Airbnb. It’s everywhere. I’ve used it, you’ve used it. Our parents use it. But what is it?
Airbnb was the brainchild of a broke couple of young adults in 2007 who had a place to stay but not enough income. Taking advantage of a local conference they decided to rent out a couple mattresses to the attendees who could not find a hotel and thus an idea was born.
Airbnb was an overnight sensation because it not only gave people a place to stay that was different then hotels but also because it offered an experience within the local community. It was different from vacation homes because it wasn’t far off places and exotic destinations that was the goal nor was it the hotels that take you out of a vacation for a more stagnated “hotel” experience. It hit upon that niche of people who wish to immerse themselves in the homes and lives to the people they visit. For example, the main emphasis was urban living. Urban living presupposes communal life. People would rent a space out in an apartment or house and they would share that space together as a way of building up community. The business eventually became an easy way to rent a place without being disturbed for a short amount of time but the original intent was for the owners to remain on the property as well.
Airbnb has been recognized as a real alternative to hotels but both the company and hotels in general have taken the differences in stride, being open to what each type of accommodation does and also applying the strengths of each to one another. Some hotel companies for example, have done their best to reach out and be more personal and connected to the local community. Likewise, Airbnb has been working on extended accommodation, organizing trips around the area and delivery service options.
I think this is a great example of sharing ideas and not necessarily competing at every turn. Of course, not every big hotel company is going to love what Airbnb is doing to their business nor does Airbnb plan on ceding their hard-earned ground, but the point stands. Idea generation doesn’t need to be combative and in fact, if we cooperate, we can realize a better future for all.
I definitely agree that Airbnb is niche, shown by their founding and also their advertisements – I’ve been seeing a lot of their advertisements lately, and they do cater to a specific (but effective) market. I personally would choose an Airbnb over a hotel – so it’s clear that their offering is valued. It was fascinating to hear how they started! Thank you for your post – great work!
I really like your blog topic! My family used to own and opperate an Airbnb and I learned so much from the whole experience. Lots of owners choose to outsource a management company which essentially makes the property a no effort source of income since you wont have to clean it each time you have renters. Airbnb is severely overlooked, however there is a large chance that the market can become oversaturated with too many properties. With that being said Airbnb properties all have much more to offer than hotels from my experience so I would choose to stay at one of these properties rather than a hotel.
This is awesome. I had no idea how Airbnb started. It shows a lot about the creativity aspect of the business by taking something we had that wasn’t really needed and transforming it into a product for sale. Perhaps we all have resources we can market. This blog was really interesting, thank you for bringing this cool origin story to light!