The UK has the fourth largest international travel spend worldwide, especially within the EU. The UK is the fifth largest destination for global travellers. The latest report from Skift, UK Traveler Profile and Key Statistics: The Brexit Effect, estimates the likely impact of Brexit on UK travel over the next five years. Read more:  

Booking.com has started applying star ratings to its short-term rental listings, ranking properties on a one to five-star scale based on overall appeal, using its own judgement. The star ratings are rated on about 400 factors including coffee machines and decor, and are separate from a property’s average score, which is driven by customer reviews. …

Booking.com is closer to its intent of becoming a full-service online travel agency, launching flight bookings in seven European countries, the first time it has offered standalone flight bookings outside sister company Kayak. Across Europe passengers booking flights are redirected to Gotogate, where they can book flights from 650 airlines to destinations around the world. …

Marriott has re-stated that it has limited goals for Homes & Villas by Marriott International, which it intends to use to push rewards for members of its loyalty programme, Bonvoy. Bonvoy members can earn and redeem points for stays across 2,500+ properties, and the company’s attempt to use rentals to encourage people to become repeat …

Airbnb’s vice president of Experiences is planning to leave his position, which he has held since the end of 2016. Joe Zadeh was Airbnb’s ninth ever employee, and will take on a  position overseeing the company’s plans to go public next year. The Experiences division has not driven meaningful revenue yet, with the latest available …

A new batch of travel management startups is changing the face of corporate travel, by putting the focus on the employee’s experience of travel rather than simply satisfying company administrators. By adding loyalty perks and ‘bleisure’ extensions, the aim is that employees will report back positively and company travel buyers will seek these creative routes …

Airbnb has launched an online portal to provide a secure channel for law enforcement to submit legal requests for information and receive status updates from Airbnb. The platform claims its priority is to keep its hosts, guests and communities safe, and that this portal, which will only respond to valid requests for information, will help …

Google is boosting its own vacation rental and apartments business by giving it special positioning, along with displays of rates, photos, reviews and a map within Google search, placing its results above other travel companies’ organic listings. In the past they were hidden amongst hotels on Google Trips, but now searches for ‘vacation rentals’ trigger …

The collapse last week of the world’s oldest travel giant Thomas Cook means hundreds of hotels in Spain are facing imminent closure, the head of the Spanish hotel federation has warned, and the situation could get worse if the country’s government doesn’t take immediate action. The initial estimate of  unpaid bills was 200 million euros, …

As Airbnb prepares for its forthcoming IPO, this article by Forbes discusses how it helps professional property arbitragers into bulk-leasing empty apartments at lower market rates, and renting out units by the night on the homesharing site. Since the start of 2018, half a dozen arbitrage startups including Lyric, Sonder and Stay Alfred have raised …