2016 is here and it will be an innovative and game changing year for the hospitality industry. But brace yourselves because this is not an umpteenth article about what the hospitality trends are for 2016. Hoteliers are starting to understand what is happening and the web is already flooded with tons of identical articles on that topic. For my first article this year, I wanted to share what we identified within the hotel industry last year: Hoteliers will have to share the market with a new form of hosts called the "Sofa Hoteliers" (a.k.a. "Airbnb Hoteliers").

Most of traditional hoteliers certainly don't consider Airbnb as a stakeholder of the core hotel industry. But let's take a look at the numbers. This is how they are positioned on the accommodation market: 900 millions dollars revenue in 2015. More than 40 millions hosted guests across 190 countries since 2008. If we compare this with the traditional hospitality industry, Hilton (one of the largest hotel chain) listed 715'000 rooms 2015 against 1'200'000 for Airbnb. (source: Carmelon Digital Marketing)
What we can take away from these numbers is that there is a new form of competition that gave birth to a new kind of hotelier.

But what is this new kind of hotelier? Should traditional hoteliers be worried about them? is this a new threat?
Having your rooms on Airbnb is a good idea (more visibility and low 3% commission). But you probably guessed that you are not the only one who can seize this incredible opportunity. Becoming a Sofa hotelier is potentially at your neighbor's fingertips.

Let's take a realistic example. Imagine owning a family house with four rooms where you barely use the available surface. You want to make it profitable, so you decide to put three of the vacant rooms on Airbnb because you heard that you could make money instead of collecting dust on your grandmother's furniture. One year later, you realize that it has become really profitable and that it pays for your house taxes (average amount an Airbnb host earns annually is 7'350$). So you decide to move to another place adapted to your needs in order to add the last room of your family house online. Fantastic! Now you have a house and/or four rooms ready to be rented on Airbnb. What differentiates you from a small hotel in terms of business model? not much. You are actually providing 4+ beds on the market and with what's being done in terms of technology, you can play like the big ones do with tools that were not accessible to small properties ten years ago.

Think it never happened? Take a look at the boutique-hotel Le Bourg7.

At the beginning, it was a house with three apartments that were rented individually. Frank and Ana (the owners) noticed that people were renting for shorter and shorter stays. They decided to buy the house opposite the main one and transform the apartments into rooms. Without realizing it, they were witnessing the same behavior that pushed Airbnb to start their business. This was back in 2008 (Airbnb's founding year) and, le Bourg7, a 14-room hotel, was born.

From sofa owner to hotel owner, Airbnb is creating a new kind of hoteliers. They probably don't have the hospitality knowledge, but they know how to sell on the web, they understand digital marketing, and they can adapt quickly. They are not in the "we've-been-doing-this-for-25-years" mindset (here's what we wrote last year about this topic). Selling a room is becoming so easy that anybody can do it (and it would certainly take the same time as reading this article).

This is not to say that traditional hoteliers are better or worse than sofa hoteliers and I think that if you have a hotel you should probably be aware that your neighbor who has a flat or even a room on Airbnb is a potential challenger. Should "Traditional hoteliers" and "Sofa hoteliers" work together? The answer is definitely yes. It's by mixing & sharing knowledge that you are more likely to succeed. Sofa hoteliers can only make you lose guests if you are not willing to differentiate yourself and create better guest experiences.

You should see an opportunity to widen your room offer while starting to work with some new people and maybe exchanging bookings, who knows? You will not only encounter hoteliers but potentially marketing lovers, web designers, and any kind of people that can bring you knowledge. I am quite certain that among the 640'000 Airbnb hosts, you can find people who will help you. All in all, don't deal with "Sofa hoteliers" as if they were your enemies. Treat them as new partners.

Base7 Booking
Hotel technology company
Base7booking.com

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