Will Brexit Affect Your Airbnb?
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The last thing I wanted to do this morning was harp on about Brexit (I’ll try not to mention it again). I tried to find a roundup of how Airbnb (and other) hosts in the UK might be affected, but couldn’t — so, with the help of Pearlshare’s wonderful intern, Rachel, I put this together instead.
The Reaction
The immediate reaction from overseas tourists appeared to indicate an increased interest in travelling to the UK.
The outcome of [the] referendum sent the British currency plunging, making the country’s goods and services cheaper for foreign buyers. Consumers reacted immediately: Searches by Chinese for U.K. holidays “skyrocketed” on Ctrip.com International Ltd.’s travel booking app, the company said, while Chinese news site Phoenix implored visitors to London to “Buy, Buy, Buy.”
Read more, Bloomberg — link
However, this may take a while to materialise as travellers go through the rigmarole of booking hotels and securing visas.
Rising Competition
With increased interest in travel to the UK, hosts are set to see a higher number of enquiries and bookings. As demand continues to rise, it’s plausible that more people will seek to capitalise on the opportunity and turn to Airbnb to take advantage of the situation.
With the housing market down, sellers whose properties are not selling will decide to take the properties off the market and temporarily rent them out on Airbnb. Is it possible more of Britain’s citizens will now take up Airbnb hosting? The value of pensions are falling and the funding is being heavily affected — is this an incentive to find other means of making extra money and saving?
Read more, MashVisor — link
Will more competition mean that hosts need to lower their prices?
I did an analysis of a number of cities, popular among hosts and travellers, tracking growth over the last year. (See my working and raw data here)
Across 8 cities (Paris, London, NY, LA, Sydney, Madrid, Amsterdam & Barcelona), the number Airbnb listings has grown by 40.71% since May last year. As competition increase, the average price per-listing decreased by 9.24%.
The number of listings in London grew by 46%, with the average price of a room dropping from £116 a night to just £96.
But it’s not all bad news.
A Spike in Tourism
For US tourists, the dollar can be stretched a lot further, and flying to London is much cheaper than before.
Airbnb properties might even perform better after Brexit. With the pound and euro dropping, tourists with other currencies can now enjoy Britain for a lot less money. With flights from New York to London in early fall already down by nearly 50%, the interest in travel has definitely increased, and will continue to rise while the pound is weak.
Read more, MashVisor — link
US, Chinese, and Middle Eastern travel sites have reported a surge in international flight searches. Since purchasing power has increased, people are ready to travel expecting a large discount on luxury items.
Read more, Express — link
Chinese tourists are a good bet for Airbnb hosts. According to Airbnb’s own Nathan Blecharczyk,
“We’ve done focus groups and a lot of Chinese travellers are going abroad for the first or second time… There is no preconceived notion of whether [staying in hotels or with Airbnb] is better… That’s what makes China such a great opportunity.”
Read more, Financial Times — link
How do you take advantage of the effects of Brexit?
- Keep an eye on the competition — are your neighbours changing their prices?
- Consider ways to attract tourists from further afield — definitely check out Tuija, Airbnb’s Chinese competitor.
- Make changes to your Airbnb listing, in an attempt to place your property higher in the search results (here are my tips on how to do this)
I’d love to know how you reacted to the news of Brexit, and whether you are changing anything about your Airbnb or holiday rental in response. You can email me — john@yourwelcome.com — I’d love to hear from you.
