88m3
Fast Money & Foreign Objects
By Alison Griswold
Coexist.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photo by iStock/Thinkstock.
In mid-June, Amanda Hite, president and chief operating officer of Smith Travel Research, delivered some exciting news at an annual hospitality conference in New York: U.S. hotels were killing it. For the 12 months ending in April, hoteliers had hit all-time highs in occupancy, average daily room rates, and the money made off each room. Over the next two years, more growth was expected. This marked a stunning return from the recession, which left the lodging industry battered as businesses and households alike slashed travel budgets. “We continue to experience some of the best fundamentals that we’ve had,” Hite said.
ALISON GRISWOLD
Alison Griswold is a Slate staff writer covering business and economics.
Hotels aren’t the only players in hospitality enjoying a banner year. Late last month Airbnb, the popular alternative lodging site and poster child for the “sharing economy,” closed a $1.5 billion funding round at a towering $25.5 billion valuation. One of the biggest privates rounds ever, the new money vaulted Airbnb into the upper echelons of the ultra-elite club of billion-dollar startups. Only two other venture-backed private companies—Uber and Chinese electronics-maker Xiaomi—have valuations that are greater. Airbnb, which helps people rent out their homes and spare rooms for short stays, is expected to top $900 million in revenue this year. By 2020, that figure is projected to increase more than tenfold to $10 billion. Airbnb’s listings and annual guests have soared as well, roughly tripling from 2013 to 2014.
That astounding growth is just the latest sign that Airbnb is making good on its promise to “challenge the status quo,” as co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky once put it. Here and now, Airbnb isn’t profitable, forecasting an operating loss of about $150 million for 2015. But at $25.2 billion, Airbnb’s valuation has already surpassed the market cap of major hotel chains like Marriott ($20.6 billion), Starwood ($14.1 billion), and Wyndham ($10 billion), and it’s close to eclipsing that of Hilton ($27.4 billion) as well. While Chesky has at times balked at the term disruption, numbers like those can’t be denied. Airbnb is disrupting hotels. Which is why it’s so surprising that midway through 2015, somehow, both Airbnb and hotels are thriving.
various economic studies, has found that roughly 70 percent to 80 percent of its listings are located outside a city’s central hotel and tourist district. Presumably it’s in Airbnb’s interest to keep up that impression as long as possible—the less hotels see it as threatening, the less opposition and regulatory scrutiny it’s likely to encounter.
That said, $25.5 billion ambitions aren’t so easily cloaked, nor does all the data support Airbnb having a negligible effect on hotels. A paper from researchers at Boston University found a “statistically significant decrease in occupancy rate and an even bigger decrease in hotel room prices” from Airbnb in Texas. In a sign that hotels don’t plan to be complacent, the Financial Times reported late last month that Hyatt had taken a stake in Onefinestay, a British company and upscale Airbnb competitor, and Wyndham had invested in subscription home-swapping site Love Home Swap. On the opposite side of that, Airbnb last year partnered with Concur, an expense management company, and has been working to improve its business travel program.
So maybe hotels are slowly trying to integrate more Airbnb-like services into their holdings, and Airbnb is steadily trying to become slightly more hotel-like in its offerings. “They’re bound to get more similar over time from both sides,” says Arun Sundararajan, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Right now, though, Airbnb and traditional hotels are still far enough apart that not only have they avoided a collision, they’re both managing to thrive. In fact, it’s even possible that the popularity and hype around Airbnb have helped hotels a bit, simply by driving new interest to the market for short-term accommodations. Midway through 2015, the hospitality pie is growing for everyone. But for hoteliers, there’s also a looming, not-so-distant future in which $10 billion of that pie belongs to Airbnb—and that’s bound to look pretty scary.
http://www.slate.com/articles/busin...ed_yet_and_both_are_thriving_what.single.html
Coexist.
Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photo by iStock/Thinkstock.
In mid-June, Amanda Hite, president and chief operating officer of Smith Travel Research, delivered some exciting news at an annual hospitality conference in New York: U.S. hotels were killing it. For the 12 months ending in April, hoteliers had hit all-time highs in occupancy, average daily room rates, and the money made off each room. Over the next two years, more growth was expected. This marked a stunning return from the recession, which left the lodging industry battered as businesses and households alike slashed travel budgets. “We continue to experience some of the best fundamentals that we’ve had,” Hite said.
ALISON GRISWOLDAlison Griswold is a Slate staff writer covering business and economics.
Hotels aren’t the only players in hospitality enjoying a banner year. Late last month Airbnb, the popular alternative lodging site and poster child for the “sharing economy,” closed a $1.5 billion funding round at a towering $25.5 billion valuation. One of the biggest privates rounds ever, the new money vaulted Airbnb into the upper echelons of the ultra-elite club of billion-dollar startups. Only two other venture-backed private companies—Uber and Chinese electronics-maker Xiaomi—have valuations that are greater. Airbnb, which helps people rent out their homes and spare rooms for short stays, is expected to top $900 million in revenue this year. By 2020, that figure is projected to increase more than tenfold to $10 billion. Airbnb’s listings and annual guests have soared as well, roughly tripling from 2013 to 2014.
That astounding growth is just the latest sign that Airbnb is making good on its promise to “challenge the status quo,” as co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky once put it. Here and now, Airbnb isn’t profitable, forecasting an operating loss of about $150 million for 2015. But at $25.2 billion, Airbnb’s valuation has already surpassed the market cap of major hotel chains like Marriott ($20.6 billion), Starwood ($14.1 billion), and Wyndham ($10 billion), and it’s close to eclipsing that of Hilton ($27.4 billion) as well. While Chesky has at times balked at the term disruption, numbers like those can’t be denied. Airbnb is disrupting hotels. Which is why it’s so surprising that midway through 2015, somehow, both Airbnb and hotels are thriving.
various economic studies, has found that roughly 70 percent to 80 percent of its listings are located outside a city’s central hotel and tourist district. Presumably it’s in Airbnb’s interest to keep up that impression as long as possible—the less hotels see it as threatening, the less opposition and regulatory scrutiny it’s likely to encounter.
That said, $25.5 billion ambitions aren’t so easily cloaked, nor does all the data support Airbnb having a negligible effect on hotels. A paper from researchers at Boston University found a “statistically significant decrease in occupancy rate and an even bigger decrease in hotel room prices” from Airbnb in Texas. In a sign that hotels don’t plan to be complacent, the Financial Times reported late last month that Hyatt had taken a stake in Onefinestay, a British company and upscale Airbnb competitor, and Wyndham had invested in subscription home-swapping site Love Home Swap. On the opposite side of that, Airbnb last year partnered with Concur, an expense management company, and has been working to improve its business travel program.
So maybe hotels are slowly trying to integrate more Airbnb-like services into their holdings, and Airbnb is steadily trying to become slightly more hotel-like in its offerings. “They’re bound to get more similar over time from both sides,” says Arun Sundararajan, professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Right now, though, Airbnb and traditional hotels are still far enough apart that not only have they avoided a collision, they’re both managing to thrive. In fact, it’s even possible that the popularity and hype around Airbnb have helped hotels a bit, simply by driving new interest to the market for short-term accommodations. Midway through 2015, the hospitality pie is growing for everyone. But for hoteliers, there’s also a looming, not-so-distant future in which $10 billion of that pie belongs to Airbnb—and that’s bound to look pretty scary.
http://www.slate.com/articles/busin...ed_yet_and_both_are_thriving_what.single.html
I've used it, but out of the country. Wonder how my experience would be here. Honestly I dont want to find out. Im not in the mood for those emotional issues, at least not today 
