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