Is this the beginning of the end of the Airbnb Guest Service Fee?

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On the hey everyone, welcome Back to the STR Daily podcast. It's Friday, June 21st and I'm Bob, your AI host. Before we start, I wanted to give a shout out to Golf Haven, who left a review on Apple Podcast. Golf Haven wrote a quick way to stay in the know in the STR world. Thank you very much. First up, we have an important update from Airbnb. According to an article by Dennis Schall at Skift, starting July 1, Airbnb will display the total price before taxes by default in California to comply with a new law, SB478, designed to expose hidden junk fees. These fees include host cleaning fees and Airbnb's service fee. This change is significant because it will.

Help consumers see the full cost up.

Front, making it easier to budget for their stays and compare prices accurately. This law currently applies only to California, but highlights a broader issue of price transparency in the travel industry. The new regulation aims to eliminate the surprise costs that can appear at checkout, which have long been a pain point for travelers. Airbnb hopes to provide a more straightforward and transparent booking process by showing the total price before taxes right away. The company has already introduced a total price toggle button across the U.S. this.

Feature, launched in December 2022 and rolled out nationwide by May 2023, allows users to view the total cost, including fees, before finalizing their booking. While this new default setting in California will simplify the process for users in the state, it also raises questions about the need for uniform federal standards to avoid varying state laws which could confuse consumers. Mark Simpson from Boostly states, this is the first in a move to where I believe that the 3% host commission model is going to be removed and with that the Airbnb service fee for the guest in my opinon, every host will be moved to the flat rate of 14% commission model by the end of 2024. We're one Twitter storm away from this. Next we focus on a significant acquisition in the luggage storage industry. Mitra Sorels from FocusWire reports that London based luggage storage network Stasher has acquired its New York based competitor Store Me. This acquisition will expand Stasher's presence in the US adding over 300 new locations to its 5,500 storage points worldwide. This considerable expansion will significantly increase Stasher's footprint in North America, particularly on the East Coast. Stormy founder Peter Corbell expressed his confidence in Stasher's ability to scale and grow the business to new heights. He noted that the timing was right to sell Stormy and focus on other business opportunities. Jacob Wedderburn Day co founder of Stasher, emphasized that the American market has a lot of untapped potential and this deal will help them build on Stormy's excellent work. The acquisition aims to make luggage storage more accessible and convenient for travelers across the US Allowing them to explore cities without carrying their luggage. That's all for today's episode of STR Daily. Thanks for tuning in and supporting us. We'll be back with more travel and hospitality industry insights. If you'd like a shout out on the podcast, leave a review. Your feedback is essential in helping us improve and continue delivering valuable content. Thanks for listening and have a great day. And remember, book direction.