
Analysis Shows Hotels Are Not Losing Share to Airbnb - silvialisam
https://travel.hostfully.com/analysis-shows-hotels-are-not-losing-share-to-airbnb-f0bcd7dcf4be#.ox6m7z5jf
======
dlss
Finally an article that answers some pressing societal questions:

* Can hostfully.com identify suspicious data analysis? (no.)

* If given the chance, will Airbnb present misleading data for self-serving ends? (yes.)

* Will an already self-serving study be given an even more self-serving spin when presented by a sympathetic reporter? (yes.)

To understand what I'm talking about, consider the source cited by OP
([http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/77191/New-Airbnb-data-
sheds...](http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/77191/New-Airbnb-data-sheds-light-
on-13-global-markets)). Going by that data we might be tempted to say that
Airbnb is being out-competed by the hotel industry.

However, stagnant growth on the part of AirBnb seems like it would have been
widely reported. And yet it hasn't. Googling we find a seemingly contradictory
datapoint: Airbnb's revenue is up 89% this year
([http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2016/09/01/airb...](http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2016/09/01/airbnbs-
revenue-soars-compared-to-hotels.html)).

How can Airbnb's revenue have almost doubled while still losing market share
across the board?

Option 1. They didn't lose market share across the board, and instead cherry
picked non-representative markets for their 13 region hotel comparison.

Option 2. They lost large numbers of low-margin bookings across the board,
while gaining (taking market share from hotels) higher margin bookings. [Note
this would contradict OP's article.]

In both cases, Airbnb's data is misleading.

~~~
MaysonL
It is interesting, nonetheless, that the past two years have been the best on
record for hotels, as far as their occupancy rate is concerned.
([http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2016/10/hotels-
occupancy-r...](http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2016/10/hotels-occupancy-
rate-on-track-to-be_17.html))

~~~
sametmax
Except I'm on one of the biggest touristic area in France, and hotels here a
loosing customers. We got less tourists than before, and I can see many people
using RBNB. In the mean time, some people close to me are talking about being
fired from their hotel because of the economy.

While I know my situation is not a representative sample, I do travel a lot
and observed the same thing in various places, including other countries. I
discussed it with other travelers, and they reported the same.

So I wouldn't conclude that everything is ok for hotels. The story needs more
data.

~~~
ghaff
US tourist travel to much of Europe was down this summer [1] with the drop
attributed to the terrorist attacks. Anecdotally, tourist travel in areas of
the Northeast US was up considerably (double digits) this summer. I'm sure
there are a number of reasons for this--low gas prices but not especially
cheap airfares, the general air travel experience, etc.--but reluctance to
visit Europe (in spite of a strong dollar) does seem to be real based on
conversations with a number of restaurant owners for example.

[1] [http://www.wsj.com/articles/terror-attacks-weigh-on-
europes-...](http://www.wsj.com/articles/terror-attacks-weigh-on-europes-
travel-companies-1469372313)

------
blunte
If the data only comes from Airbnb, I'm not sure how much I trust it given
their suspicious behavior with New York data -
[http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-deleted-rentals-
before...](http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-deleted-rentals-before-
showing-data-2016-2?international=true&r=US&IR=T)

------
jacalata
This is a terribly uncompelling attempt at analysis and I can only assume that
they began by writing the headline and then went and looked at the data.

~~~
bkor
The link points to another blog which points to
[http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/77191/New-Airbnb-data-
sheds...](http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/77191/New-Airbnb-data-sheds-light-
on-13-global-markets). Still very unconvincing.

~~~
jacalata
Yea, I read the whole report before making my comment. Terrible.

------
rmason
AirBnB's marketshare is coming out of someone. Travel habits are changing and
it may take awhile for them to be observed clearly.

I clearly remember the newspaper industry doing a survey in the late nineties
showing that the Internet wasn't materially hurting their business. Then
sometime after 2003 the industry fell off a cliff.

~~~
paulojreis
> AirBnB's marketshare is coming out of someone.

In Portugal, it seems to be coming from the rental market. In the sense that
there's been an increase in tourism and the increased demand for short-term
accommodation is being fulfilled with properties which were previously for
longer rentals.

~~~
rmc
> _In Portugal, it seems to be coming from the rental market. In the sense
> that there 's been an increase in tourism and the increased demand for
> short-term accommodation is being fulfilled with properties which were
> previously for longer rentals._

This has happened in Ireland, and especially Dublin as well. With rents
increasing by 10% per year, AirBnB is blamed by some for reducing the stock of
privately rented accomodation.

------
antirez
So I've a bunch of friends than when traveling used to go to Hotels and now go
to AirBnb. While anecdotical, this is more convincing than data from AirBnb
cherry picked to show a seemingly hard to make point.

~~~
soulnothing
I've seen this as well. Alot of my friends are using Airbnb vs hotels. I've
seen two reasons. One is solely fiscal the cost savings. The other is being
treated more like a local. By that I mean hotels I usually hear of locations
that feel touristy. While hosts direct to local venues.

I'm a fringe point, Ive always preferred saving money for experience. So I'm
used to hostels, couch surfing, etc. I would only touch hotels if it was part
of a rewards program.

I'm also a host. My rooms are priced at 12 and 25 a night. I've noticed two
trends and seen it backed up via host forums.

