Airbnb usage to surpass hotel companies, but not for business travel | businesstravelnews.com
Airbnb bookings are on track to outpace the largest hotel companies within a few years, although the room-sharing platform is unlikely to become a major player in the business travel space anytime soon, according to a research note published on Friday by Barclays. In terms of size, Airbnb already has overtaken the largest hotel companies. During the past year, the number of rooms available through Airbnb has grown from about 300,000 to about 1 million, Barclays European leisure analyst Vicki Stern wrote in the note. By comparison, as of the 2014 BTN Business Travel Survey, the largest hotel company measured by rooms, InterContinental Hotels Group, had a portfolio of about 687,000 rooms.
