Britain Airbnb listings soar. Airbnb listings represent one third of the hotel rooms available in London, according to a study by U.K. accounting firm Moore Stephens. The study found that there are approximately 64,000 listed properties in the British capital, compared with 197,970 hotel rooms. Brighton, Bristol, Norfolk and Manchester also have big listings, the study found. The home-sharing service represents 30% of the hotel sector in Brighton and 20% in Bristol. “Airbnb is increasingly taking market share from hotels,” said Peter Duffy, director at Moore Stephens. “Hotel groups say this because Airbnb can bypass industry regulations allowing it to undercut the formal industry.”
Best Western Haiti attacked. Several hundred demonstrators attacked a Best Western Premiere hotel in Port-au-Prince after the government announced a fuel price hike. The U.S. embassy in the capital city warned U.S. citizens to shelter in place. Demonstrators on Saturday attacked the hotel in Petion-Ville, one of the capital’s wealthiest neighborhoods, forcing guests to remain inside as rocks were hurled through windows. Security manned the building, but rioters shattered the main entrance before moving to another hotel, the Associated Press reported. The government has suspended the scheduled fuel price hike that set off widespread violence last week.
Leave EU, Rocco Forte says. U.K. hotel entrepreneur Sir Rocco Forte urged Prime Minister Theresa May to embrace the “national freedom” that will come with a full, clean Brexit. Forte, who operates 11 hotels in Europe, said in a Daily Mail article that little will change for his business after an exit and dismissed warnings by other business leaders. Forte said he expects to have no difficulty recruiting. “My family’s hotel chain hired staff from all over the world, including Europe, long before the EU was even created,” he said. “We will continue to do so after Brexit, especially because so many young people from Europe want to come here to learn English.”
Accor expands mobile lodging. The French chain is growing its Flying Nest format that offers lodging in modules and was originally used in the business-to-business market for people involved in exhibits, festival and special events. Flying Nest uses converted marine containers, which can be quickly and easily moved. Six modules are joined together in an island, cladded with raw and natural materials. Accord said it joined with Capsa, a Lyon startup specializing in conversion of the modules. The concept will be expanded to the consumer market next year, said Sébastien Dupic, new business senior project manager at Accor.