Uber Buying Expedia? Airbnb Co-Hosts a threat? Vacasa Q3 Re-Cap and Can VRMA Survive?

New Straight Fire VR article and Podcasts about the latest news - which is uncensored and unfiltered. In other words, no virtue signaling here.

According to the Financial Times, Uber has explored a possible bid for Expedia, the $20bn+ US travel booking website, in what would be by far the ride-hailing company’s largest acquisition as it looks to diversify further and find new avenues for growth.

Uber approached advisers in recent months after the idea of an Expedia acquisition was broached by a third party to examine whether such a deal would be possible and how it could be structured, according to three people familiar with the process.?

A focus of Uber’s discussions was the role of Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, who served as Expedia’s CEO from 2005 to 2017 and remains a non-executive director on its board. That makes it likely that any approach would be friendly and that he would recuse himself from deal discussions.

We discuss the potential merger of Uber and Expedia on Straight Fire VR podcast. click here for the latest episode with Dennis Goeheid and Miriam Ramsey.

www.StraightFirevr.com

We also discuss on Straight Fire VR, Airbnb's 3rd quarter earnings and their announcement of "co-hosting" to compete against professional property managers.

According to a Skift article by Dennis Schaal, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told analysts during the third-quarter earnings call Thursday that 20,000 people have expressed interest in becoming co-hosts since Airbnb launched an enhanced network in mid-October.

That won’t do much to ease any concerns from property managers such as Vacasa, Sonder, Vtrips, Awaze, Evolve, and many others, all of which use Airbnb to varying extents to attract bookings. One property manager told Skift they took exception to Airbnb stating last month that co-hosts get higher guest ratings than professional property managers, a point that Chesky emphasized again on Thursday.

Our panel of experts discuss the Airbnb Q3 results on an unfiltered edition of Straight Fire VR. For more click on www.StraightFireVr.com

Vacasa also announced their 3rd quarter earnings and they made a profit! But, why are some worried that they will literally run out of cash.

On Straight Fire VR, we examine Vacasa's balance sheet and cash position as well as their declining unit count. For an unfiltered preview click on www.StraightFireVR.com

We also have a Straight Fire VR recap of VRMA international. And, unlike the fake virtue signaling Linkedin feed of Annie Holcomb, it is not all rainbows and sunshine.

The panel discussed VRMA's attendance decline, the crashing and burning of the advocacy fund, the poor content of VRMA international and the disfunction of Smith Bucklin management group which is compounded by the hands off approach by the VRMA Board.

For more analysis of VRMA, please click on StraightFirevr.com

Is there some positive news. Yes? Mike Harrington, Sébastien Long, Miriam Ramsey, & Steve Milo talk new models like remodeling hotels to VRs, converting LTRs to STRs and building brand new “Purpose Built Cabins” in Smoky Cove, Tennessee.?

For an a great episode of Built to Book, go to Straightfirevr.com

And, Richard Vaughton, Miriam Ramsey & Steve Milo have real talk on the “Wild West” of guest standards in the U.S. vacation rental market. They also speak about the current cycle trends both the European and US markets are facing going into 2025.

For another great episode go to StraightFireVr.com