Episode Notes

Airbnb hosts in New York City are rapidly approaching a September 5 deadline to register with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement. So the company could see a large reduction in its New York City listings, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal. 

Airbnb had 23,000 active listings in the city as of July and Schaal writes many would be unable to accept stays under new enforcement. Airbnb has said it generated $85 million of revenue in New York City last year. Schaal adds due to regulatory pressures and other factors, Airbnb is a shadow of itself in New York compared to pre-pandemic years. The company had 36,000 active listings in New York City in July 2019, according to AirDNA. 

Next, the U.S. overseas travel boom is showing no signs of slowing down. Americans are traveling abroad in large numbers for Labor Day weekend, reports Associate Editor Rashaad Jorden.

International travel bookings have risen 44% this Labor Day weekend from last year, according to travel organization AAA. The group also said international hotel bookings have increased 82% from last year’s holiday. AAA Spokesperson Aixa Diaz said pent-up travel was a major factor in the high number of international bookings. 

Meanwhile, travel news site The Vacationer found 57% of American adults plan to travel over the Labor Day weekend. That’s a 4 percentage point jump from last year.

Finally, Indian travelers looking for a U.S. visitor visa will now find the process substantially less time consuming. Visa applicants can book interviews at U.S. consulates in India with no wait time, writes Middle East and Asia Reporter Amrita Ghosh in the Skift India Newsletter.

The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai said that applicants can schedule appointments for visa interviews within the standard time frame. It added that more than 900,000 nonimmigrant visa applications are being processed at the moment. U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti had said the goal for 2023 was to process at least one million visas.