Has Airbnb reached tipping point? – Travel Weekly An interesting article. I guess the slowing down of growth is inevitable, the opposition from the hotel industry not at all surprising.
On the contrary, I think Airbnb is gradually getting more recognition and it is definitely getting a niche market of people visiting relatives in the area. Half of my guests are older couple who has never used Airbnb before and coming from interstates to visit their kids who lives nearby but do not have a spare room. I adore my ma and pa guests.
Not at all. This is what I wrote about it. How AirBnB is helping Australian economy and had no effect on Hotel Industry?
The original article was only about the slowing of growth in Airbnb. Even the slowed down growth is 3%. Hotels have long been in opposition to Airbnb, regardless of whether there is an actual impact on their business or not. Their actions are based perhaps a lot more on perceived threat than an actual threat. Figures which come from unbiased sources are difficult to come by. While there are people who are travelling only because it's more affordable or because Airbnb provides a different experience, there are others who would have otherwise have stayed in hotels. I've had three trips in Australia recently where I've stayed Airbnb because it's cheaper; my next trip I'm making only because it's more affordable. Hotels are a well funded and organised group. One should not underestimate their influence. Governments which collect tax on hotels would also be looking at collecting a similar tax on Airbnb. This may well close the differential. Many cities have restrictions on Airbnb. Some of these are based on opposition from owner bodies as well as from hotels.
They need to fix their damn servers. The 3 times I tried to use them a few months ago their site was so laggy. They need to realize when people are in a rush and need to book they can’t be sitting around waiting for the site to come back up. What a joke.
