Airbnb eyes e-commerce expansion into travel products
Not content with disrupting the traditional hotel industry, Airbnb is considering branching out into the online travel agency space.
The home-rental start-up which was recently valued at $10 billion, is reportedly looking to offer value-added products such as tours and travel tickets.
Airbnb chief technical officer Nate Blecharczyk said nothing is being ruled out, and it could "eventually be anything" travel-related.
While it fights off attacks from the hotel industry and tries to meet the demands of lawmakers, it is looking beyond its roots for ways to increase revenue.
The company’s plan to move into value-added travel services is supported by its e-commerce platform which can handle almost 70 currencies and its huge reach – there are 500,000 properties listed from 192 countries.
"The more stuff that we handle, the more data we’re able to collect about what it is that you are in the market for," Blecharczyk said.
Airbnb had previously ventured into the tours and activities market with limited success.
Two years ago it formed a partnership to sell Vayable.com peer-to-peer tours on its website but was soon discontinued.
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