Radio Brisvaani
Amanpreet Bajaj, country manager – India, Airbnb, talks about the India story, how the platform’s cost-effective model works, and more
Airbnb’s target right now is the millennial population in India as it believes they are more likely to value experiential travel
Airbnb, a US-based online accommodation marketplace, forayed into India in 2016 and has been growing at about 70% since its official launch. Currently, it has over 50,000 listings in India, and more and more Indians seem to be opting for it not just within India but also abroad.
Amanpreet Bajaj, country manager – India, Airbnb, talks about the India story, how the platform’s cost-effective model works, and more
Overall, we have seen 70% year-on-year business growth since we launched. Our listings in India have grown almost 200% and it’s only growing. Almost 2 million Indians used us last year alone.
And all three segments of our business—Indians travelling abroad, Indians hosting Indian travellers within India and foreigners coming to India—have seen robust growth. From a global perspective, India is one of the fastest growing emerging markets for Airbnb, and is among the top five growing markets, globally. We aim to reach about a billion Airbnb users by 2027. Airbnb globally has seen more than 500 million guests. We are in almost 100,000 cities, across 191 countries with more than 6 million listings across the world. India is going to play a critical role in reaching the goal of 1 billion Airbnb travellers.
The beauty of our platform is that there is something on offer for everyone. We have options for very economical stays, say, under ₹1,000 in a city as well as ₹25,000-a-night penthouses, or a ₹1 lakh-a-night villa in Goa. We want to ensure that there is an Airbnb across all price points. What we have seen is that the accommodation need varies based on the type of the trip the person is on—whether he is travelling with family, friends or for work.
Very recently, we also launched Airbnb Plus (with listings of the highest quality homes and exceptional hosts). These are homes that are verified for quality, amenities as well as an up-levelled design. There are hosts that provide exceptional hospitality and have unique traits. We have a few homes in Goa now and we will be doing a phased launch in other Indian cities.
It will come to India at some point of time. Airbnb Luxe are luxurious homes that are hand-picked for their unique space and come with various trip designers. So somebody will sit with you and understand your travel needs and provide an experience. Today we have more than 2,000 luxe homes across the world. We have a 100-point checklist to decide whether a property qualifies for being luxe or not.
Adoption of bigger houses is on the rise on the platform. The other trend is during weekends, people are not travelling to a different city all the time. Staycation is becoming a big play in India. People are booking something 10km outside their city and then travelling in large groups. So a lot of farm houses or villas get booked on Airbnb. We are also seeing heritage listings being booked. So in Goa, people are looking for 100-year-old villas or Portuguese villas. We have a villa which is 400 years old and the family still lives there and hosts people and share the great stories that they have. In Rajasthan, we are seeing old, refurbished havelis getting listed. As awareness increases, more unique places will come on the platform.
It is something very recent but we have seen rapid growth. Almost 700,000 companies (globally) use Airbnb. So 15% of all Airbnb stays are now for work. Even in India, more than 4,000 companies are using Airbnb for work and we launched it only six months ago. Corporate travellers are incorporating work and leisure. Also, the number of people in a reservation is not one. It is two to four people who travel together for work. So there are teams travelling together, brainstorming and bonding together.
Relocation is also growing. So if you are moving to a different city, and you want to first get a feel of the neighbourhood, it’s best to book a house on Airbnb and stay in the neighbourhood before doing it for a longer term.
We are an open platform, so the pricing is decided by hosts themselves. We have built-in tools to help the hosts choose the right pricing. The pricing is dynamic but the final choice rests with the host. We take a revenue fee out of it, which is 3%. A lot of hosts on Airbnb don’t do it for money. I met a host who were empty nesters and they priced their lavish bungalow at $20 a night with meals. So when we told them you can charge two times the current price, they said they did this not for money but to meet new people.
Our target right now is the millennial population in India because we believe they are more likely to value experiential travel. Also, they are trend setters. What they do and how they travel becomes a trend for other segments to follow. So our entire focus right now is to ensure that the Indian millennial population across top urban areas as well as tier II towns understand the benefits of this network. We want to ensure than we are the default pick for their travelling.
Source: https://www.livemint.com/
