Nithya Raman is projected to win Los Angeles’ mayoral election after a tight race with incumbent Karen Bass, a setback for Airbnb’s push to loosen the city’s short-term rental rules before the 2028 Olympics.
Airbnb and its nonprofit spent more than $12 million on Los Angeles politics leading up to this year’s city elections, backing Bass and other candidates. Only primary residences have been allowed to list on short-term rental platforms since 2018. Bass had floated easing that rule during the Olympics, but the idea was scrapped from the budget the city adopted in May. Raman has called the spending “pay-to-play” and pushed for stricter enforcement.
The loss may not sting much: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in 2023 that no single city made up more than 1.5% of the company’s revenue. Richard Clarke, a senior analyst at Bernstein, expects Airbnb to keep hunting for other ways to add supply before the Olympics, which are expected to draw roughly 2 million visitors to greater Los Angeles.
MARKETING MOMENT
Wanderlust is highlighting one standout travel marketing campaign each week. Know one we should feature? Email me at [email protected].
Norway took an insult from President Donald Trump and turned it into a massive bump in web traffic and a Times Square campaign that ran over the weekend.
Trump last month called Norway a “s***house country” after the Oslo-based Nobel committee did not award him a peace prize. Visit Norway responded with a few tweaks to an old web page showcasing its public restrooms, writing that the country makes restrooms “great again!”
“What can we say, we do have some of the world’s most beautiful and spectacular toilets,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post with more than 80,000 likes.
The page received more than 200,000 views, a “new record for such a stunt,” according to an update from Christine Baglo, editor-in-chief for Visitnorway.com.
Source: Visit Norway
Skift Aviation Forum · NYC · November 12
The decisions shaping global air travel get made in the room, not in the earnings call after.
Next week, the 6th annual Skift Aviation Forum brings the leaders of IAG, American Airlines, Air Canada, Airbus, Boeing, and Breeze Airways to the TWA Hotel at JFK for one day on what’s next for the industry.
SPONSORED · LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS
In this Skift Global Forum video recap, Lindblad CEO Natalya Leahy explores how expedition travel can scale while preserving its unique appeal.
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The FTC orders Delta, United, and JetBlue to hand over data on how they set fares, cruise lines are putting megaships on weekend trips with economics that aren’t proven yet, and Mexico opens a $1.5 billion luxury theme park built for people who hate theme park lines.
On today’s Skift Daily Briefing, Bailey Schulz, Skift’s Global Tourism Reporter, breaks down why the FTC’s surveillance pricing study puts airline fare-setting under a new microscope, why more passengers on short cruises doesn’t automatically mean better economics, and what BON Luxury Theme Park means for incentive planners weighing Mexico’s safety concerns.
