Online home-rental marketplace Airbnb Inc and its peers are posing a challenge to conventional hotels, offering people unique travel experiences at much lower costs.
Airbnb and other hotel booking Web sites are rapidly gaining customers, especially young independent travelers, by offering novel accommodation experiences even though they do not own hotel rooms.
“The attraction is particularly strong for travelers who are looking for travel flexibility and a different experience,” said Joseph Lin (林俊銘), managing director of commercial real-estate consultancy CBRE Taiwan.
For instance, Airbnb, which allows homeowners around the world to rent out spare rooms online, has announced that Bran Castle in Romania, also known as “Dracula’s Castle,” will be listed on its Web site for the night of Oct. 31.
Two brave souls will have the chance to spend Halloween in the imposing medieval fortress in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania.
Unique experience aside, travel convenience, flexibility and cost efficiency are what drive the switch to Airbnb and similar online sites, Lin said by telephone.
Daily room rates averaged NT$4,746 (US$151) for international tourist hotels in Taipei and stood at NT$3,702 for standard tourist hotels between January and August, Tourism Bureau data showed.
Airbnb accommodation listings in Taipei required only NT$1,425 during the same period, CBRE Taiwan said.
Independent travelers who plan to visit the city’s old Dihua Street (迪化街) might find homestay arrangements through Airbnb, while small-group travelers can rent an apartment where they can live and eat like locals, Lin said.
Such flexibility is not available for travelers who stay at more expensive lodging facilities, he said.
Despite the economic slowdown, Airbnb has seen its business more than double in Taiwan and grow five-fold in China over the past 12 months, the Web site’s regional executives told Chinese-language media during a recent trip to Taitung.
Airbnb is seeking to deepen its business in Taiwan and inked a memorandum of cooperation to help promote tourism in the nation’s east, local media said.
While the number of tourists from China as part of group packages is declining, the number of independent Chinese tourists is on the rise, Airbnb executives said.
“Taiwan fails to make the most favored destination list among Chinese tourists, accounting for the decline in the travel industry over China’s Golden Week holiday in early October,” an Airbnb official said.
Taiwan needs to grow more creative and innovative in attracting tourists.
Taipei Marriott Hotel (台北萬豪酒店) general manager Mark Liu (劉恆昌) has said that the nation needs more festivals like the fireworks display at Taipei 101 on New Year’s Eve, which packs almost all of the capital’s hotels.
CBRE Taiwan said the hospitality industry risks oversupply in the coming years as supply grows faster than demand.
The buyers of CTBC Financial Holding Co’s (中信金控) former headquarters and the adjoining Novel Hall in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) have unveiled plans to turn the complex into two upscale hotels, while Image Taiwan Hotel Group (印象台灣飯店集團) has teamed up with Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽保險) to build a luxury hotel in the Ximending (西門町) area.
Local hotel chain Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts (凱撒飯店) is building a large hotel next to Wanhua Railway Station, while Kaohsiung-based Grand Hi-Lai Hotel (漢來飯店) is opening a hotel in Taipei’s Nangang District (南港).
More participants are joining the arena, especially real-estate developers and financial holding companies that are seeking to better utilize idle funds.
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