Disruption can happen in the smallest of events.
Two complete strangers sat down next to each other on a flight back in the 60s, unaware that they would change an industry. An airline executive had a problem. An IBM engineer had the tools to solve it. After talking, they gave birth to Sabre, the first internal airline ticketing system.
Air travel was never the same.
Disruption is possible. But believing you will disrupt an entire industry takes something most people underestimate: determination in the face of everyone telling you it won't work. That nobody will allow it.
Until it happens.
So, what is disrupting STR today? If you said AI, you'd be correct. Partially correct .
AI is only a gateway.
Yes, AI is changing how guests discover their next travel experience. Planning a trip is now a conversation, rather than a search. But this doesn't change the reality set in brick-and-mortar. AI might change how guests book, but all these guests will still end up in an apartment, beach house, villa, or chalet.
Inventory is still essential. In fact, it's even more important now.
This week's conversation explores what the next distribution reshuffle means, and why the operators who control quality supply will be the ones still standing.
STR Global Unlocked Podcast | Episode 25
EPISODE WITH SHAUN STEWART, VP OF STUBHUB
What does that conversation back in the sixties have to do with buying concert tickets and renting a beach house for your next vacation?
Everything, if you look at the essence of the problem decades ago.
Industries such as travel opened up as technology progressed. More people could access the inventory, thus having more opportunities to travel. This access further boosted innovation.
Other industries have done the opposite. Concert tickets are among the clearest examples, with centralized control slowing their progress for decades. With so few players in the game, buying tickets feels primitive and is expensive.
But why are we talking about planes and tickets in an STR newsletter?
Short-term rentals used to be somewhere in between these two industries. There were plenty of options, but accessing them was hard because there was no platform for instant booking.
Until Airbnb came along. Then, inventory became instantly available.
Now, we're entering a new frontier. But Shaun Stewart reminds us that one fundamental truth remains in STR, and understanding it is the path to success.
Shaun is one of the few people in the world to have witnessed revolutions in these three industries firsthand. He has worked with self-driving car company Waymo, as well as with Expedia and Airbnb in their earlier days. Now, he works in live events and looks to redesign the industry once more. This time, he wants to liberate live events from centralized models of the past.
AJL Atelier CEO Simon Lehmann sat down with Shaun to learn more about how, even with AI revolutionizing STR, we can't avoid one reality.
While AI will take over from Google, all STR transactions end up with one thing: a place to go. Those who control inventory win.
In this conversation, they discussed:
What the lessons are behind Airbnb's push for live inventory transactions, and why it became the most important, and most resisted, moment in the industry's history.
How AI is replacing Google as the top of the funnel, and the impact of ChatGPT and Gemini taking commercial deals from OTAs to influence what they recommend.
Why owning and controlling your own inventory source of truth is more strategically important today than ever before.
How a small property manager with a dozen homes built a fully automated operation using AI agents, and what that signals for the rest of the industry.
Why the Uber vs Waymo cost structure is the warning sign for STR operators who have not modernized yet.
How three crucial moments in STR taught Shaun something directly or indirectly: almost bailing on Airbnb long before it became Airbnb, what the Sonder S1 got wrong about direct booking, and which single infrastructure layer he would own if he could only pick one.
Listen to the full episode here or watch it on YouTube.
Connect with Shaun Stewart on LinkedIn to learn more about StubHub.
"As the top of funnel shifts to AI, controlling your inventory source of truth is more crucial than it has ever been."
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Key STR Trends
Industry Check-In
Demand in UK short-term rentals shifted just -0.04% month-over-month. On the surface, that sounds like a near-flat market. But rates are rising anyway.
That is why many are watching how the previous months have behaved as a good indicator of what could happen. Overall, as this article explains, the trend in behavior was ahead of 2025. You could say STR demand in the UK shows relative stability, with a catch.
Demand changed -0.04% month-over-month. One might say demand has fallen. However, the picture changes when rates are included. These continue to rise.
Source: Short Term Rental
The honest answer is that nobody is sure yet. What is clear is that the operators adjusting rates now are making a bet, and spring will tell us whether it was the right one.
Weekly News
WORTH A READ
Stay current on the industry. Each edition highlights key insights, major headlines, and the technology shaping travel and short-term rentals.
Is owning an STR in Long Island worth it?
It is a lot of work, and locals have strong opinions about it. Here is what they have to say before you consider adding a property in one of the most competitive markets in the Northeast.
Airbnb is paying hosts to list for the World Cup.
The platform is offering prospective hosts $750 to list their property ahead of the 2026 event. Here is what owners should know before signing up.
Can trust be boiled down to a balance sheet?
Airbnb's CFO opens up about the harsh lessons the pandemic forced her to learn, and what that means for how the company thinks about resilience today.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Regardless of the industry, many wish to be disruptors. They want to create the technology that changes everything.
And they might. But getting there is rarely clean, rarely fast, and never guaranteed.
What history keeps proving is that the most durable businesses are not always the ones with the most disruptive idea. They are the ones that controlled the most critical layer of the stack.
In STR, that layer is inventory. It was true before Airbnb. It is true now. And no amount of AI, platform consolidation, or distribution reshuffling will change that underlying reality.
Disrupt all you want. If you do not control the inventory, someone else controls your business.
This newsletter and podcast are brought to you thanks to AJL Atelier.
AJL Atelier is a globally recognized consultancy, specializing in the Short-Term Rental (STR) industry, known for our unique blend of trend forecasting, consumer insight, brand strategy, and innovation.
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