Uvika Wahi
Where Guests Are Really Booking in 2025: Beyond Airbnb, Booking.com & Vrbo
📌TL;DR: Major OTAs still drive bookings, but property managers are losing control over visibility, pricing, and policies. This article explores the best alternatives to Airbnb and Vrbo in 2025 — including Holidu and Whimstay — and explains how to choose the right channels for your guests, region, and business goals.
New Vrbo Updates Show It’s Making Reliability Its Core Identity
📌TL;DR: Vrbo has introduced a new suite of updates centered on trust and reliability. The rollout includes VrboCare, a refreshed guarantee program, a new “Loved by Guests” badge, and stricter, listing-level Premier Host standards. Together, these changes reinforce Vrbo’s positioning as the “safe to book” platform, focused on consistent, verified guest experiences. For property managers, the takeaway is clear: reliability is now the metric that drives visibility.
From Reel to Reality: How Expedia Using AI to Turn Instagram Inspiration into Bookable Trips
Expedia’s new AI Trip Matching feature lets travelers turn Instagram Reels into real-world itineraries. Here’s how it works, what problems it solves, and what it reveals about the future of discovery for short-term rental managers — where visibility begins long before the search.
Airbnb’s October 2025 Host Upgrades: New Tools for Pricing, Cancellations, and Payout Visibility
📌TL;DR- Airbnb’s October 2025 host updates bring new tools for pro managers: dynamic cancellation policies, improved year-ahead price tips, earnings dashboards with YoY comparisons, and payout previews. These features signal Airbnb’s push to become an all-in-one platform for pricing, cancellations, and analytics, reducing the need for third-party tools.
Airbnb’s AI Era Isn’t About Automation, It’s About Emotion and Understanding
📌TL;DR- Airbnb is using AI not just for efficiency, but to make travel more human. New features like “Connections,” improved maps, and flexible carousels aim to foster emotional loyalty by helping guests connect with each other and explore meaningfully. It’s a shift from automation to empathy, making AI a tool for belonging, not just booking.
Airbnb’s New Social Features Reveal a Plan to Link People, Places, and Possibilities
📌TL;DR- Airbnb’s new Connections feature turns Experiences into a social network, letting guests see who’s attending, message each other, and build ongoing travel relationships. Combined with smarter discovery tools and AI-driven personalization, it’s a clear shift: Airbnb wants to be more than a booking app — it’s building a social travel platform. For property managers, this means more emotionally engaged guests, deeper retention loops, and a platform that’s evolving fast toward community and connection.
Italy Moves to Scrap Tax Break on Short-Term Rentals, Prompting Fierce Debate
📌TL;DR- Italy’s draft 2026 budget proposes replacing the 21% flat tax that applies to a host’s first short-term rental property with a uniform 26% rate on all rentals. The Italy short-term rental tax 2026 plan is still under debate and faces political backlash.
Google’s New AI Mode Could Rewrite How Guests Discover and Plan Trips
📌TL;DR- Google’s new AI Mode is transforming how travelers discover and plan trips, combining conversational search, live pricing, curated itineraries, and Google Maps into a single, seamless experience, without ever leaving Google. For short-term rental property managers, this shift could redefine visibility, as AI Mode favors high-quality, structured content and even highlights short-term rentals over hotels in family or group searches. With visual search, paid placements, and direct booking potential on the horizon, managers must optimize their Google listings, metadata, and imagery to stay competitive.
Airbnb Host-Only Fee Deadline Is Almost Here: Your 5-Point Pricing Audit Before October 27
Airbnb’s Host‑Only Fee model officially begins on October 27, 2025, replacing the old split‑fee structure. That means hosts will cover the full 15.5% service fee, unless they adjust prices. This 5‑point pricing audit walks you through how to update markups, cleaning fees, and owner communications to stay margin‑neutral and avoid payout surprises.
Perplexity Travel for Vacation Rentals: How AI Is Powering Trip Search
More than six in ten travelers have already used AI to plan or book a trip, according to a recent ...
Vrbo’s Performance Milestones: Visibility Is the New Currency
Vrbo is introducing Performance Milestones in 2026, a new tiered framework that reshapes how hosts and property managers earn recognition, ...
Vrbo Payments: Expedia Takes Over as Merchant of Record
Expedia Group has announced a pilot for Vrbo Payments, a new system that makes Expedia the merchant of record for ...
Vrbo Tightens Its Premier Host Standards: What Property Managers Need to Know (UPDATED)
Expedia Group just expanded Vrbo’s demand funnel, and now it’s tightening the rules on who gets to benefit from it. ...
Vrbo Just Got a Lot Bigger By Tapping Into Expedia’s Global Network
Expedia Group has announced a slate of updates for its vacation rental brand Vrbo, but one stands out as the ...
Airbnb’s “Stay Grounded” Ad Marks the Official Start of Its Identity as a Lifestyle Platform
Airbnb has a new commercial out called Stay Grounded, animated in its signature whimsical style, set to George Michael’s Freedom! ...
How Airbnb Is Pushing for Softer Short-Term Rental Rules in New York, Two Years After the Crackdown
New York City welcomed nearly 63 million visitors in 2024, generating over $74 billion in economic impact. It is the ...
Airbnb Host Fee Change Correction: How to Actually Keep Your Payout
Last week, we explained Airbnb’s shift to a 15.5% host-only fee. But we need to clarify something important: our original ...
AI Airbnb Scams in 2025: How Artificial Intelligence Is Powering Fraud
A London traveler booked an Airbnb in Manhattan and nearly walked away with a $16,000 bill for damage she never ...
Vrbo’s Host-Initiated Cancellation Policy: Why Property Managers Are Worried
When guests arrive at a property and can’t get in, it’s more than a bad first impression. It’s a breach ...
Airbnb Connections: New Feature Turns Trips Into Social Networks
Airbnb has quietly launched a new feature called Connections, now visible in user profiles. At first glance, it’s a simple ...
