Airbnb bookings expected to mushroom to one billion
Airbnb bookings could reach one billion within a decade, according to a US-based investment house.
The Cowen Group said it expects Airbnb to process more than $12.3 billion bookings this year.
Its survey of 1,400 US hotels and short-term rental customers led it to believe that Airbnb would grow from 79 million bookings in 2016 to as many as 500 million in five years and one billion by 2025.
"While we expected positive results for Airbnb, we were surprised by how well Airbnb fared in a number of key metrics that we see as bullish for the company’s long-term prospects," the analysts said.
Cowen found only 10% of respondents had booked with Airbnb, but interest was high and ‘a large percentage’ was keen to try its service.
"Among the 26% of survey respondents who knew and understood what Airbnb was, but had not yet stayed in an Airbnb, 82% said they would be willing to try Airbnb in the future. In fact, 66% of those said they planned to try Airbnb in the next year."
A recent Goldman Sachs report said a large number of new Airbnb users do not go back to traditional hotels.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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