China: Airbnb sets sights on China with purchase of Xiaozhu

Accommodation-sharing portal Airbnb is renewing its efforts to expand in the competitive Chinese market with the expected purchase of local rival Xiaozhu.

Xiaozhu currently has slightly more listings in China than Airbnb. However, after a potential merger, the combined companies would still have under half the number of rooms available in the country as the local market leader, Tujia.

Airbnb’s growth since being founded only eight years ago have been stratospheric. Over 1 million guests stay in accommodation booked through the platform every night, contributing to a company valuation of roughly $30 billion.

However, this growth has angered many traditional accommodation and hotel chains, some of whom argue that Airbnb does not follow the same rules in each country (for example, the paying of a nightly room tax in some jurisdictions) as they do.

Densely populated cities have also begun to challenge Airbnb, concerned at the number of local homes that now seem to be occupied regularly by guests, rather than locals.

Full Content: CRI English

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