August 2020
August 2020 was the month Airbnb moved on two fronts in two days. On 19 August it said it had confidentially submitted draft papers for an initial public offering, and on 20 August it banned all parties and events at its listings worldwide and capped occupancy at 16 people. Around those moves, Booking.com's parent said it planned to lay off up to 25% of that brand's workforce, Toronto told hosts to register from 10 September, and booking data showed US short-term rentals recovering unevenly.
A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in August 2020. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.
The Money · 19 August 2020Airbnb Confidentially Submits Draft IPO Papers to the SECAirbnb said on 19 August 2020 that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement for an initial public offering, which the Associated Press had reported was delayed by the pandemic. It gave hosts no figures, no price and no date.By Dana Whitfield · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Platforms · 20 August 2020Airbnb Bans All Parties Worldwide and Caps Homes at 16 GuestsAirbnb banned every party and event at its listings on 20 August 2020 and capped occupancy at 16 people, with no end date. Hosts lost the right to approve even a small gathering, and the largest homes lost their biggest groups.By Jesse Kohl · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: SOMA, San Francisco, CA by Basil D Soufi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: View of the Hollywood Hills with the Griffith Observatory by Mundanemetal, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).
What else was reported in August 2020
- 4 August 2020Booking Holdings said in a filing on 4 August 2020 that it planned to lay off up to 25% of Booking.com's global workforce, with announcements to employees country by country starting in September; a company spokeswoman told CNBC that Booking.com had more than 17,000 employees. CNBC
- 5 August 2020AllTheRooms Analytics said US short-term rental bookings for the next 180 days stood at 81 percent of their 2019 levels, with New York City at 44 percent and Hawaii at 52 percent, ShortTermRentalz reported. ShortTermRentalz
- 5 August 2020Breezeway, a Boston-based property operations and services platform for property managers, said it had secured $8 million in Series A funding in a round led by Schooner Capital, ShortTermRentalz reported. ShortTermRentalz
- 13 August 2020Los Angeles cited around 650 hosts for failing to properly register their rentals, and Glendale awaited a September vote on whether to ban vacation rentals where a host is not present, The Real Deal reported on 13 August 2020. The Real Deal
- 25 August 2020The City of Toronto said on 25 August 2020 that short-term rental operators who rent for periods of less than 28 days would have to register with the city starting 10 September and be registered by 31 December, and would have to collect a four percent Municipal Accommodation Tax from 1 January 2021, CBC News reported. CBC News
- 26 August 2020Google's vacation rental product included listings from Agoda, a Booking Holdings brand, while Airbnb was absent from its lineup, ShortTermRentalz reported on 26 August 2020. ShortTermRentalz