Hotels Don’t Take Airbnb Lying Down

Hilton introduced Tru, a brand that is more tech-centric and caters to younger travelers.

SAN FRANCISCO—Airbnb has an online hospitality platform of roughly 3 million global rental unit listings. According to a recent Smith Travel Research study, this figure is more than the number of listings for the next three largest traditional hotel companies combined. The study indicated that Airbnb had a fairly small market share across 13 global markets, with less than 4% of total demand and 3% of revenues.

Smith Travel also reports that one-half of the rooms listed on Airbnb are sold for seven days or more. This challenges the conventional wisdom that Airbnb typically competes for the short-term or daily traveler. Based on this analysis, it may compete more directly with extended-stay properties, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency.