Airbnb has moved a considerable distance in its bid to give guests the ability to secure a place to stay without waiting for host approval.
The company says it now has 70% of all its listings available for instant booking.
This is a sizeable jump from 2016, when just one in three of its properties could be secured straight away.
The increase could be, in part, due to the addition of traditional hotel properties over the course of the last 12 months (announced by way of a distribution pact with SiteMinder in early-2018), where the majority of properties have instant booking.
Hosts will still be given the option to accept instant booking or not (a free service for owners), with some still wishing to enter into a dialogue with potential guests before allowing a booking to be made.
The company’s decision to release the figure should be considered against the obvious backdrop of its self-proclaimed battle with online travel agencies – with Booking.com, for example, having 100% of its properties available for reservation immediately. (https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article106281.html)
