The sharing economy is a new reality hoteliers are still grasping to embrace. Over the past few weeks we have seen jurisdictions attempt to regulate this reality as evidenced by the San Francisco City Council implementing new legislation providing a legal avenue for Airbnb. Uber, Lyft, and other ride sharing companies are also in uncharted legal territory that will be legislated over the next few years. The challenge here is that users like these services, government legislation is not generally keeping up with these rapid developments, and hoteliers are unsure of how to react.
Is Airbnb a complement to hotels or is it a threat to the traditional hotel model? Given the penchant of Millennials to chart their own path and their increasing share of the traveling public, expect to see Airbnb, Uber, and other competitors continue to dominate the conversation. It would be interesting to see if STR is able to capture the impact of Airbnb and incorporate it into the competitive set of hotels, particularly in dense, urban environments where the impact may be the greatest.