Airbnb is betting on ‘Airbnb for Work’, its corporate or business travel segment, for accelerating growth in India, country manager Amanpreet Bajaj has been quoted in the a newspaper report. Bajaj said top IT, ITeS companies and those in sectors like auto and pharma are using the product and India is already among the top three markets globally in terms of spending on Airbnb for business travel.“This is a segment we are very bullish about. We have ongoing conversations with multiple companies. Airbnb for Work will become a key area for us to focus on,” said Bajaj. “We are seeing some amazing used cases coming from it. Companies are using it for offsites, for brain storming sessions and team development exercises. There are farmhouses getting booked for activities like hackathons. All of this will contribute more.”
Listings on Airbnb in India have grown by 115% year-on-year to more than 35,000, with the domestic engagement (Indians travelling within India) growing the fastest for the company.
Airbnb will most likely launch ‘Airbnb Plus’, a new hotel-like premium services product, in India soon and will expand ‘Experiences’ (a set of curated itineraries for Indian cities besides accommodation) to more Indian cities besides Goa and Delhi.
“Thirty-five thousand listings could mean upwards of 70,8000 rooms, as we have multi-room listings as well. Overall, it has been a pretty healthy year. The global network effect comes into play very nicely for a company like ours. The outbound business is significant, but domestic is growing much faster and it is becoming even more significant,” Bajaj said. “We are very excited by the growth of our business segment, so globally we are now at 700,000 companies using us for Airbnb for Work. We created tools specifically targeted at the business traveller. That business has tripled for us year-on-year globally.”
About 15% of all nights happening on Airbnb now are for work, the company had previously announced, and while 700,000 companies have had employees sign up and book with Airbnb, 275,000 companies have directly booked with Airbnb for corporate travel. Bajaj said the top five companies in IT are using Airbnb for Work for Indian or international usage. A large portion of trips on Airbnb for Work have more than one guest, when people travel in groups, and a significant portion of Airbnb for Work nights also include a weekend.
“We see people are extending their trips for leisure. We want to reach a billion users by 2028, and we are clear that if that milestone has to be achieved by Airbnb, a large part of that 1 billion people will come from a country like ours. India will play a significant role in the growth story from now,” he said.
Goa continues to be the largest market for the company in India, besides cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. “Airbnb Plus is uplevel hospitality, uplevel designs, and guaranteed amenities. That will go well with Indian users. Experiences will also come to more top cities in India in a phased manner,” he said.
Founded in August 2008 in California, Airbnb is an online marketplace where property owners can list their houses and connect with potential consumers. The company does not get involved in these transactions beyond making the connections.
In India, Airbnb’s biggest competitor is OYO Rooms. According to a report in Quartz.com (September 2017), OYO Rooms took the online marketplace model of Airbnb a bit further by converting residential properties that are lying vacant into modern, serviceable spaces and help home-owners monetise their dormant assets. In exchange, the company takes a share of the revenue. It also handles day-to-day operations at the properties. The company’s staff handles guest check-in and check out. Where required, it also spruces up the infrastructure and interiors of a home. OYO Homes came into existence in 2016, has so far listed around 2,000 homes, particularly in destinations like Goa, Pondicherry, Udaipur, Mussoorie and Coorg.
This is as per a report in the Economic Times.
