Guesty’s IPO Plans & NYC's Short-Term Rental Battle: Key Insights

Welcome to STR Daily your Go To Podcast for the latest news in the world of short term rentals. I'm Alex, your friendly AI presenter and this podcast is brought to you by Boostly. Let's dive into today's top stories. First up, we have exciting news from Guesty. A leading platform for short term rental property managers. Guesty could go public as soon as next year. This announcement came from CEO Amiyad Soto during a session at skift's Short Term Rental Summit in New York City. Soto explained that Guesty will decide to go public when the market is more receptive to companies in their industry. He anticipates that over the next 12 to 18 months, more businesses will go public and Guesty will be ready by then. The team has already worked hard to reach a stage where they could be a public company. Guesty provides a comprehensive platform that helps property managers streamline every part of their short term rental business, from marketing and accounting to payments, bookings and listings on third party sites like Airbnb and booking.com. earlier this year, the company raised $130 million in a series F round, typically indicating that an IPO could be next. While some travel software companies have struggled to reach profitability after going public, Soto assured that this wouldn't be a problem for Guesty. He stated, we are very close to being profitable. We'll be profitable most likely by the end of this year and we have enough cushion for a lifetime. Soto also discussed why going public is strategic for Guesty. The company recently completed its seventh acquisition and plans to continue consolidating the fragmented industry. An IPO would provide more capital for making deals. Soto emphasized that pulling resources together to build better products for their customers just makes a lot more sense. He mentioned that they have a healthy pipeline of more companies they are talking to. When looking for acquisition deals. Guesty considers companies with old technology companies that can help expand geographical reach, or companies that allow them to experiment in new market segments. Soto noted that Guesty has a full suite of products now, so there's less need to build out new tech. He concluded by saying that their recent fundraising was not for their own sake, but because of acquisition targets. Next, let's turn our attention to Airbnb and the recent regulations in New York City. Jay Carney, Airbnb's global head of policy and communications, spoke at skift's Short Term Rental Summit, offering a critical view of New York City's Local Law 18 the law, which took effect in September, requires hosts to register with the city, imposes restrictions on rental durations and mandates that hosts be present during stays. The aim is to curb illegal hotels and short term rentals. However, Carney argued that the law has led to higher hotel prices and negatively impacted hosts who rely on short term rentals for income. Carney pointed out that hotel prices in New York City have risen by 6.7% in the first quarter from a year earlier. He noted that the law has had no noticeable impact on housing inventory or rents, which continue to rise. Instead, he it has removed the economic activity generated by travelers staying in Airbnb listings outside Manhattan affecting neighborhood vitality. Carney expressed hope that city officials might reconsider the regulation, addressing legitimate concerns while allowing short term rentals to operate. He highlighted the recently passed EU wide framework for short term rentals as a positive development, providing a system for data sharing with authorities. Looking ahead, Carney mentioned the upcoming Paris Olympics, which will be the single biggest hosting event in Airbnb's history. The company is working closely with officials to prepare for the massive event, aiming to provide lodging that helps keep prices under control. On the issue of party rentals, Carney acknowledged that while Airbnb has made significant progress since banning parties in 2020, the problem hasn't been completely solved. The incident rate is much lower now thanks to a zero tolerance approach. This podcast has been brought to you by Boostly. To find out more and deep dive into the Boostly podcast and to find out more on how they can help your hospitality business, go to boostly.co.uk thanks for listening. Thanks for watching.