7 Airbnb in China – before, during and after COVID-19
7 Airbnb in China – before, during and after COVID-19
Yixiao Xiang, School of Management, Shandong University, China
Lan Liu, School of Management, Shandong University, China
Sara Dolnicar, Department of Tourism, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia
Please cite as: Xiang, Y., Liu, L. and Dolnicar, S. (2021) Airbnb in China – before, during and after COVID-19, in S. Dolnicar (Ed.) Airbnb before, during and after COVID-19, University of Queensland DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14195930
Airbnb in China before COVID-19
China represents a unique market for tourist accommodation in general, and for peer-to-peer traded accommodation in particular. Chinese residents have a strong sense that one’s home is not intended for sharing beyond family and friends (Xiang & Dolnicar, 2018). Chinese tourists prefer using China-specific online trading platforms operated by Chinese people, prefer to search for accommodation in the Chinese language, and trust their own social network verification processes (such as Ctrip.com) more than those of foreign companies. Not surprisingly, therefore, Chinese tourists – especially young tourists (Xiang & Dolnicar, 2018) – have not fully embraced Airbnb as an accommodation option when travelling domestically or internationally.
Airbnb initially launched its operations in China shortly after the company was founded in 2008 (Douban Group, 2009). The Chinese population learned about this new platform in 2009, primarily via a social media platform popular with young people in China called Douban Forum. The potential economic benefits from peer-to-peer accommodation platforms such as Airbnb – additional income tax, new employment opportunities, and contribution to GDP (Cai & Li, 2016) – ensured the support of the Chinese government (Analysis, 2016). Soon, policies and regulatory frameworks were put in place to facilitate the peer-to-peer trading of space among ordinary people (Iresearch, 2017), referred to as minsu. This term originates from Taiwan and refers to a “civil house rented for short-term accommodation”.
Rather than embracing Airbnb as the global market leader, the Chinese tourism industry reacted by implementing its own versions of online peer-to-peer accommodation trading platforms (Cai & Li, 2016). Airizu, for example, was set up in June 2011 and operated by Chinese entrepreneurs with the financial support of Rocket Internet Ltd., a German venture capital firm. This initial attempt at copying the Airbnb model failed in 2013 because the Chinese market was not yet familiar with the concept of peer-to-peer accommodation. Renting one’s home for money felt strange and foreign to Chinese people. Buying and selling real estate was perceived as more lucrative than engaging in the short-term rental market (Lei, 2013). Consequently, Airizu was unable to attract the number of listings and guests required to make a multi-sided platform business successful (Reinhold & Dolnicar, 2018).
The Airizu failu