Is Airbnb taking over London’s hotel market?

Peer-to-peer online marketplace Airbnb could become London’s biggest hospitality “operator”, as it approaches 20,000 rentals a week, according to monthly technology and trends magazine Wired.

Using data “scraped” from the Airbnb website, Wired has calculated that the startup is currently in the middle of a “seemingly unstoppable advance”, recording 215,000 rentals in 2015, followed by around 480,000 the following year.

Airbnb allows people to list, book or rent short-term lodging in residential properties, with the cost of such accommodation set by the property owner.

The article claims that in 2017 Airbnb’s market share in London nearly tripled, jumping from 2.8 to 7.6 per cent of overnight stays. Seen as a disruptor for traditional hotel operators, Airbnb has, however, worked with the industry on a number of marketing initiatives in recent times

Earlier this month, the company launched a global hotel technology partnership with SiteMinder, a leading cloud platform for hotels to attract and book guests across the globe.

Under the partnership, traditional hotel operators and businesses which use SiteMinder can list rooms on the Airbnb platform.

Cameron Houser, Airbnb’s programme manager for hotels, said: “Small hotels and B&Bs have long used Airbnb and now we’re building new tools and partnerships to help these local businesses thrive.

“We are dedicated to working with small hospitality businesses that excel at offering the best guest experiences and living our mission of belonging and we couldn’t ask for a better partner than SiteMinder.”