lady with a half-chopped cucumber.

But Airbnb has lost its soul. No longer is it just about one human sharing their home with another. Something quite annoying has happened: companies offering property management services have emerged to help hosts get the best deal for their rooms. This is great news for hosts, but bad news for everyone else. It is also something of a reversal of one of the principles that first made Airbnb different — disintermediation.

Read more @ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1fbef27e-022b-11e6-ac98-3c15a1aa2e62.html#axzz46L2cGDOk

Airbnb to collect taxes in more places throughout state

 Travelers both in state and out of state renting from the popular Airbnb website will be seeing the company collecting taxes in more places throughout the state. Local governments view the taxes as vital revenue streams.

The company is working with local governments to eventually get the taxes collected throughout the state. The tax varies per county.

You’re going on a trip and might want to skip the hotel. Popular alternative Airbnb offers rooms or even whole houses in local neighborhoods. But some Florida counties are missing out on tourism taxes. 

Leon County is one of them

“Our budget 100 percent comes from the tourist development tax, and that’s the tax that our guests pay who are staying in our commercial lodging establishments,” said Leon County Tourism Development director Lee Daniel.

He said Airbnb has been working with them to expand. They started collecting taxes for 22 counties in December and just added another four.

“Airbnb is being, to their credit, a good corporate citizen and reaching out to all counties in Florida, collecting a tourism development tax,” Daniel said.

In Tallahassee, the rentals are popular during legislative session and Florid

Read more @ http://www.news4jax.com/news/airbnb-to-collect-taxes-in-more-places-throughout-state

Debate over Airbnb and Uber reveals hypocrisy of 'sharing' economy

I grew up steeped in what might be termed the "sharing economy" of its day.

It's probably technically better described as 'the "grey market." Whatever — a label's a label.

If you knew someone who could get you eggs, give you a haircut, or rewire your home at a fraction of the over-the-table price, surely only a fool would shell out the extra cash. The produce was fresh, you knew where to find the electrician if things went wrong, and as for haircuts, well, we're talking about the '70s.

• Regulation could strengthen sharing economy in long run
• Airbnb Canada agrees on need for new regulations and data sharing
• New Toronto Uber, taxi rules unlikely to go ahead as proposed

I'm willing to bet it's an economy millions of Canadians are familiar with.

The taxman may have been cheated out of a few bucks, but the small amounts people saved by going off book from time to time wasn't going to bankrupt the country.

The difference between then and now — obviously — was technology. The guy who fixed your car on the sly was never going to harness the power of social media to threaten the global automotive repair business.

Nor was the plumber, the tile layer or the electrician; they all worked during the week for the overcharging businesses they undercut on the weekends.

Read more @ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/uber-airbnb-sharing-economy-1.3526114

Pete McMartin: Burned by the Sharing Economy? Full of Hot Airbnb

The newest enemy to be identified in The War On Real Estate is the proliferation of short-term rental (STR) suites in Metro Vancouver, the consensus being that their popularity has contributed to (a) the rental housing shortage, (b) rising real estate prices, and (c) more overwrought media stories about rental housing shortages and rising real estate prices. I know at least one of the above is right.

Since the City of Vancouver proper contains over 75 per cent of the almost 4,800 STRs in the Metro area, its city council has been under the most pressure to do something about them. This, it has promised to do. I have no idea what that something would be, or if even doing that something is feasible, given the enforcement difficulties presented by the exponential growth of STRs. It should tell you something that stories about such rental services, of which Airbnb is but one of several in Metro, often use the phrase “technically illegal” to describe them, as if illegality could be measured in degrees, as if STRs were guilty of the same level of venality of, say, urinating in public. Be discreet enough and the law will look the other way.

But if the majority of STRs in Vancouver are illegal, then why, one asks, doesn’t the city prosecute them? Because, the answer out of City Hall is that the prosecution of them presents the same problem as that of illegal suites (which, I am certain, outnumber STRs in Metro by many, many thousands). Despite what the public may think, the city does not have at the ready platoons of bylaw officers, who, at any rate, are otherwise preoccupied. They don’t go looking for STRs. So enforcement — as it is in the case of illegal suites — is complaint-initiated. Even when a complaint is received, investigations can take time. Evidence has to be assembled. “It becomes,” said Coun. Geoff Meggs, who is the city’s point man on the issue, “a very complex business.”

Read more @ http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/pete-mcmartin-burned-by-the-sharing-economy

How Airbnb's design tricks make us trust complete strangers

Airbnb has become so normalized among certain segments of the population that we rarely stop to think about the enormous feat the company has performed in getting its customers to trust complete strangers - on one side, the guests who stay in random homes, and on the other, the hosts who open up their abodes to people who they have never met.

This is no accident. Airbnb has figured out how to design for trust. Or, as cofounder Joe Gebbia put it in a recent TED talk, "We bet our whole company on the hope that with the right design, people would be able to overcome the stranger danger bias."

It's the little things in Airbnb's interface that make all the difference, Alex Schleifer, head of design at Airbnb, tells Tech Insider.

Read more @ http://www.businessinsider.in/How-Airbnbs-design-tricks-make-us-trust-complete-strangers/articleshow/51828275.cms

NEW WEBSITE TARGETS ILLEGAL SUBLETS ON AIRBNB

A man who had his apartment rented out via Airbnb only to have a sex party hosted there, is trying to make sure the same doesn't happen to anyone else.

He's created a website called "Sublet Spy" to let landlords keep an eye on their tenants, and make sure the apartments don't end up on apartment-sharing sites.

Ari Teman's terrible experience with Airbnb prompted him to create a business that actually targets the company.

"If you list on Airbnb, we will find you, tell your landlord, and you may get evicted or end up on a tenant black list," Teman said.

In fact, Teman's on that black list.

Eyewitness News reported about how when he used Airbnb to list his own sublet in Chelsea, the person who rented from him threw an orgy that prompted the police to show up. It also prompted Teman's eviction.

 

"Certainly, I regret ever listing on Airbnb," Teman said.

Airbnb reimbursed him for property damages, but he says he didn't understand until after the fact that he was breaking the law by renting out his apartment.

Now he's a crusader. He launched sublet spy which uses technology to figure out who's offering an illegal sublet.

Read more @ http://abc7ny.com/realestate/new-website-targets-illegal-sublets-on-airbnb/1275814/

Airbnb just acquired a team of bitcoin and blockchain experts

Home-rental company Airbnb has “acqui-hired” the majority of the team behind ChangeCoin, a startup that runs a bitcoin-based micropayments service, according to four people with knowledge of the deal.

The alternative lodging site has been looking at a few bitcoin and blockchain startups, according to two sources, to study what the technology could do for its services. Companies like Uber and Airbnb are built on their ability to manage supply and demand, which could be aided by a powerful, open ledger system like blockchain.

Through a service called ChangeTip, ChangeCoin lets users send tiny amounts of money, or tips, over social networks including Twitter and Reddit. But Airbnb appears to only be interested in the talent behind the company: ChangeCoin is still shopping its intellectual property, sources said.

Read more @ http://qz.com/657246/airbnb-just-acquired-a-team-of-bitcoin-and-blockchain-experts/