This Week’s News & Insights

Good morning,

Here’s what’s going on in the short-term rental world this week:

World Cup organizers face a massive accommodation crunch as some cities resist deregulating STRs, Airbnb’s rumored loyalty program is picking up steam, and attendees leak what they learned at the platform’s first Professional Host Summit.

On the regulations front: An Atlanta neighborhood bans all new short-term rentals, an Arizona county prepares to push for statewide reforms at an October summit, and European regulators from Greece to the U.K. roll out stricter STR limits.

Lets dive in. 

NEWS

Headline Roundup

• World Cup 2026 Host Cities Face Severe Lodging Shortage (The Host Report)

• Airbnb May Finally Launch Its Own Rewards Program (Skift)

• Florida Lawmakers Push for New Pool Safety Rules After STR Drownings (KRTV)

• Vrbo Leverages Expedia to Boost Listings and Visibility (Skift)

• Advocates Call for Reforms to New York’s Restrictive STR Rules (City & State NY)

• Sonesta Partners With Viator to Expand Loyalty Program Benefits (Sonesta Newsroom)

• Marriott Launches New Outdoor Hospitality Brand to Tap Into Nature Travel Boom (Hotel Investment Today)

• What the Government Shutdown Means for Restaurants & Hotels (Hospitality Tech)

• RMS and TRYBE Partner to Simplify Spa and Hotel Management (RMS Cloud)

• ÖÖD – The “Mirror House” Modular Stay Developer Lands Investment From Bayard Capital to Expand (ÖÖD Group)

• Hospitable Raises $1.5M in Community Funding (The Host Report)

• Pacaso Secures $72.5M Funding for Luxury Rentals Co-Ownership Platform (PhocusWire)

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INTERESTING INSIGHTS

Behind the Scenes at Airbnb's Professional Host Summit

Last week, Airbnb held its first Professional Host Summit amid growing frustration from hosts about more lenient guest cancellation policies, tougher review removal rules, increased host fees, and the platform's overall shift towards a "guest's market" combined with oversupply and falling international demand.

Summit attendees were required to sign NDAs, so there's limited official information available, but here are the key takeaways that I’ve been seeing:

Business Profiles

Skift reported that Airbnb is exploring a feature allowing property managers to create business profiles, rather than appearing as individual hosts. The goal would be to streamline account management and reduce guest confusion.

Airbnb showed attendees several mockups of new business profiles, though summit participants were not permitted to photograph them.

Details on Airbnb's Algorithm

The algorithm determines whether you rank on the first page of search results, or if your listing is essentially invisible. With that kind of power, hosts constantly speculate on how "the algorithm" works.

One attendee said that after speaking with Airbnb's internal teams, he learned that every search result is hyper-personalized using more than 800 factors and advanced AI models that predict which home will deliver the best experience for each individual guest - based on their search criteria, past bookings and engagement, location, how they interact with listings, etc.

And that new listings get a grace period where they're randomly injected into relevant search results so Airbnb can measure their performance for future rankings.

Fireside Chat with Brian Chesky

One host that attended summarized his takeaway like this: Airbnb is listening, and wants to rebuild trust with professional hosts.

But Airbnb also emphasized that quality is non-negotiable and clarified they won’t lower standards to accommodate scale.

As Brian Chesky reportedly put it: “Pro hosts are some of our best hosts—and some of our worst.”

Airbnb also shared internal data showing professional hosts charge, on average, 25% higher nightly rates than individual hosts, yet receive guest ratings 8% lower. This "value perception gap" was framed as a wake-up call for pro hosts to deliver scalable, five-star experiences. This further reinforces that one 4-star review matters more than a handful of 5s.

MARKET INSIGHTS

Mortgage Rate Snapshot

Mortgage rates held steady this week with traders focused on the government shutdown and delayed jobs report, keeping pricing largely unchanged while awaiting clearer economic signals.

Regulations Update

• Atlanta's Home Park neighborhood has banned all new short-term rentals, with only existing licensed properties grandfathered in ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup

• Coconino County, Arizona, is preparing to advocate for state-level short-term rental reforms at the County Supervisors Association Summit in October

• Across Europe, markets from Greece to Ibiza to Wales are imposing stricter short-term rental rules.

See this weeks full regulations report here: (The Host Report)