More Chinese people are getting used to the business and travel experience offered by Airbnb, a lodging sharing service that is a cross between hotels and couch surfing, reports Shanghai's China Business News Weekly magazine.
There are around 3,500 hosts offering over 1,000 options for accommodation each in Shanghai and Beijing through Airbnb, a low number when compared with around 40,000 options in Paris, the report said.
The Chinese culture of guarding against strangers has made it difficult for Airbnb to promote itself and expand in China on a large scale, but the magazine said the Chinese are poised to change and become more welcoming of people they do not know.
Most of the Chinese hosts offering lodging through Airbnb are young people who live in big cities, have a lot of exposure to Western cultures and love to travel.
One of the Airbnb hosts in China is named An An, who first used the service to book an old house in the Alps in Switzerland two years ago, the report said.
An An, who is 37 and travels three to four times a year, said Airbnb captured the market between hotels and couch surfing, offering cheaper prices than hotels and better comfort than nonprofit couch surfing services.
Now An An offers eight locations in Shanghai through Airbnb, even though she just rents the properties and sublets them.
She said Airbnb allows her to meet new friends when she travels and find other people like her. An
An quit her day job and become a full-time host last year, the report said.
She noted, however, that she has seen a rise in the number of Airbnb hosts in her area, which has pushed up the rent of properties and her costs. Amid the growing competition, she said she has decided to work with designers and renovate old houses she can offer online.
A host named Jiang Yuan, who also rents houses to sublet through Airbnb, said the practice of subletting comes with the risk of lacking familiarity with potential problems related to the property, which may be illegally built or use water and electricity from shady sources.
Another Airbnb host in Shanghai, 50-year-old Wang Wei, has focused more on her business in the past year and spent less time with her family and friends.
Wang's past experience in running a bar and retail venture makes her a more savvy business woman, capable of raising and cutting prices according to changes in demand, the magazine said.
"Hotels are all the same, no matter how good they are. Young people like more diversified cultures," Wang said.
Source: Want China Times
from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment