Is Airbnb yearning for the dependability of Bricks and Mortar?

Monday 03 December 2018

Article

There was an intriguing announcement earlier this week that Airbnb was launching a major new initiative to design and build a new generation of millennial ready houses.

It is clear that with the intelligence they have at their finger tips on what delights their millions of guests and what makes hosts most successful they should be well placed to rethink the perfect dwelling.

Clearly enabling these new consumer spaces to be easy to list, rent, protect, clean, cohabit, etc will support the ongoing Airbnb ecosystem and their primary income stream.

But alongside this obvious synergy it seems more intriguing to see how this serves to diversify the business away from the core, fast growing, but vulnerable business of being an intermediary.

Converting some of the substantial shareholder value that has been created into a more tangible asset base may well help to both build out the ecosystem but also secure future income against the threat of future disruptors.

Fixing the roof while the sun's shining is always a smart move - perhaps redesigning the whole house at the same time is even smarter!

Experts in this insight:

Suggested Reading

Friday 31 January 2014

Journeys to the west

The classic Ming Dynasty novel “Journey to the West” tells the tale of Xuanzang, a Chinese monk trekking to India to study Buddhist scriptures alongside a colourful collection of magical characters

Thursday 28 September 2017

Taking a serious look at fun

People in China’s growing middle class are working longer and harder, and so they are placing greater emphasis on leisure as well as spending more time on leisure activities

Subscribe to our Insights

Find out more with our newsletters and insights 

Subscribe

We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. By continuing to browse this site, you give consent for cookies to be used. For more details please read our Cookie policy.