We certainly couldn’t send a newsletter out this week without mentioning the big news. There is a vaccine for COVID-19…and while that’s true, the other big news in our world of short-term rentals is that Airbnb just went public. We’ll let you decide which one is more exciting (insert wink). In all seriousness, one of the most interesting takeaways is that Airbnb ended the first day of trading worth $100.7 billion, based on a fully diluted share count. This is greater than the combined market value of Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt combined. Booking Holdings market cap is 86.2B, so even comparing online travel websites, Airbnb has now taken the lead.
We’ll continue to watch how Airbnb evolves and if they have plans to make further changes that may impact short-term rental homeowners and hosts.
There are so many articles, interviews, and information about this in the media, so we’ve summarized a few links for you here:
