Short Term Accommodation association reveals new board following elections

UK trade body now represents 90 companies, it’s biggest ever membership base

The new board of the UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA) trade body has been appointed.

The board that will represent the  body’s 90 members for the next financial year were elected from among its largest ever membership base.

The STAA says it represents the vast majority of the industry in the UK as it looks to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The board includes:

• Chair: Merilee Karr, chief executive, UnderTheDoormat (pictured)
• Vice-chair: Jean Philippe Monod, SVP global government and corporate affairs, Expedia
• Policy lead: Marie Lorimer, UK public policy manager, Airbnb
• Research lead: Louise Birritteri, founder and chief executive, Pikl
• Property manager lead: Graham Donoghue, chief executive, Sykes Holiday Cottages
• New memberships and events lead: Leo Walton, co-founder, SUPERHOG
• Director General: Shomik Panda, chief executive, Inline Policy
• Legal adviser: Eduoard Peers

Karr said: “The STAA has been incredibly valuable in supporting all of the hosts and businesses in the industry through a challenging year and we look forward to helping the sector recover even stronger.

“I am delighted to continue to be Chair of this fast growing association for a third year and am looking forward to furthering our aims of growing the industry responsibly and to help consumers from across the UK and beyond return to travel safely and enjoy all the UK has to offer.”

Lorimer added: “I am delighted to have been elected to the Board of the STAA. There is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to ensure that our sector gets treated on an equal footing as other accommodation types.

“But I am confident that by working collaboratively with local authorities, councils and governments, we will be able to prepare the ground for short-term letting to prosper in harmony with the local communities in which they are located.”

Donoghue said: “I have seen first-hand the importance of the work that the STAA Board has done on behalf of its members so I am really pleased to have been elected so that I can contribute to its development.

“We have exciting and potentially unpredictable times ahead but having grown the membership we will be able to have an influence on the outcomes that will affect the industry’s future.

“I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and helping to develop services and events that will deliver value to property managers.”