More than a month after announcing the closure of its business in mainland China, Airbnb Airbnb's strategy in the Chinese market has new trends. Nandu reporters learned that on July 8, Airbnb released a comprehensive upgrade plan for outbound travel products.
At the online sharing session on the theme of outbound travel that day, Airbnb and brand data and analysis company Kantar released the outbound travel trend report "New Proposals for China's Generation Z Global Travel in the Post-epidemic Era". Data shows that the new generation of travelers hope to conduct in-depth outbound travel for longer periods of time by slow travel and travel. With the rise of demand for medium and long-term housing, 93% of China's Generation Z respondents said that "difficulty in finding a house" has become their core pain point in the process of using long-term housing products in outbound travel, which is mainly reflected in three aspects: unclear demand, complicated information, high difficulty in adapting housing resources, and high pressure for one-time payment.
Based on this, Airbnb China has launched three major functions. Among them, the platform will intelligently recommend the characteristics of medium and long-term housing, highlighting the labels of housing such as check-in with your luggage and complete facilities. Second, Airbnb China will soon launch the "accommodation split" function, which will provide a combination of results that connects two properties, and expand the number of search results for outbound travel properties by an average of 40%. Third, in order to alleviate the pressure of one-time payment, the platform has opened the zero-interest monthly payment function for long-term outbound travel orders for 28 days and more.
Airbnb's first quarter financial report released this year showed that with the global tourism industry showing a recovery trend, its accommodation and experience bookings rose against the trend, surpassing the same period before the epidemic, and breaking the 100 million bookings mark for the first time in a single quarter. Although short-term accommodation rebounded, long-term accommodation with 28 nights and above is still the fastest-growing category on Airbnb's platform compared to 2019, doubling from the same period in 2019, accounting for about one-fifth of the total number of intermittent night bookings worldwide.
The above report also shows that in the post-epidemic era, security and flexibility have become the focus of travelers' consideration. 66% and 70% of respondents said they would plan outbound travel and book accommodation half a month to one month in advance. Generation Z needs more flexible travel products, and 82% of respondents hope that the travel platform can meet the needs of temporary refund and change booking after booking. In terms of accommodation, safety and reliability (78%), clean and hygienic (74%), and not sharing public space with others (55%) have become the considerations for more travelers, which to a certain extent has become one of the reasons why B&B and is popular.
On May 24, Airbnb announced that due to the epidemic weakening the synergy between its domestic travel business and outbound travel business, China's domestic travel business faces operational challenges such as high costs. Airbnb China will focus on outbound travel business. Based on business adjustments, support for domestic travel in China, experience and related bookings will be suspended from July 30, 2022. The booking and service of outbound travel listings/experiences will not be affected at the moment. (See relevant reports for details)
The day after the above news was released, a reporter from Nandu learned from multiple homestay platforms that a large number of former Airbnb landlords went to consult about housing entry and online operations, and the number of landlords applying for settlement surged to hundreds. Various platforms immediately launched measures to help Airbnb landlords in need make a smooth transition, including release of housing sources, support plans for new landlords to settle in, optimization of incentive policies, and online landlord communities, etc., "grabbing food" the increase in housing return caused by Airbnb's exit.
data shows that as Airbnb officially closes its business in mainland China, the platform will launch nearly 150,000 housing and experience businesses in mainland China. However, according to CNBC data, the accommodation business in the Chinese market only accounts for about 1% of Airbnb's overall revenue, and even before the epidemic, this proportion did not exceed 5%. According to the financial report previously released by Airbnb, thanks to the recovery of the European and American travel markets, its revenue in the first quarter exceeded 80% in the same period in 2019 before the outbreak of the epidemic. Compared with the North American and European businesses, which account for the majority of the company's business, the Asia-Pacific market will no longer be a direct driving factor in 2022.
According to Airbnb's response to Nandu reporters at that time, "Airbnb China will consolidate its capital and cultivate its roots, focus on outbound travel business, integrate resources, and fully serve the return of outbound travel.At the same time, we will suspend support for domestic travel, experience and related bookings. The Chinese team continues to innovate product and promote global and Chinese business initiatives. "
, Airbnb China business head Kong Zhiqiu, said again at the sharing meeting: "Outbound travel business has always been the core of Airbnb China's long-term development. Before the epidemic, China has become the world's largest source of tourists, and with the recent gradual relaxation of entry and exit policies in various countries and regions, this demand will surely be fully released. ”
Previously, there were reports that after closing the business in mainland China, Airbnb China has about 320 people, and will retain 150 people to make overseas business. Another 120 people will be transferred, and a small number of them will be laid off. As the head of Airbnb China's business, Kong Zhiqiu is leading the Chinese team to fully serve outbound travel business. According to the information, Kong Zhiqiu joined Airbnb in 2015 and was one of the early team members of Airbnb China. He launched Airbnb China's mini program, etc., which once ranked first among domestic homestay platforms.
edited and written by Nanduwan Finance Society reporter Fu Xiaoling
