Berlin Airbnb founder Brian Chesky announced in a press release last Wednesday that it is going back to the roots. What is meant is the procurement of sofa beds and shared accommodation, with which his IT company once started in 2008 in San Francisco. “With ‘Airbnb Zimmer’ we are continuing the idea that started it all – the basic idea of sharing,” explained the CEO.
Renting individual rooms is not a new function, but the platform is now focusing on the offer – also in Germany. Since the need for mediation is enormous for both guests and hosts after the end of Corona, this category has now been listed separately on the Internet portal, Airbnb Germany boss Kathrin Anselm told the Handelsblatt.
“In private rooms, we saw an increase in overnight stays of 50 percent in 2022,” confirmed Anselm, who is also responsible for business in Austria and Switzerland. At the same time, new registrations for individual private rooms have increased by 40 percent. “Travellers really appreciate socializing at the places where they stay.”
In fact, there is probably another, far less altruistic consideration behind the Californians’ strategy adjustment. Because Airbnb is increasingly experiencing difficulties with its previous offers. Some time ago, the popular travel destinations Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Kraków, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Vienna complained to the EU Commission that Airbnb was responsible for rising rents, falling quality of life and completely overcrowded residential areas may be.
Cities that are concerned about the housing situation of their own population have long been taking action against the short-term letting of apartments with strict regulations or bans. But the intermediary from San Francisco has now apparently found a way out of the misery: individual rooms usually remain unaffected by the massive restrictions.
There are “Airbnb hunters” in Frankfurt
In Berlin, for example, where, like in many other metropolises, people complain about the shortage of living space, the leasing of apartments is subject to strict conditions. Since 2018, short-term landlords have had to register with the district offices with an identification number. It costs a processing fee of 225 euros and must always be published for advertisements on Airbnb, for example.
The misappropriation law enacted for this purpose is intended to prevent owners from giving up their apartments to strangers longer than tolerated by the Senate. In the federal capital, this is 90 days per year for secondary residences. But only those who rent out more than half of their living space need a permit. Similar regulations are now also in place in Hamburg and six North Rhine-Westphalian cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Bonn, Münster and Dortmund.
In the banking city of Frankfurt, the building authority even sends so-called “Airbnb hunters” on the prowl. Three city officials follow up tips, mostly from the neighborhood, as soon as the suspicion of an illegal holiday home is confirmed. In the Hessian metropolis, renting out an entire, owner-occupied apartment is only permitted for eight weeks per year without further conditions. Anyone who goes beyond this must cede the income in excess of the usual rental price to the city of Frankfurt.
But here, too, there is an exception: a room in a self-occupied apartment may be rented out permanently. “Private rooms do not take away from scarce living space,” confirms Germany boss Anselm.
Airbnb had already tried to get itself out of the political line of fire with additional accommodation offers. In 2019, the hotel platform Hoteltonight, also based in San Francisco, a marketer of leftovers from regular luxury and boutique hotels, was acquired for an alleged $465 million.
Airbnb will need more data from customers in the future
But it has become quiet about the purchased hotel room agency, on the Airbnb offer page it can be found – in contrast to “room” – at least not with its own entry. The superiority of Booking.com and Expedia will make it difficult for Airbnb to gain a foothold in this segment. Hotels are more of a “small part” of the Airbnb offer, said Anselm, and are therefore “only supplementary”.
With the new focus on apartment-related private rooms, the platform now asks for additional personal data. For example, hosts should say where they went to school, what they do for a living, or how much social interaction you can expect from them during their stay. Feedback from guests and hosts should also be given more emphasis in order to avoid surprises in the close coexistence.
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After all, after the corona pandemic had largely subsided, Airbnb’s operational business was able to pick itself up again. In 2022, sales rose from six to 8.4 billion dollars. After horrendous losses – in 2020 there was a loss of $4.6 billion, in 2021 Airbnb lost another 352 million – the platform operator again saw a net profit of $1.9 billion in 2022. In 2023, Airbnb expects a record 300 million people to travel or host on the platform.
The US company remained disappointing for investors alone. In December 2020, its shares were listed at just under $145 when they opened the stock market, and at the end of last week they were not even available for $118.
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