Home share booking app Airbnb which has been in India for quite some time announced that its services in India has nearly tripled in the last year and they are aiming to double the number of property listed on their platform by the end of this year.
Airbnb co-founder and CTO Nathan Blecharczyk said, “We have grown by 115 per cent since last year in terms of listings. We are expecting to the number of homes listed in our platform to double by end of this year.” At present the US based home sharing app has over 18,000 listing in 100 cities of India.
Blecharczyk who was in New Delhi on Wednesday (May 04) said, “The Indian economy has gained a lot of momentum in recent years and the travel industry is on a rise. It is the best time for Airbnb to expand its operations in India.”
The Indian travel market is estimated to be worth $40 billion by 2020.
Airbnb will also focus on domestic travellers apart from foreign travellers to expand its user base. “There are lots of Indian travellers who travel from one city to other. They are also a big opportunity for the company apart from foreign travellers,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, Country Manager, Airbnb India.
The company was started in 2008 in San Francisco and has 2 million listings in 191 countries. Till date it has served over 80 million guests.
The company has a revenue model where in the hosts set their own price and get to keep 97 per cent of the tariff and the rest 3 per cent are kelp with Airbnb. Rent across its properties varies from $ 10 to $10,000 a night.
“In India you can rent a single room in Dehradun at Rs 900 to a villa in Goa at Rs 30,000,” said Bajaj.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld
