Exclusive | World’s largest home-sharing site ramping up its efforts in tough market where some Western tech firms have crashed and burned, including Uber
US company claims to have 120,000 Chinese listings, a significant boost from 80,000 in March, each with an occupation rate of ‘double-digit’
Airbnb is ramping up its commitment to China, including a plan to triple its local workforce to 300 by 2018, making it the “go-to” home-sharing website for Chinese millennials, not only for overseas travel but also for domestic trips.
The world’s fourth largest start-up by valuation said it is ready to invest “as much as it needed” in China to focus on both inbound and outbound travel as the country is not just an important market but has “ fundamental importance”.
“Global vice-president and China chief Ge Hong, said: “We started our business in China by leveraging the advantage of our global network. But we are not just going to focus on rich Chinese millennials who travel abroad.
“We want to be there for young Chinese wherever they go, in China or abroad,” Ge said in an interview with the South China Morning Post, adding Chinese travellers’ orders on Airbnb for domestic trips almost equal orders for overseas travel.
Beijing born-and-bred, Ge previously worked for Facebook and Google, and was appointed in June as the very first China head of Airbnb, as part of the US home-sharing giant’s effort to take on already brutal local competition, from firms including Tujia and Xiaozhu.
China has proved a graveyard for many ambitious Western tech giants, including ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies, which retreated from the mainland in 2016 after heavily investing billions of dollars to fend off local competition.