SALES & MARKETING
Foyer of the Adelphi Hotel in Melbourne
AIRBNB ’ S
HOTEL GAME
The homesharing giant ramped things up in March when it announced it would open its doors wide to allow boutique hotels and bed and breakfast-types to advertise properties directly on the company ’ s site . In addition to tiptoeing into the OTA waters , it also serves another purpose , according to Airbnb Hotels Program Manager Cammy Houser , who says that the company saw interest around the initiative from over 1,600 hotels in just two months — and that was before the official launch .
“ The travel industry is massive and has been growing every year since Airbnb was formed ,” Houser says . “ There
“ are many different types of travelers looking for many different types of experience , and we think there ’ s room and demand for all types of hospitality . By better supporting hotels and B & Bs , we think we will achieve our goal .”
Ease of searchability for hotels on Airbnb ' s site also isn ’ t quite there yet — as of May , that functionality was still being developed , according to Houser .
So does this present a direct challenge to OTAs ? Airbnb wouldn ’ t comment on that , but for at least one property already directly advertising on Airbnb , the answer is : not necessarily .
Without these relationships , WE WOULDN ’ T BE IN BUSINESS in today ’ s highly competitive marketplace .
— DION CHANDLER
”
Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky at an Airbnb event in February
Dion Chandler , managing director for the 34-room Adelphi Hotel in Melbourne , Australia , says it just “ makes sense ” to add Airbnb to the hotel ’ s list of OTA options , not necessarily replace one with another .
Chandler says the property ’ s Palatial Suite ( which is only listed on Airbnb ) has been booked more times via that channel than any other OTA . The suite has been averaging a booking of five nights per month , which comes out to around A $ 40,000 ( US $ 30,200 ) annually in revenue for an acquisition cost of around A $ 1,200 ( US $ 906 ).
In terms of fees , whenever accommodation is booked , Chandler says both the customer and the host pay a service fee to Airbnb that is significantly less than those applied by OTAs .
“ Without these relationships , we wouldn ’ t be in business in today ’ s highly competitive marketplace ,” Chandler says of the OTAs and Airbnb ’ s new effort . “ I look forward to seeing how other hotels will react to the rapid expansion of Airbnb .”— C . R .
22 hotelsmag . com June 2018