(San Francisco) Airbnb has decided to suspend its rental housing offer in China due to repeated confinements since the beginning of 2020, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Posted at 5:11 p.m.
The platform for booking rooms, apartments and houses launched on this market in 2016, to court Chinese tourists traveling abroad and also to develop a housing offer on site.
More than 25 million people have since visited these dwellings, but this local activity has always been expensive and complex to manage, according to the source. And COVID-19 hasn’t helped.
These stays in China have represented only about 1% of the group’s income in recent years.
Unlike other major economies, China has a strict “zero-COVID-19” policy, consisting of isolating sources of contamination to stop the spread of the virus.
Shanghai has thus been experiencing a harsh form of confinement since April, with the ban on leaving home in a large part of the city, depriving many people of adequate access to medical care and food.
Airbnb declined to comment on the information.
The San Francisco-based company is expected to suspend its on-site offering and “Experiences” (on-site activities) this summer, to focus on Chinese travelers.
According to the World Tourism Organization, 150 million Chinese traveled abroad in 2018, compared to 4.5 million in 2000. In 2012, China became the most important country in the world in terms of tourists international.
Airbnb is counting on the good recovery of this fruitful market, particularly in neighboring Asian countries, with the gradual reopening of borders thanks to vaccines.
Worldwide, the group had a record start to the year, and expects sustained demand until the end of the year, in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as in America Latin.
In the first three months of the year, the company recorded 102 million room nights and “experiences” booked, more than any other quarter so far.