New Data Suggests Airbnb’s Impact on Hotels Is Less Than Perceived
Photo Credit: A new report from STR suggests Airbnb may not be impacting hotels' business as much as hoteliers might believe it to be. Airbnb
Skift Take
This report seems to suggest hoteliers don't have much to worry about when it comes to Airbnb but we're dealing more with apples and oranges here than apples and apples.
STR has published the preliminary findings of a report that uses data supplied by Airbnb to try to answer the question: What kind of an impact is Airbnb having on hotels around the world?
STR used data provided by Airbnb for seven U.S. markets (Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.) and six international markets (Barcelona, London, Mexico City, Paris, Sydney, and Tokyo) from the period between August 2015 to July 2016. Here's what they found from the data:
Airbnb has more listings (2.3 million) worldwide than Marriott and Starwood combined (1.1 million rooms). However, it's not a fair or direct comparison to equate one Airbnb listing to one hotel room because listings aren't available year-round and some are for private rooms instead of entire units. Some listings are also for unique accommodations and might be able to accommodate larger groups than a typical hotel room.
Examining listings from just those seven U.S. markets, STR
