Sharing economy is no more: Airbnb is reaching for the hotel market

Airbnb is facing the headwinds the sharing economy pioneer is facing in many places. Instead of focusing solely on private vacation rentals, the company is now focusing on the hotel industry.

As Reisevor9 reports, Airbnb is already in talks with numerous independent hostels. The accommodation portal expects the integration of hotels into the platform – especially outside of North America – to be mutually beneficial. As distribution partners, the hotels could fill booking gaps, allowing Airbnb to cover more destinations or even offset inventory in places where short-term rentals have been restricted by local legislation.

Headwinds for short-term rentals

Given that the short-term rental business is no longer growing as rapidly, CEO Brian Chesky had already spoken of reviving the hotel strategy in the spring of this year. To this end, the company has relaunched the last-minute hotel room platform HotelTonight, which it acquired in 2019. The platform, which had been unable to develop as expected due to the coronavirus pandemic, is now set to become a leader in expanding the hotel business.

While Airbnb isn't abandoning its original offering of private accommodations, hotels are expected to expand their selection. Currently, hotel bookings are available via the HotelTonight portal and on Airbnb under the "Room" accommodation type. However, the goal is a unified, all-round travel portal that combines not only all types of accommodations, but also all the tourism services and experiences that can already be booked on the portals.

Better conversion rate with hotels

Vouchers and loyalty rewards are already being used to retain customers and can be made even more attractive with a large portfolio of hotels. The company is also investing heavily in high-tech AI to automate and personalize customer service, for example. Airbnb therefore expects the integration of hotels into its platform to dramatically improve conversion rates and drive corresponding growth. According to the specialist portal www.tageskarte.io , only about one in nine travelers currently books accommodations through Airbnb. Despite 1.5 billion device visits, many users still fail to book. Hotels could help Airbnb achieve a significant improvement in its conversion rate.

(thy)

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