Airbnb: Change the world
Airbnb: Start of a new concept
The time was October 2007, A major design conference was held in San Francisco. Naturally, a lot of people gathered around the city and it was a festive feeling all together.
At the same time, two roommates are sitting in a house in the city with worried faces. The festive heat is not able to touch them because they have not been able to pay the rent for a long time. There is no possibility of income. They may need to leave the house any time. The two roommates are Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia.
At that moment, they met two people who had come to the city to attend the conference, but could not find a place to stay because all the hotels were booked. Brian and Gebbia had an idea. They spread an air mattress in the empty part of their house and offered two people to stay there for a few dollars. He also offered them breakfast. Both guests accepted the offer. Staying at home is safer than walking on the street.
A new initiative has been launched. Brian and Gebbia named the initiative ‘Air bed and Breakfast’.
It is now known as Airbnb. Later in 2008, their former roommate Nathan Blecharczyk joined the initiative.
They started a web site named ‘Airbedandbreakfast.com’. It functions as a broker and charged a few commissions for each booking. It is currently a very popular platform as an alternative to residential hotels.
Transformation of Airbnb
They changed their brand name ‘Air bed and breakfast’ to Airbnb in March 2009. They changed because at that time they are starting to offer a broader range of accommodations like apartment, houses some other unique places also instead of just air mattress and breakfast. In the same month they got their official first client after forming company.
In 2011, they moved beyond the United states and looking for gaining traction in international market. They gave service over 89 countries and had more than 50,000 listings worldwide. This movement gave opportunities the traveler to enjoy a authentic and local experiences no matter where they want.
In July 2013, they targeted corporate travelers and lunches ‘Airbnb for business’. This feature designed especially for business travelers. This step improved Airbnb’s reputations as a flexible lodging choice for every type of traveler.
In 2015, Airbnb plus was introduced as a premier tier where they offer some additional amenities and services with high quality homes. At the same time, ‘Airbnb Experiences’ was introduced where host are offering unique activities which helps guests to take decision.
They faced challenges in 2019 due to covid-19 when whole travel industry suffered also. At that time, they need to drop out around 25% employee of their company. Airbnb took decision to go for public in December 2019 and soon overcome their situation.
The company suspended their business at Russia and Belarus due to sanctions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine at March 2022. They also suspended their operation at China in May 2022. Primarily the reason was Chinas Zero covid policy but later Government of China want the details of the guest to track every person which was complicated.
Benefits of Airbnb
Why people will choose Airbnb instead of general hotels? What extra benefits they gave?
Guests get an artificial atmosphere when they stay in the hotel. But if they stay in a house, they usually get an idea of the culture of that area or that country.
Sometimes they offers some unique properties like treehouse, boats, igloos etc which can give a different memory to guest.
Booking a hotel requires a minimum stay of 22 to 24 hours. Even if they don’t have that much time, they still have to pay. On the other hand, with Airbnb, they pay for the exact amount of time they stay. So, it is definitely cheaper than the hotel.
Most importantly, homeowners also have the opportunity to earn an income from the extra or empty space in their home.
Impact of Airbnb upon existing Industry
Airbnb has significant impact upon different industry like hospitality, real state, tourism. They offered a unique blend of affordability, suitability and local flavor and challenges traditional business models by prompting industry wide adaptation. It increased competition in the market.
This also impact upon local real estate market. The properties that are suitable for Airbnb rentals in popular tourist spot were bought by different real-state company with the intent of listing them on Airbnb.
Airbnb decentralized accommodation options by reshaping tourism which explore area beyond traditional hotel concept.
Last word
Cheaper cost and verities are the key drawcards for Airbnb guests. As per 2021 statistics, Europe is the biggest market of Airbnb followed by Asia pacific and North America in terms of listing. But North America is number one position in terms of revenue driver.
In January 2023, Airbnb became the third most visited travel and tourism company where in first and second position were Booking.com and Tripadvisor. Airbnb is a shining example of how a small enterprise that started because a problem can gradually grow into such a large organization.
