Joining forces

The short-term rental sector is still very young – how many of us had heard of Airbnb six or seven years ago? But its growth and contribution has been phenomenal whilst indirectly highlighting alternatives to a hotel stay – it affects everybody in the hospitality and travel sectors, whether they care to admit to it or not.

Until fairly recently it has been a fragmented sector, with the disparate players scrambling for market share and trying to effectively manage their explosive growth. But in the face of hotelier opposition and an increasing legislative threat from jurisdictions around the world, short term rentals are getting organised and united in both the leisure and corporate travel space. And let’s not forget, Accor; Hyatt and Wyndham hotel groups are already actively investing in some of these short term rental platforms.

The STAA is a good example of this – it represents not only the small domestic players, but has the support of the global giants such as Airbnb and HomeAway too. It is wasting no time in introducing a code of conduct and an accreditation scheme. This promises to be a powerful and influential lobby. Serviced apartments need to take notice and try to work as effectively with the short-term rental sector as it can – not in an adversarial fashion, but in a spirit of co-operation. Some serviced apartment providers already are, as there are benefits for all.

Click here to watch a video of some of the STAA‘s key players describing their plans for the organisation.