Most Hotel CEOs Dismiss Airbnb’s Impact But Demand Level Playing Field
Photo Credit: AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin in knows that Airbnb will continue to grow, and feels strongly there needs to be more transparency about the identity of hosts. He's pictured above in a promotional video. AccorHotels
Skift Take
Most CEOs said the same thing they’ve said about Airbnb countless times before — ‘We need a level playing field’ — but there are signs that some are starting to take the $31 billion alternative accommodations provider a bit more seriously.
Ask any hotel CEO what his or her thoughts are about Airbnb, the homesharing platform that’s valued at $31 billion — just a little less than Marriott International’s $38.7 billion market cap — and you’re likely to hear the same refrains:
“No, they’re not a threat.” Or “We just want a level playing field.” Or the admission that, “Yes, sometimes we see an impact on compression nights [periods when hotel occupancy is saturated because of a city-wide event or large convention.]”
That was the case at the NYU Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in New York City last week. However, there are signs that some CEOs are beginning to view Airbnb as more of a direct competitor, if not a threat, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts CEO J. Allen Smith.
And then, of course, there’s iconic hotelier Ian Schrager, who’s often been quoted as saying Airbnb is a “mortal threat” to the hotel industry — so much so, in fact, that his newest hotel, Public
