Top 10 Alternatives of Airbnb
Airbnb has offered innovative accommodations to travellers from practically every country since 2007. It also lets homeowners turn their homes and rooms into vacation rentals. How does Airbnb compare to other big online booking platforms, and why do hosts and travellers pick it? Above all, what is Airbnb’s future following a pandemic that has shaken the lodging industry?
How does Airbnb differ from its rivals?
Airbnb is trusted by homeowners and travellers worldwide. Airbnb offers a unique hotel experience with over 4 million hosts in 220+ countries. Airbnb, founded in San Francisco in 2007, popularised community-based, home-sharing vacation rentals. A trustworthy platform allows short-term rental lodging providers to reach the holiday rental market for condos in Florida, private rooms in New York, flats in London, and luxury vacation homes in Los Angeles. Airbnb promises to enable travellers to “experience the world in an authentic, connected way” by renting out a local’s home.
What does Airbnb’s and its competitors’ future hold?
In conclusion, Airbnb and vacation rentals have a bright future. Cloudbeds worked with top benchmarking and data insights providers STR and AirDNA to analyse hotel and short-term rental data from 2019 to June 27, 2020, in 27 worldwide regions, including 12 regional destination markets and 15 urban areas. Even though hotel rooms were cheaper, vacation rentals were more popular, with an occupancy rate of 58% compared to 39%.
Why choose this site?
Vacation rentals allow guests to control their living environment and isolate themselves from others. Most rental properties are in isolated, outdoor areas where individuals can escape their little urban homes for fresh air. In a recent Cloudbeds webinar on OTAs, metasearch, and the future of distribution, leisure travel still outnumbers corporate travel, and vacation rentals generally serve leisure travellers. Skift reports that “venture-funded startups in the USA are swapping offices for team trips as their leases expire.” Firms now spend more on Airbnb than office rent. In particular, long-term stays of 28 days or more increased in the second quarter of 2021, with Airbnb founder Brian Chesky anticipating that remote working patterns will last. As we start another year, travel limitations and demand will continue to fluctuate, but based on prior evidence, the vacation rental company is well-positioned to increase market share.
Top 10 Alternatives of Airbnb
Vrbo
Vrbo (formerly “Vacation Rentals by Owner”), part of HomeAway, is the second-largest short-term rental firm behind Airbnb. Vrbo lists 2 million apartments and villas globally for families. HomeAway, owned by Expedia, owns Vrbo; therefore, listing your property on Vrbo will instantly cross-list it on Expedia. This saves you from creating a separate listing. However, Airbnb has 6.6 million listings, and Vrbo has fewer. The primary distinction is that Vrbo doesn’t allow shared areas like Airbnb.
Booking.com
Booking.com, part of The Priceline Group, which owns Kayak, is one of the largest and most popular online travel companies, with listings in 227 countries and support in over 40 languages. It is based in Amsterdam but operates globally. Booking.com emphasises hotel rooms over local hosts like Airbnb. Still, it’s fantastic for property visibility.
Wimdu
Wimdu offers “the largest selection of vacation rentals worldwide,” with over 350,000 house rentals, from Spanish coast villas to Paris studio apartments. The number is great, but the listings are still smaller than Airbnb’s. Since Wimdu is German, it attracts more European travellers. HomeToGo, which powers Tripping.com and Wimdu, searches for holiday rentals.
Expedia
Expedia, which owns Hotels.com and Trivago, is a major online travel agent with millions of bookings. A property listing on Expedia’s website is highly visible. Expedia offers hotels, vehicle rentals, and flights, reaching more people than Airbnb alternatives that just offer short-term rentals. Airbnb has more listings than Expedia, at 510,000. Expedia’s 16.5% commission is similarly significant.
Agoda
The major Asian online travel booking service, Agoda, is situated in Singapore and has 2 million hotel and private house listings. Agoda charges 16% more than Airbnb. Agoda offers airport transfers and a loyalty programme called PointsMAX,” where tourists can earn points for each booking. Spend these points on discounted airline tickets.
Trip.com
Also situated in Singapore, Trip.com boasts over 1.4 million hotels in 200 countries and regions. Trip.com offers car rentals from Hertz, Avis, and Europcar in addition to accommodations. Trip.com rentals have a 30-day maximum stay, unlike Airbnb.
TripAdvisor
Tripadvisor reviews hotels, restaurants, and activities, but it also offers lodging listings and specialised trips. HouseTrip, HolidayLettings, and Flipkey offer the world’s largest range of holiday rentals on TripAdvisor. Because of this, TripAdvisor has over 7.3 million listings (including hotels, airlines, restaurants, etc.) compared to Airbnb. TripAdvisor charges a 15% commission for listings, like Expedia.
Despegar/Decolar
This site is one of Latin America’s most experienced travel firms with global listings, known as Decolar in Brazil and Despegar elsewhere. After accommodations, Despegar offers car rentals, flights, and travel packages. Airbnb emphasises home rentals, while Despegar is a standard travel agent. They have a growing inventory of houses and apartments for rent and are well-known to Latin American travellers.
GlampingHub
GlampingHub promotes eco-friendly vacations and luxury camping with upscale amenities and services. The company offers over 22,000 campsites, ranches, and unique accommodations like luxury treehouses, Mongolian Yurt tents, and railway cabooses transformed into homes. The glamping hub differs from Airbnb because it focuses on outdoor accommodations.
Traveloka
Traveloka, one of Asia’s major online travel agents, includes 100,000 hotel, guest house, and homestay listings. Traveloka has fewer listings and 50 million fewer users than Airbnb. However, they offer car rentals and airport transfers.
