Interview: Airbnb’s China Rival Tujia and the Power of Home-Field Advantage
Photo Credit: Melissa Yang, co-founder and chief technology officer of Tujia.com, which is known as the Airbnb of China. Prior to founding Tujia, Yang worked at Microsoft, Escapia, and Expedia. Tujia.com
Skift Take
Given what happened with Didi Chunxing and Uber, can other businesses like Airbnb compete in China? What can vacation rental and homesharing companies learn from homegrown Chinese startups like Tujia?
When Tujia announced it had a record number of bookings in one day this month — 56,000 room nights in total for Aug. 5 — it was the first time that the "Airbnb of China" as it's often referred to, had disclosed data of this type.
And while 56,000 room nights seems relatively small in comparison to Airbnb (more than 101,370 room-nights in a single day on average) it's a significant sign that the world's largest travel market is warming up to the idea of alternative accommodations and the sharing economy.
Tujia, which means "journey home," got its start three years after Airbnb in 2011, and while it may not be worth much as Airbnb is today ($30 billion), it is worth more than $1 billion. And the company continues to grow. It acquired rival Mayi.com in June and now offers 430,000 listings in 312 cities in mainland China, as well as overseas in destinations throughout Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.
To get a better sense of where Tujia is headed, and what the environm
