Short-term Rental News Digest – June 2023

Time surely does fly. The first six months have delivered exciting news. From summits to new tools, hosts and property managers were given many opportunities to upskill their hosting game. 

By the look of June’s headlines, the next six months are set to be equally eventful. Industry stakeholders can look forward to more tools, events, and, more importantly, bookings. In fact, according to recent AirDNA data, European hosts can expect one hot summer as a wave of bookings from domestic and international travelers roll in. And, to make sure things won’t go up in flames, Minut has you covered. 

Minut Introduces Cigarette Smoke Detection

Vacation rental hosts have long been battling with guests smoking inside their properties, even though their house rules prohibit it. Now, Minut is coming to their rescue with their latest innovation – cigarette smoke detection –  which was released to highlight WHO’s No Tobacco Day. 

Thanks to this new feature, Minut is now the first truly, all-in-one solution. Aside from cigarette smoke, it can also monitor noise levels, temperature, motion, and occupancy. 

Not only is it versatile, but also very intuitive. It can be enabled via a mobile app or Minut’s website. Then, if cigarette smoke is detected inside a property, it will notify hosts where inside the property cigarette smoke was detected so that they can take appropriate action. 

This new feature is also another example of how the vacation rental industry is starting to embrace artificial intelligence (AI). As this useful feature uses AI, it has been trained to distinguish between cigarette smoke and other types of smoke, for more accurate reporting.  

iGMS users can also integrate Minut with their software to streamline operations and enhance the guest experience. After syncing the reservation details, your guests will receive an SMS notification (or an automatic call) to inform them when, for example, the noise limit is reached.

Airbnb Lists US Cities Offering the Best Opportunity

Airbnb created a new listicle aimed at hosts looking to enter the market and generate an extra income source. After studying their own data, they’ve identified the following destinations as the places in the United States that currently offer the best opportunities:

1. Chicago, Illinois
2. Denver, Colorado
3. San Diego, California
4. Los Angeles, California
5. Sevierville and Smoky Mountains, Tennessee

While a place like New York City is extremely popular among tourists from all over the globe, it has some of the most restrictive regulations at the moment. However, Airbnb has taken it upon themselves to try and change this and recently filed a lawsuit over the extreme restrictions and “de facto ban” against STRs set to come into effect in July. 

AirDNA Doubles Demand Expectations Forecast

AirDNA has released their mid-year outlook report for the remainder of 2023. According to their data, the industry is still thriving and they’ve actually doubled their expectations since the beginning of the year to a year-over-year growth of just over 10%. 

As for specific locations, the most significant RevPAR growth is among small cities, midsize cities, and rural destinations. On the other hand, it’s predicted that coastal locations will continue to struggle with growth, while mountain and lake resorts might enjoy some increase. 

As for the outlooks for the European market, AirDNA anticipates that 2023 might deliver its strongest summer yet. Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, and Austria specifically are enjoying exceptional growth among international travelers. In terms of domestic travel, France and the UK are proving to be popular. Domestic travelers booked nearly 70% of all trips in these two countries. 

Key Takeaways From the Skift STR Summit

If you missed Skift’s STR Summit which was held at the beginning of June in New York City, here are some of the key takeaways: 

• Short-term rental regulations are becoming increasingly draconian
• Artificial intelligence can improve processes and efficiency (but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done)
• While there’s room for improvement regarding transparency, STRs are the bigger winners in the post-pandemic lodging niche
• Supply and revenue are expected to grow despite market volatility and uncertainty
• Airbnb is positive about urban rentals’ future

STR Summit Scheduled for October

For those interested in attending an event about the short-term rental industry, there’s the inaugural London ShortTermRentalz Summit that’s taking place in a few months’ time. Scheduled for 18 October, the event, which will be held in partnership with Skift, will expand on these key takeaways mentioned above. 

Thought leaders in the industry will come together to discuss strategies, their future visions, and topics like:

• Investment prospects
• The evolving landscape of tech
• Payment solutions

New Holiday Home Collection in the UK

What started out merely as a blog has turned into a peer-to-peer real estate agency and now an online real estate connection platform with a holiday home collection. The new curated collection of Modernist Estates will boast midcentury holiday homes in the United Kingdom that showcase architectural quality. Key features of this style include open spaces, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a focus on minimalism. 

In addition to photos of the property, each listing also includes key details about the property’s design and architecture as well as local info. It currently features properties in West Wales, Suffolk, the Isle of Mull, London, and the Scottish Highlands, but there are plans to include more UK destinations and possibly other international locations soon.