Updated on November 1, 2023
Despite vacation rentals’ tenure and a pandemic-driven spike in popularity, misconceptions about VRs abound. Hearing them called Airbnbs can be particularly divisive.
Nevertheless, Airbnb has become the deonym for all short-term rentals.
“Airbnb … got lucky because they were at the right place at the right time with the smartphone revolution and [the rise] of e-commerce, and granted, they then executed very well,” said Tom Powers, founder of the Property Owners Association of South Carolina, market manager at Guesty, and a former property manager.
Debate over terminology
But it’s not just the noun Airbnb. Managers themselves haven’t closed the debate on what these properties should be called. Short-term rental seems to prevail as the generic umbrella with secondary terms for the stay’s purpose. For example, a vacation rental denotes leisure, while a corporate rental hosts business travelers, and a medical patient might stay in a furnished rental – though different types of guests can stay in any STR regardless of what operators call it.
Terminology also differs according to geography and philosophy. For example, leisure properties are called holiday rentals in Australia and holiday lets in the U.K. Tom prefers private accommodations.
On top of that, each jurisdiction has their own terms, such as unhosted for a whole-home rental. As managers well know, there’s nothing “unhosted” about guest and property care.
Why word choice matters
Misunderstandings have created an industry PR challenge.
“If that noun is used to represent all STR properties, then, when there is a shooting or an out-of-control party at a property that was booked on Airbnb, we are all included in that image. That’s an industry image that misrepresents the majority of us,” said Deborah Labi, co-director of the Book Direct Show, founder of the Guest Innspector, a vacation rental podcaster, and former property manager.
Tom echoed this sentiment and added that Airbnb can also bring to mind outside investors buying up all the housing in a community to make a quick profit.
Misconceptions like these can influence regulations for the worse.
“I’ve seen many policymakers believe it’s big companies or even the platforms that own all the properties in their market,” said Alexa Nota, co-founder and COO of Rent Responsibly. “This, to me, is the most treacherous because when they want to regulate or ‘ban Airbnb,’ they think they are going after big non-local corporations when really the negative consequences of misinformed laws fall almost entirely on the owners, managers, and local businesses in their own community.”
READ MORE: Top 10 short-term rental advocacy resources and how to use them
Meeting people where they are
Using a one-size-fits-all term isn’t optimal, said Alexa, who is also a journalist. Instead, she recommends tailoring language to the audience to bridge the understanding gap.
Sarah Karakaian and Annette Grant of Thanks For Visiting often use Airbnb on Instagram.
“We have noticed that when we only use the term short-term rental, there are so many people out there in the world who don’t know to use that term for their STRs and furnished rentals,” Karakaian said. “Airbnb is … all that people know to use. So, to bring more people into the Thanks For Visiting world, we have to meet them where they are.”
Without a doubt, the term Airbnb performs better on Google than short-term rental or vacation rental. Property managers can tactfully use this in marketing and homeowner recruitment, particularly with the new generation of STR owners, by using the literal sense of the word, such as We’ll list your property on Airbnb, Vrbo, and other booking platforms.
Educating others
But what about regulatory and community discussions? Changing stakeholders’ perceptions requires educating your network daily.
“I constantly try to correct people on that,” Tom said. “I say, no, I have a short-term rental. My house is listed on Airbnb, but I also book it directly to people. It’s a short-term rental. That’s what it’s really called. Airbnb is just an app on your phone. I mean, that doesn’t take long to say.”
Alexa advises not splitting hairs on STRs versus VRs in policy discussions.
“I recommend sticking with the term the ordinance uses but also wrapping it in really strong talking points about the guests we’re hosting, the people who manage and own these properties, and the local business ecosystem that relies on them.”
Deborah advocates for changing the narrative with guests, too. “It’s our responsibility to educate guests that there is another, more professional world of STR beyond Airbnb,” she added. “I don’t have a problem, and I don’t hesitate telling people that I do not manage Airbnbs and explain to them what I do, and what Airbnb is. It does open their eyes. We all need to do that.”
Airbnb became the popular term over 15 years, so it might take another 15 to change that mentality, Tom said. “If we care to change that narrative, then we have to also take the work that goes along with it. This is as easy as it is to start correcting it, and it takes one step at a time.”
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