Airbnb powers ahead

New York City – 13 December 2016
Use of Airbnb is growing faster than industry commentators predicted, with hotels the main losers in the new accommodation war, hotel technology site Tnooz reported.

A large survey and follow-up analysis by global financial services giant Morgan Stanley says that Airbnb penetration of the accommodation sector is hitting somewhere in the region of 18-19 percent, up from 12 percent last year.

This marked increase in the space of just 12 months is being felt in both leisure and corporate travel, with nearly a fifth of both types having being hosted by an Airbnb member.

Although growth is forecast to slow slightly over the course of the next year, penetration is likely to be at around 23-25 percent.

Driving this still-rapid increase in usage is a combination of high traveller awareness (75 percent of consumers) and even higher user satisfaction rates (93 percent), Morgan Stanley says.

According to the report, almost half of respondents (49 percent) shifted stays away from so-called “traditional hotels” over the course of the last year, with the same figure expected for 2017.