While room sharing sites like Airbnb are nothing new, the continued rise of popularity in these websites now poses a threat to the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific region, according to a new report by CBRE. Many travellers now prefer Airbnb and other shared accommodation websites since rates tend to be lower here than at hotels.
While the number of tourist arrivals into Asia Pacific continues to be strong, this hasn’t translated into more success for the hotel industry. Market competition from shared accommodation platforms such as Airbnb has given tourists an alternative when coming to cities like Bangkok, Manila and Singapore.
“Advances in technology have made it possible for hosts to offer rooms or apartments for short-term rental via online platforms,” the CBRE report claimed. “The main competitive advantage of Airbnb is the lower price.”
Airbnb is the biggest name in the shared accommodation industry and is represented in 191 countries. The site currently has more than two million listings. HomeAway, FlipKey and Rommorama are a few of the other players, but these have failed to gain the popularity that Airbnb has.
The report added that the shared accommodation website claims the average daily rate for a one-bedroom, entire property is 200 percent lower than that of daily rates at hotels in a number of Asia Pacific cities. These include Manila, Jakarta, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Taipei and Ho Chi Minh.
While the USA and Europe still dominate the listings, CBRE pointed out that the number of rental properties in the Asia Pacific region listed on shared accommodation platforms continues to expand. Research from the consultancy revealed that nearly 60 percent of active Airbnb rentals are for entire apartments. This type of accommodation accounts for around two percent of the hotel room supply in Asia Pacific at the present time.
