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in the UK by Airbnb. The company’s UK
subsidiary files abbreviated accounts
in the UK, which showed a loss in 2012
of £91,299 and net current liabilities of
(minus) £554,587. 44% said that the additional income they
made from short-term renting allowed them
to stay in their homes; and 63% said the
extra money enabled them to pay bills they
wouldn’t otherwise have been able to pay”.
Meanwhile, a media charm offensive
seems to be underway, with the Airbnb
founders giving in terviews, so far
generating mainly positive and uncritical
coverage. A piece by Louise France across
two pages of The Times on 3 Feb hailed the
founders as “cool geeks” and the website
as a great new way to stay, or to generate
money from your spare room. When Evan Davies on Radio 4’s “The
Bottom Line” did a recent show on “The
Sharing Economy”, his question to Airbnb’s
Even Heggerness about profits and value
was batted away with the rejoinder: “for
us, it is all about the community”.
Airbnb are careful to play up this
‘community empowerment’ message,
stressing that “it is all about the
community”. Their 28th January research
report stated: “Airbnb is throwing
homeowners across the UK a lifeline:
However, CEO Brian Chesky could not
quite bring himself in a TV interview to
deny that his company “might be worth
$2.5 billion” – he smiled at that, as well
one might.
What do you think?
Tell us: [email protected]
or tweet @HospitalityTday
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