A room for rent, courtesy of Airbnb
Looking for a room? Airbnb now has 4 million listings worldwide – that’s more than the top five hotel brands combined.
According to Business Insider, the home-sharing platform – which has offerings in 191 countries – outstrips Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Accor Hotel Group, which have 3.9 m listings between them.
The US is unsurprisingly the biggest market for the San Francisco-based startup, with 666,000 listings in the country. It’s followed by France with 485,000 listings, Italy with 340,000, Spain with 245,000, and the UK with 175,000.
‘On any given night, 2 million people are staying in other people’s homes around the world on Airbnb,’ says the company.
And if rumours are true, Airbnb is looking to entice even more customers away from traditional hotel providers with its premium rental service, expected to launch before the end of 2017.
Tentatively titled ‘Select’, it’s geared towards older, wealthier travellers – Airbnb’s fastest growing demographic – who currently prefer the tried-and-tested amenities guaranteed by hotels.
Watch this space…
