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NEWS STORIES
FEATURES
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Editorial comment
27•04•20 Welcome to the latest ShortTermRentalz weekly newsletter!
• As the coronavirus continues to decimate the global travel sector, the online travel agencies are being forced to seek additional funding to survive post-pandemic and to adopt emergency cost-cutting measures, after it was confirmed Expedia Group had raised $3.2 billion in capital made up of debt and equity securities.
Of that total, $1.2 billion was invested by Apollo Global Management and Silver Lake Partners, who recently participated in a similar investment round for Airbnb. What is clear is that Expedia will not be the last OTA to scramble for funds during this ongoing crisis.
In related news:
- Booking.com is halting all rentals in the UK until at least 9 May following pressure from the Scottish National Party [SNP], just one week after it took out a $4 billion loan in bonds and hinted at "probable layoffs"
- Softbank-backed OYO has announced a further round of furloughs, while all employees in India have been asked to take a 25 per cent pay cut
- Speaking to Skift founder Rafat Ali, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said "multi-month and indefinite stays" would be a "huge part" of his company in the future but admitted it needed to make its relations with its hosts less "complex" and "distanced"
The problems encountered by the likes of Booking.com, Expedia and OYO appear to stem from their struggles to compete with Google's search engine in travel booking. Should Google make a significant play for the vacation rental sector, it could leave the traditional players lagging further behind and needing more bailouts to weather the Covid-19 storm.
• Here at STRz, we want to use the collective experience and knowledge of our readership for the good of the sector, and we are appealing for you to share any hints and tips that can help others.
In the second episode of the ShortTermRentalz podcast here, Welcome Pickups' co-founder and product director, Savvas Georgiou, spoke about how there would be a greater emphasis than ever on guest safety post-pandemic and this will have a large bearing on traveller choices in the future.
In a busy week for features, T5 Strategies managing director Sean Worker provided his tips for businesses to plan their "descent from the other side of the Covid-19 mountain", Rentals United's Vanessa de Souza Lage focused on "finding new opportunities in the new travel landscape", and my colleague Miles Hurley wrote his debut article on sustainability to mark Earth Day here.
• Finally, I'd like to welcome Prab Jaswal as the newest addition to the IHM team. Prab joins us as an event producer for the inaugural Urban Living Festival on 25-26 November, in London.
If you have a story you want us to tell the industry, please click here and get involved with the community by joining our ShortTermRentalz LinkedIn group here.
Paul Stevens, news editor
paul@internationalhospitality.media
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