Airbnb’s Chinese hosts relocate to domestic homestay platforms to grab both listings and traffic

　　migrate

　　Airbnb has communicated with multiple cooperative platforms such as Meituan B&B, Xiaozhu/Fliggy, and Tujia B&B, and strived for and launched a number of subsidy rights for eligible relocated landlords and listings, such as traffic support, targeted gift vouchers, etc. .

　　scramble

　　Meituan B&B stated that it will provide a number of subsidies and rights for Airbnb Chinese hosts.

Tujia not only released a notice on cooperation, but also released information about “more than 90% of the listings that have been connected to Airbnb in China”.

According to the public information of Xiaozhu/Fliggy, in the past week, the number of holiday boutique homestay merchants newly migrated to the dual platforms of Feizhu and Xiaozhu has reached a thousand.

　　A number of homestay platforms in China are vying for the listings left by Airbnb after they left.

　　The Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that at noon on June 3, Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) released a landlord/house listing relocation plan, saying that it had reached cooperation with Meituan Homestay, Xiaozhu/Fliggy, and Tujia Homestay. Most of the landlord information and listing information have been migrated to the cooperative homestay platform, and a number of subsidy rights have been obtained and launched for eligible relocated landlords / listings.

　　Almost at the same time, Tujia immediately released information about "more than 90% of the listings in China that have been connected to Airbnb".

Not to be outdone, Meituan and Xiaozhu/Fliggy successively stated that “Meituan Homestay announced that it has reached a cooperation with Airbnb China, Airbnb host information can be migrated to Meituan Homestay with one click”, “Airbnb Boutique Homestay is choosing Migrate to Fliggy and Little Pig in batches."

　　Huang Wei, the brand director of Xiaozhu Homestay, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that Airbnb is actually negotiating cooperation with several platforms.

　　On June 7, nearly two weeks have passed since Airbnb announced its withdrawal from the domestic market in China. All homestay platforms are trying their best to absorb Airbnb’s high-quality listings and are reluctant to easily give up their current market share.

　　500,000 houses moved

　　On May 24, Airbnb China announced that it would suspend its domestic travel business in China.

　　As of the end of April 2022, Airbnb had about 500,000 listings in China, according to market research firm AirDNA.

　　According to people familiar with the matter, Airbnb China has found three major homestay platforms to discuss follow-up cooperation.

　　At noon on June 3, Airbnb released a plan for the migration of hosts and listings, which is called to help Chinese landlords with a smooth transition and long-term development. Content and information migration channels, and have reached cooperation with Meituan B&B, Xiaozhu/Fliggy, and Tujia B&B.

Interested Airbnb Chinese hosts can go to the Airbnb APP to apply to participate in the migration plan. The application deadline is July 25, 2022.

　　The Red Star Capital Bureau has learned that the content of the migration includes the landlord's name, avatar, mobile phone number, superhost identity, landlord level and other landlord information and listing location, text introduction, pictures, facilities/services, compliance certificates, tenant reviews, Business data and other real estate information.

　　At the same time, Airbnb stated that it has fought for and launched a number of subsidy rights for eligible relocated hosts/houses, such as traffic support, targeted gift vouchers, etc.

　　A few minutes before Airbnb released its plan, Meituan Homestay released "Meituan Homestay and Airbnb China Reach Collaboration: Helping Hosts "Worry-Free" Migration", stating that it will provide Airbnb China hosts with a number of subsidies, rights and interests.

On social media, there is also a topic specially hosted by the media "Airbnb homestays will be migrated to platforms such as Meituan".

　　And Tujia not only released a notice on cooperation, but also released information about "more than 90% of the listings in China that have been connected to Airbnb".

As for what "more than 90%" specifically refers to, Tujia has not responded positively to the Red Star Capital Bureau.

However, according to industry insiders, Airbnb does not want sensitive data such as "more than 90%" disclosed by Tujia, and Tujia told the Red Star Capital Bureau that it is not aware of the matter.

　　Although Xiaozhu/Fliggy stated that they did not intend to make a statement, they also released relevant information on "Airbnb Boutique Homestays are choosing to migrate to Fliggy and Xiaozhu in batches" through some big V and self-media.

According to the public information of Xiaozhu/Fliggy, in the past week, the number of holiday boutique homestay merchants newly migrated to the dual platforms of Feizhu and Xiaozhu has reached a thousand.

　　From the beginning of Airbnb’s suspension of domestic travel business in China to the release of the migration plan, the Red Star Capital Bureau found that the three homestay platforms mentioned above are all in a race against time, scrambling to express their opinions and pull in high-quality housing.

　　According to media reports, this wave of "room scrambles" caused Tujia-related teams to temporarily work overtime.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing and other Airbnb "main production areas" received the most calls.

