Chicago Sues Airbnb, Kelowna Gets Provincial Exemption, Ireland Clarifies Planning Rules
Watch our latest video reports
AI Agents for Property Managers: Build Your Own in Five Levels
At a recent RSU by PriceLabs webinar on June 24, 2026, Boostly founder Mark Simpson …
AI in Vacation Rentals: Build Your Own AI or Wait for Your PMS?
TL;DR: On a live RSU by PriceLabs webinar, most property managers said they want to build their own AI rather than wait for their software to add it. A poll found cost is not the barrier (just 5%); know-how (54%) and time (37%) are. Thibault Masson, who runs RSU and heads product marketing at PriceLabs, made the case for waiting. For operators, the rule that emerged is to build AI on top of your PMS, never to replace it.
Will AI Destroy the Revenue Manager? What I Heard at Scale UK 2026
TL;DR: At Scale UK 2026, a panel of industry experts managing thousands of listings concluded that while AI absorbs routine reporting, monitoring, and day-to-day pricing adjustments, human revenue managers remain vital. Because LLMs are non-deterministic, dynamic pricing decisions still require deterministic models. Crucial human judgment—specifically building owner trust, managing risk profiles, and navigating local market nuances—cannot be automated. Consequently, revenue managers are scaling up to handle significantly larger portfolios.
Vrbo Search Is Becoming Conversational. What That Means for Hosts
TL;DR: At Explore 2026, Expedia announced a broad suite of AI features across its brands — one confirmed for Vrbo, several on Hotels.com only, and several on the Expedia brand that Vrbo inventory could flow through. Natural language search is the only feature confirmed for Vrbo directly. AI comparison and Q&A tools are Hotels.com-specific, with no stated expansion plan. Family Highlights and Activity Planner are Expedia-brand features — relevant to Vrbo hosts, but not announced for Vrbo. And across all of it, neither Expedia nor Airbnb — who announced the same shift one day later — has said anything about how hosts are supposed to prepare.
Airbnb Just Made AI Judge, Jury, and Sales Agent: Inside the Summer 2026 Release
📌 TL;DR: Airbnb’s May 20, 2026 Summer Release inserted AI into nearly every step of the guest journey: listing creation, pre-booking inquiries, side-by-side comparison, review summarization, and customer support, alongside an unnamed AI layer behind the personalized homepage. The same shift is visible across the industry, with Expedia rolling out conversational and comparison tools for Hotels.com and likely Vrbo. For property managers, the implication is direct: AI legibility now decides whether your listing is found, surfaced, and chosen, on Airbnb and increasingly everywhere else.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Six Weeks Out, the Demand Environment Is Showing Serious Strain
TL;DR: Six weeks before FIFA World Cup 2026, short-term rental demand in US host cities is showing strain. Bookings remain above last year, but new pickup has slowed to 1–2% per week despite flat or shrinking supply, pointing to demand friction rather than oversupply. High prices, flight disruptions, costly stadium transit, visa and border concerns, and weaker international conversion are weighing on bookings. Hotels have already repriced; STR operators may need to adjust quickly if a late surge fails to arrive.
Dubai Short-Term Rental Market 2026: Tourists Gone, 29+ Day Stays Tripled
TL;DR: Dubai’s short-term rental market has temporarily stopped being a tourist destination. Following the outbreak of the US–Iran conflict in late February, demand for 29+ day stays more than tripled year-on-year as displaced residents and expats replaced leisure travellers. Occupancy has collapsed to 17% and RevPAR to $22. But while operators have slashed rates through August to capture this new regional demand, Q4 pricing sits untouched at peak-season levels — a bet on winter recovery the forward data does not yet support.