Monday Buzz: Airbnb Competition Heats Up

Do many of your meeting attendees prefer to use Airbnb instead of hotels? The popularity of home rentals among business travelers is on the rise. But Airbnb, the leader in the space, soon may not be the only home rental game in town.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Expedia and Priceline are rushing to compete  (opens in a new tab) with Airbnb by increasing their home rental inventory and promoting those offerings right next to hotel accommodations on their sites. “Executives said the goal is to provide travelers with the most comprehensive listings for any destination,” writes Chris Kirkham.

WSJ reports that while the private accommodation market is only one-fifth the size of the U.S. hotel market, it is expanding quickly—growing 11 percent last year, while the hotel industry grew 5 percent.

Major online intermediaries like Expedia and Priceline aren’t the only companies looking to compete with Airbnb. Small hotels are trying to entice millennial customers  (opens in a new tab) by offering significantly discounted rates through the e-retailer Boxed.com, reports the New York Post.

Clear Communication

Planning Your Association’s #CommunicationStrategy  (opens in a new tab)? Let your #members  (opens in a new tab) show you the way. #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) https://t.co/Xt6WqBaeQX  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/rbQ86ly9hk  (opens in a new tab)

— Association Adviser (@AssocAdviser) July 24, 2017  (opens in a new tab)

Coming up with a communications strategy is tricky. It’s easy to fall into the trap of delivering content that only a small part of your membership wants to hear.

“Simply put, there is often a chasm of difference between the noise created by a small minority of outspoken voices and the overwhelming consensus of the less-vocal majority,” Carter Davis writes  (opens in a new tab) in a recent post for Association Adviser.

To prevent this issue, be sure to thoroughly survey your members for empirical data rather than depending on anecdotal evidence and old habits. Pose structured survey responses so “you’ll end up with information that can prevent the echo chamber effect that will have you chasing shadows,” Davis says.

Other Links of Note

Easier to find data. Google Analytics introduced a feature that lets users search for metrics using plain English  (opens in a new tab).

Making the best of a bad situation. Future Fundraising Now reveals five common fundraising blunders  (opens in a new tab) and how to overcome them.

Entice more people to your courses. The Blue Sky Blog shares steps for writing short course descriptions  (opens in a new tab).

(taynaraakemi/Pixabay)