Colby & Conrad

End of year updates are a great way to reassure stakeholders, vendors and suppliers of all the things you have accomplished this year, and all of the new plans you have for next year!

Here is an easy checklist for business owners or managers to make sure employees know the business and can accurately speak on its behalf.

Loyalty programs for airlines are under fire as of late. Customers are beginning to question what the majority benefit is of being a rewards member. Airlines have stated on multiple occasions that in some cases rewards members make up more than 65% of revenue in a year. The question remains though are you better off as a rewards member or not? As we delve into the airlines, we will wait and see what is to be made of hotel chains and other loyalty programs and what the true benefit is for guests in the travel industry! https://lnkd.in/eRfc7z_F

New York is the latest city to legalize building tiny homes to help with the housing crisis. California was actually one of the first groups to test out this theory! Here's what tiny home owners have learned... The property value increased and most homeowners were able to charge either long term or short term tenants to rent out the space. Other use cases for the tiny homes were for family members that needed their own space, but maybe something a little smaller. Regulation and permitting for ADU's is a little trickier than standard housing, but it could be the difference between a substantial amount of money... https://lnkd.in/gwSG9g2q

AirDNA released some of its predictions for the short term rental market in 2024! Here are the highlights! Occupancy rates are going to remain relatively constant. After a tumultuous couple of years following Covid-19 the recent stabilization of the market will contribute to consistent occupancy rates in 2025. The other interesting prediction from the industry leading analytics firm was the stagnation of inventory. After covid everyone wanted to do short term rentals and ultimately saw some people losing. According to AirDNA less and less people will be likely to test their luck in the market! These seem like good news for the market, hopefully we see some growth, after the initial boom from Covid! https://lnkd.in/g3nKnzkk

TSA has its busiest day ever!! All of the busiest days in TSA history have occurred during 2024, and industry leaders predict that won't stop going into 2025 International travel and premium seating has carried the airline companies post-pandemic, but it looks like travel is at an all time high. This question remains though, where is everyone staying? Thanksgiving is consistently the most traveled time period every year...so who is capturing all of that travel? That could be a good question to ask yourself come 2025 and the ways you can increase occupancy over Thanksgiving 2025! https://lnkd.in/gzA357Rp

There were 4 recent predictions from Zillow about the housing market in 2025 While the housing market will become a bit more unstuck over the course of the next year mortgage rates will still be choppy! Most inventory has been turning over in the Southeast this year, but the best deals in the future might be in the southwest... Finally, homebuyers are looking for more cozy abodes, as they downsize... This leaves larger homes sitting on the market longer than others. This might be a good indicator that holding onto assets as the market still faces some uncertainty is the way to go. https://lnkd.in/gB3fjVk7

While others have vowed to enhance the customer experience utilizing AI, Airbnb is bucking against that trend... At the Skift Forum in NYC, Airbnb CEO Brian Cheeks was involved in many conversations regarding his thoughts on Artificial Intelligence especially concerning the chatbot feature. While other competitors like booking.com and VRBO have leaned further into these features, Chesky isn't so sure. He is leaning more towards personalization and less towards AI chatbots...this goes against everyone else's predictions. What do you think? https://lnkd.in/gHhP5EAw

This real estate investor set out to create a unique guest experience and that he did! After years of hard work he ended up selling the compound for 7 million dollars, but not without some headaches first. He wanted to control every touch point of the guest experience and he quickly realized how much work that becomes. Checking every singular review coming and scrutinizing every minute detail takes a toll. Investing in a real estate and experience is worth it, but the headaches can be avoided! https://lnkd.in/g8mHXriQ

While the real estate and housing markets have had their ups and downs over the past year, there are some up-sides. According to new data from the National Association of Realtors, single female buyers significantly outnumbered single male buyers between July 2023 and June 2024, accounting for 20% of all homebuyers. Single men made up just 8% of all homebuyers. This upward trend coincides with other trends like the rise in solo travel for baby boomer women. The woman in this article clearly saw an opportunity to build wealth through real estate and took it. Could be interesting to see if the next wave of real estate investors is lead by a wave of women looking to get in on generational wealth! https://lnkd.in/gwgX3TyS