Firstly travelers are expecting hotel quality at a fraction of the price.
They're expecting travel toiletries, clean to the point of shining. I
purchased a number of travel size soaps and one customer raided my entire
supply. This stuff adds up. I can buy some items in bulk. But not at the
discount rate of hotels. I also offer food when I'm making it. Some customers
outright asked me where's breakfast. Oddly ive seen this primarily with
younger people. Older, 40+, join the household. Cook with us and buy
ingredients.

Secondly I'm seeing Airbnb as a short term rental place. After 2 weeks listed
I had one room booked for 6 months the other for 4 months. These are largely
people who are just moving to the area, and finding their grounding. Or I've
seen a lot of visas doing short term contracts.

I can pretty much boil my listing down too. Either a short term rental. Or a
stopping point between Philadelphia and Baltimore/DC.

~~~
dismantlethesun
> Some customers outright asked me where's breakfast. Oddly ive seen this
> primarily with younger people.

I'll blame that on the AirBnB name itself. BnB implies Bed and Breakfast, so
people might rightly expect that breakfast would be served.

I think it'd be better if both sides---consumer/suppliers---looked at AirBnB
offerings as a bed and breakfast or a vacation rental, but never as a straight
up hotel or couchsurfing replacement.

------
visarga
So both hotels and AirBnb are growing, but that doesn't mean AirBnb isn't
taking a large share of the profits. I used to go to hotels when travelling,
but in the last few years it has been only AirBnb. I am much more satisfied
with the quality of service and being closer to the local culture.

------
sschueller
I think hotels are loosing money because sites like booking.com charge insane
fees (35% is not uncommon [1]) and the hotels don't have their own mega
portal.

Some of which will give you better ranking on their site if you pony up more
percentage.

If you are looking to book a hotel I would find what the price is on one of
these sites and then call the hotel to negotiate a lower price. You get a
better price and the hotel gets more money.

[1] [https://www.quora.com/How-much-commission-is-booking-com-
cha...](https://www.quora.com/How-much-commission-is-booking-com-charging-
their-partner-hotels)

~~~
davidverhasselt
As an end-user, booking.com gives me so much added value I don't mind paying
10% more than I could maybe, possibly negotiate with the hotel on the phone.
When I hear hotels complaining about booking.com fees, I believe they're
ignorant of the end-user's plight. They're also free to not be listed on
booking.com, but obviously the discovery is worth it to them.

Off the top of my head, a short list of advantages I like:

\- someone that will take my side in disputes

\- being able to book multiple hotels on one account, in the same place

\- cards in wallet in my iphone

\- knowing exactly what I'll get

\- avoiding misunderstandings that might arise when having to book orally
(i.e. wrong number of rooms, wrong number of people, ...)

And that's beyond the superpowerful search, which is kind of immoral to use
without giving them the referral fee.

~~~
greggman
Booking.com has started taking Airbnb like listings for which there was no
indication on booking.com that I noticed.

I recently booked a room in stockholm that looked nice on booking.com. It was
only after I booked that I was contacted by the owner and told how to meet up
and get the key etc . I was pretty upset it wasn't an actual hotel but it was
arguably too late to change things. It turned out to just be someone's
apartment.

I have no idea if booking.com knew that. I do know I would not have booked if
I had know for this particular trip.

~~~
bkor
Ah right, I had one bad experience. If on booking.com, I expect an apartment
to be an apartment building (meaning: loads of apartments and a reception). It
seems difficult to see the difference on booking.com. I booked an apartment
where it was really like an Airbnb. Meaning: call this local number.
Fortunately they had whatsapp as well. This in Europe, were finally I can call
to my own country from elsewhere in Europe, but calling to the local country
is still crazy expensive (special rate for mobile phones -- which small
companies often use).

Unlike Airbnb the apartment did want me to pay the tourist tax. Strangely, I
paid a bit less than what booking.com said I should've. I mentioned it but the
guy ignored it (oh well).

Usually I do check around (see if I can find a cheaper rate by booking
directly).

------
wyc
In the Innovator's Dilemma framework, entrant firms typically attack the
bottom of the market first and will not steal business from the likes of
Marriot or Hilton until later in the game, where their services improve to the
point of "good enough" for the existing hotel consumers.

------
ComteDeLaFere
Simple common sense pretty much negates this headline and its premise.

To be honest, I can't say that I have a compelling interest in protecting
hotel market share. As a resident of NYC, however, I do have an interest in
protecting my relatively cheap (but in-the-real-world-expensive-as-hell) rent.
I see more and more people with suitcases leaving and entering buildings in
the neighborhood, and I have to wonder what that is doing to rent prices.

It's still a gut thing right now, but the case feels like it's getting more
compelling.

------
torrent-of-ions
> Hotels have much higher year-round occupancy due to the diverse nature of
> their business (leisure, business, and group).

What is "group"?

~~~
mikeyouse
Group reservations are usually for weddings / graduations / anniversaries,
etc.

------
hsx
This doesn't surprise me in the least. Businesses will still much rather use
trusted hotels than Airbnb hosts.

------
nojvek
I was a big believer in Airbnb but I've had some really bad experiences. The
refund policy favors host over guest. The prices are usually on par or higher
than hotels. Service can be really bad. It feels after growing airbnb lost its
ethos.

------
xchaotic
Bad analysis. Nowadays, my bookings are 50/50 split between regular hotels and
apartment rentals. I would have stayed in hotels 100% if there was no
alternative.

------
spectrum1234
Well this study is obviously wrong. Myself and many others use Airbnb strictly
in place of hotels.

