July 2020
In July 2020 demand came back to some places and not to others. Airbnb said guests booked more than 1 million nights on 8 July, its first such day since 3 March, mostly near home and outside cities, and said its business had not recovered. Lisbon counted 177 completed applications, 45 of them from short-term rentals, in the first call of a program to lease homes from their owners. Miami Beach ordered its short-term rentals to stop operating, and Airbnb restricted bookings by some US guests under 25.
A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in July 2020. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.
World · 6 July 2020Lisbon's Safe Rent Program Draws 45 Short-Term Rentals in Its First CallLisbon offered to lease homes from their owners for five years or more and sublet them at affordable rents. On 6 July 2020 the city council counted 177 completed applications, 45 of them for homes that had been short-term rentals, while the headline on an article by the mayor set off a dispute with the trade.By Tomás Ferreira · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Markets · 14 July 2020Airbnb Guests Book One Million Nights in a Day for the First Time Since MarchAirbnb said on 14 July 2020 that 8 July was its first day of more than 1 million nights booked since 3 March. The nights were close to home, outside cities and low-priced, and the company said its business had not recovered.By Dana Whitfield · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: Alfama 0004 by Dieglop, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: Wrightsville Beach Neighborhood by FOCIIS Photography, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).
What else was reported in July 2020
- 2 July 2020On 2 July 2020, Airbnb told its US hosts that guests under 25 with fewer than three positive reviews could no longer book entire homes close to where they live, a rule it said it had launched in Canada earlier in the year. Airbnb Newsroom
- 15 July 2020Airbnb faced a backlash, The Scotsman reported on 15 July 2020, after emailing guests an invitation to send hosts they had stayed with a kindness card with an optional contribution of money; the company said the contribution was voluntary, carried no charges from Airbnb and went directly to hosts. The Scotsman
- 15 July 2020Miami Beach ordered all short-term rentals to stop operating from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday 15 July 2020, citing a record number of coronavirus cases; The Real Deal reported that Miami-Dade County's own, less strict order capped short-term rentals at 10 people per property and set a one-month minimum stay. The Real Deal
- 17 July 2020Three British lenders, YBS, Teachers for Intermediaries and Leeds Building Society, introduced mortgages for vacation rental properties, known in Britain as holiday lets, ShortTermRentalz reported on 17 July 2020, as lenders pointed to demand for vacations within the UK and a newly announced stamp duty holiday. ShortTermRentalz
- 27 July 2020Police in Jackson, New Jersey, spent nearly five hours shutting down a party that drew more than 700 people to a house rented through Airbnb on the night of Sunday 26 July 2020; the homeowner and two people identified as organizers were issued summonses for violating the governor's executive order on gatherings. NBC News
- 30 July 2020Expedia Group reported on 30 July 2020 that second-quarter gross bookings fell 90% and revenue fell 82% from a year earlier, and said total gross bookings turned positive in May and the decline moderated further in June, led by growth at Vrbo. Expedia Group (second-quarter earnings release, filed with the SEC)