🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Airbnb has officially announced its withdrawal of domestic business in China. It's the latest foreign company to remove and shut down business in China.
Other foreign companies to discontinue business in China include Linkedin, eBay and Yahoo.
This will officially take place from July 30th onwards, which means local Airbnb users have two months to take down their listings.
The company announced on Tuesday 17th of May that it would stop representing short-term rental properties in China and instead focus its business on helping Chinese tourists look for rental places abroad.
Why is Airbnb shutting business in China?
The Chief Strategy Officer of Airbnb China, Nathan Blecharcyzk made the following statement: "We have made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts in China on outbound travel and suspend our homes and Experiences of Hosts in China, starting from July 30, 2022".
Although Airbnb has not stated why the company is implementing these measures there has been much speculation surrounding the move. There have been reported sources who have claimed that this was done to cut down costs, that operating domestic business in China was too complex and expensive. Airbnb currently competes with a wide range of short-term vacation rentals in China, including Tujia and Xiaozhu.
As part of the move, Airbnb is set to remove circa 150,000 different listings in China, and China has accounted for about 1% of Airbnb's total business in the past few years.
Covid-19 has certainly exacerbated the situation. With China's policy to fully eliminate coronavirus from the population, there have been continuous and repeated lockdowns, specifically in economically significant cities, including Shanghai and Beijing. These two cities have endured localized as well as city-wide lockdowns, there has also been a large amount of travel restrictions between areas and provinces.
These restrictions and lockdowns have been detrimental for Airbnb as well as other short-term rental businesses.
How long has Airbnb been in China?
Airbnb has been present in China since 2016, throughout this period, around 25 million people have made bookings via Airbnb.
Although Airbnb has stated that it will still be working with China, helping Chinese travelers make bookings abroad, rather than aiding them in finding domestic lodgings.
This is still a relatively significant move for Airbnb, and is a small insight into how Covid-19 has impacted how we view travel both for international and domestic purposes.