Tujia also confirmed this information to the Red Star Capital Bureau.

　　The battle for the traffic of the homestay platform

　　In fact, behind the relocation of Airbnb’s Chinese hosts, there is also a traffic dispute among other homestay platforms in China.

　　Fu Congwei, founder of Tree Frog Tribe, said that Fliggy and Xiaozhu B&B will attract them more as a support point for boutique B&Bs to participate in large-scale marketing activities such as Fliggy Super Brand Day, 618, and Double 11.

　　The Red Star Capital Bureau randomly interviewed Ze Hong, the landlord of Airbnb plus. She said that she chose Meituan and Tujia because she felt that the market share of Meituan and Tujia was larger.

The hosts Shirley and Volcano also said they were going to Meituan.

Volcano said that the landlord friends he knew basically went to the above two platforms; Shirley said that he was "following the market".

　　Huang Wei told the Red Star Capital Bureau that this seemingly fierce war, whether in terms of business supply or the competition pattern of the entire industry, actually had no particular impact.

　　Tujia also told the Red Star Capital Bureau that in fact, the listings of Airbnb and Tujia "have overlapped to a large extent before, and this time they have added some more".

　　In this competition for housing, all parties are loading ammunition for themselves and making efforts for the future.

　　Gu Huimin, a professor at the School of Tourism Science of Beijing International Studies University, said that Airbnb China chose to cooperate with major platforms to strive for more choices for homestay hosts, which reflects the responsibility and responsibility of the company.

Next, each platform should further strengthen innovation, jointly help restore confidence and competitiveness in the industry, focus on serving the long-term operation of homestay landlords, and lead the overall high-quality and sustainable development of the homestay industry.

　　Huang Wei also said: "The migration is only a stage, and it still needs to be operated and maintained for a long time. To do a good job in the homestay service is the core that really needs to be paid attention to."

　　According to data from the State Information Center, in the accommodation sector, shared accommodation revenue will account for about 5.9% of the national accommodation industry room revenue in 2021.

This means that the shared accommodation (homestay) industry still has great room for development.

　　Under the circumstances of stricter supervision and fiercer competition, whoever can take the lead in urban homestay operation and rural homestay development on the homestay platform is likely to become the real winner.

Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yao intern reporter Zhang Luxi

　　Observed

　　Airbnb is under attack

　　The big platform becomes the receiver

　　Public information shows that Airbnb has 5.6 million active listings in the world. In foreign countries, Airbnb's price and hotel ratio are actually very low, which can form a differentiated competition with traditional online hotel reservation (OTA) platforms.

　　But in China, this market is not only about OTA platforms and hotel chains, but also established homestays and rookie brands.

In 2017, online homestays raised a total of 3.69 billion yuan, more than the sum of the previous three years.

Both Tujia and Xiaozhu are valued at over $1 billion.

　　Under the attack of domestic competitors, Airbnb's expansion has repeatedly suffered setbacks.

According to The Paper, the latest data shows that Airbnb has nearly 500,000 listings in China, accounting for about 8% of the company's total global listings, while revenue from China only accounts for 1% of total revenue.

　　According to public information, among the four large-scale homestay booking platforms in China, Tujia has 2.39 million units, Muniao has 1.35 million units, and Xiaozhu and Meituan have about 800,000 units each.

　　Since one listing can be listed on multiple platforms, from an industry perspective, there are more than 3.5 million B&B listings nationwide.

　　Airbnb’s rivals in China have simple but effective strategies: bargaining red envelopes, group discounts, direct sales from landlords, investment and mergers and acquisitions.

　　In October 2016, Tujia integrated the multi-platform short-term rental business.

The expansion of housing listings increased Tujia's transaction volume by 160% year-on-year in 2017.

　　At the same time, most of the top homestays in China rely on super apps.

After Tujia cooperated with Ctrip, the increase in occupancy was more than 5 times; 60%-70% of the traffic of Meituan B&B came from Meituan Dianping.

Airbnb, on the other hand, only relies on the word-of-mouth "Buddha" accumulated by outbound travel to attract customers. It was not until 2018 that it launched a WeChat mini-program, and launched new methods such as group grouping and bargaining red envelopes.

　　More importantly, Airbnb is not considered a “replacement” for hotels in China. It has no price advantage, and it is difficult to compete with the lower handling fees and room charges of super APPs.

The main price of Airbnb is between 200-500 yuan, and many Meituan B&Bs are below 200 yuan.

In addition, there are budget hotels, such as the Huazhu Group behind Hanting, with an average price of only 224 yuan per night.

　　Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why domestic homestay platforms have become the takers.

Comprehensive surging news, Financial Associated Press