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Automatic

2832 posts

U.S. short-term rental market trends and challenges in 2025

🏠 U.S. short-term rental market post-pandemic sees saturation, competition, and increased scrutiny, with 45% of small hosts aiming for profit and 25% ceasing to rent out at least one property. Cost management emerges as a top concern, guest expectations challenge small operators, and regulation threats persist, as exemplified by New York City. Sustainable growth is elusive, with 10% of homeowners being former STR hosts as of Mar 26, 2025.
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Inside the rise of female solo travel

🗺 Female solo travel has seen an 800% increase in searches, with 60% of WeRoad travelers now being women. As of Mar 25, 2025, the travel industry has evolved, offering women-only accommodations, guided tours, and online safety resources. Influencers like Kyra-Mae Turner boost the movement through social media. Despite the rise in solo travel, common sense and safety practices are still crucial for female travelers.
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How the travel industry can help solve overtourism

🏖 On Mar 25, 2025, travel industry stakeholders, including companies like Booking.com and Wyndham, are acknowledged for their role in alleviating overtourism by shaping traveler behavior. Key approaches include offering sustainable options, promoting less-known destinations, enforcing visitor limits, and educating about off-peak travel. Collaboration among travelers, businesses, governments, and destinations is emphasized as essential in addressing overtourism. Government policies alone, such as Venice's entry restrictions, may not suffice without significant costs to deter visitors.
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Dear tourists: Do not come

🚩 Majorca, Mar 25, 2025: Local groups, including SOS Residents, call for tourists to avoid the island amidst a 32% population surge over two decades, housing crises, and overstressed infrastructure. Despite a new Sustainable Tourism Tax, Majorca faces a record 20 million visitors in 2025. Campaigners urge for tourist caps and curbs on foreign property investment as quality of life for locals deteriorates, with some living in caravans or departing the island due to housing shortages and high living costs.
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Ban on parity clauses leaves Booking.com cold

🏨 In Switzerland, despite the Lex Booking law enacted in 2023 to ban parity clauses, hotels still struggle with OTA dominance. As of 2025, 60% of bookings are direct, chiefly aiding small, rural hotels, while OTA bookings rose from 27% to 36%, notably in larger hotels. Hotel profits suffer due to OTA commissions between 12-20%, with ongoing issues of restricted customer data access and non-transparent OTA discount strategies. OTAs also engage in undercutting practices, challenging hotel revenues.
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Virtuoso 2025 Continental Europe Forum highlights strategic focus

🏕 At the 2025 Continental Europe Forum, Virtuoso, a leader in luxury travel, showcased its 239% sales increase over 2019, with hotel sales at the forefront. Future bookings for 2025 and 2026 are up over 30%, with high-end and premium cruise bookings increasing by 51% and 49%, respectively. Slovenia saw a 473% surge in popularity among cooler European destinations. Virtuoso also introduced marketing tools, like the Social Media Content Centre, and enhanced hotel program amenities, resulting in up to 50% more revenue for participating properties.
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How independent hotels can outperform big brands

🏨 Independent hotels, despite smaller budgets and resources, can thrive by personalizing service, offering local experiences, and smart strategies. Using guest data, dynamic pricing, direct bookings, social proof, targeted digital ads, and cloud-based systems like PMS for automation are key. Effective marketing and loyalty programs can be simple and direct—forgoing points for personal engagement. Strategies discussed are essential to compete against big chains. Full insights at RoomRaccoon (Mar 25, 2025).
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ITB Rewind: Shiji’s Vision for Hospitality Tech and the Power of Clarity

📱 At ITB, Kevin King, CEO of Shiji International, discussed hospitality technology evolution, Shiji's new branding, and hotel operations' future. Shiji transformed from product-centric to service-oriented, offering flexible, modular solutions to meet hotels' needs. King began his career as a bellman, providing him with an understanding of the industry's requirements.
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MullenLowe UK

😀 Social Media platforms, entering an "unhinged era," are shifting from polished content to anarchic, self-depreciating humor. Brands like Duolingo, Ryanair, and Nutterbutter are embracing shitposting to connect with audiences, but it's risky and not suitable for all—especially those built on trust. Unhinged content requires understanding the audience and can take time to reflect in sales growth. Missteps, like Burger King’s controversial tweet in 2021 and Duolingo’s poorly received Amber Heard joke, highlight the need for a diverse team to avoid offensive content. Despite the risks, unhinged content can effectively increase brand talkability and relatability.
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Booking.com and OpenAI personalize travel at scale

🏖 Booking.com, in collaboration with OpenAI, aims to enhance the travel planning experience by introducing an AI Trip Planner that responds to open-ended questions. As of March 24, 2025, the platform's new focus is on aiding early-stage travel discovery, particularly when users' plans are not yet concrete. The prototype, which merges Booking.com's machine learning tools with OpenAI's models, was developed in just 10 weeks. It combines various data types, such as pricing, availability, user reviews, and descriptions to deliver more accurate suggestions, including lesser-known destinations, using natural language inputs. This innovation stems from a partnership between the technical and product teams of both companies.
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