The is an excerpt of a story that will appear in the Jul/Aug issue of Dot Property Magazine.
Airbnb is a hit in the Asia-Pacific region and is now one of its fastest growing markets as both guests and those with space to share have embraced the service. Airbnb attributes its success in Southeast Asia to the incredible array of experiences, stories and cultures people want to explore.
“We know that people all over the world want a new kind of travel. They’re no longer satisfied with the same cookie-cutter experiences that have been offered for years, or going to the same tourist traps that everyone’s already seen,” Robin Kwok, Country Manager of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & Taiwan, explains.
Obviously, experiences play a big role in attracting visitors to use Airbnb. Each country has unique hospitality traditions people want to experience and Airbnb is able to seamlessly connect hosts with guests interested in the character and personality of the places they visit. This idea is what gets users interested in Airbnb, but it is localisation and technology that fuels the service.
“Localisation has also been an integral contributor to the success story of Southeast Asia. Be it payment methods, translation of languages and localised marketing campaigns, every country is different and we want to help tell that authentic local story,” Kwok reports. “Additionally, technology plays an integral role for travellers in Southeast Asia with the region’s online travel population at 39 million across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Our mobile and desktop application is localised to language and payment methods.”
Airbnb offers guests something different
Unsurprisingly, hotels are concerned about Airbnb usurping their market share. Some have even gone as far as lobbying governments to ban the service or impose tough regulations on listed properties. In reality, Airbnb offers a different type of experience and, in some markets, fills a need for tourist accommodations.
“We believe that for us to win, no one has to lose. There have been more than 180 million guest arrivals in Airbnb listings since Airbnb was founded in 2008, and even as more people share their homes, traditional hotels around the world continue to take in robust profits,” Kwok states.
It is also important to note that many properties listed on Airbnb offer something different than what can be found at hotels. Whether this is in terms of locations, facilities or hosting, people choose Airbnb because they have found something not always available elsewhere.
“One of the things we’re proudest about at Airbnb is the way it both diversifies and democratizes travel. For example, 75 percent of Airbnb listings in Singapore are outside of traditional hotel districts, so travellers get to experience neighbourhoods they might never have otherwise seen,” Kwok reports. “Not only does this help people from all over the world appreciate Singapore in new ways, but Airbnb guests are more likely to spend money in the neighbourhoods where they stay, which helps distribute tourism spend to local businesses – restaurants, cafes and shops – that have not traditionally benefited from tourism and hospitality.”
Airbnb looks ahead
Whether it’s young people wanting to meet travellers from around the world and show off the best of their city, families with spare space who want to earn additional income to help pay the bills, or senior hosts with time to spare in their retirement, Airbnb offers benefits to people of all ages and backgrounds. Through connecting people from around the world by breaking down barriers and helping them experience the world in a whole new way, it’s clear that Airbnb is doing what it set out to do: make travel magical again, and help people belong anywhere.
“Our ultimate goal is to take this even further, and for people to be able to research, plan and book every aspect of their trip through the Airbnb app, becoming an end-to-end hospitality solution,” Kwok proclaims. “At the moment, people have to go to lots of different places to research and book different elements of their trip – flights, accommodation, what to do when they reach their destination.”
