Airbnb Considers India Among its Top Three Fastest Growing Emerging Markets

According to a report by The Mint, India is among the three fastest-growing emerging markets for Airbnb and will continue to see more investments from the online homestay company on the back of globetrotting Indian millennials, a top company official said.

“Europe and North America are the largest markets for us but from an emerging (economy) standpoint, India is in the top three and growing one of the fastest. I expect it to continue to grow for quite some time as a growing number of people here are discovering travel—both domestic and internationally,” said Greg Greeley, President, Homes, Airbnb.

India’s popularity on the platform is also growing, with Kerala emerging among the top 20 global destinations for 2020 in a study by Airbnb. In fact, given the growing traction for the North-East, Airbnb has tied up with the Nagaland government and will be the accommodation partner for the Hornbill festival next month.

Airbnb, founded in 2008, is present in 191 countries and launched its platform in May 2016 in India, where it has 54,000 listings across 110 cities. Eleven years on, the company says it is ready for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2020.

It has also announced plans to enter the transportation segment, and in January this year hired aviation industry professional Fred Reid as the global head of transportation. This, Airbnb believes, is crucial for it to emerge as an end-to-end travel experience provider across categories.

“The big picture for us is the end-to-end journey and if we can bring people-powered experiences that are unique, authentic, local and not mass-produced,” he said.

“We are positioning ourselves to help our community on the entire trip—from the inspiration of where would I like to go to how do I get there, where do I stay and what do I do when I get there. Also, we would like to help people on their return and that checking back into their own home is as easy as it is to check into a place on your holiday,” Greeley said.

Besides accommodation, the platform also offers experiences that are unique to each region such as food tours, biking tours, pottery classes, and museum tours, among others.

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