DUBLIN — Airbnb and its long-forgetting ilk (couchsurfing.com, anyone?) have transformed the hotel business. They have brought a wave of new short-term accommodation stock onto the market while simultaneously reducing the availability of long-term housing in major markets (at least, according to some). Airbnb provides its customers with expanded choices and its hosts with income. But as the home-rental industry matures, it is going through inevitable changes. First is increased regulation. Hotels have rightly complained that it is hard to compete against Airbnb when they must comply with health and safety regulations and pay taxes that hosts do not. At the same time, safety incidents including deadly injuries and murders at Airbnb rentals have caught regulators' attention. Many major cities have adopted rules for short-term home rentals, and many more will follow. The second, as this article discusses, is increased competition. Experienced hotel groups have been watching Airbnb and now they're gearing up to take the fight to them. – Felicity Duncan

Marriott to take on Airbnb in booming home-rental market

By Craig Karmin

Marriott International Inc. is starting a new home-rental business, aiming to take on Airbnb Inc. and other home-sharing companies in one of the lodging industry's hottest segments.

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