Airbnb will close its China business this summer after a years-long push to crack the market was throttled by the impact of Beijing’s harsh zero-Covid strategy on domestic and international tourism.
Company co-founder and China chair Nathan Blecharczyk told hosts in the country that Airbnb would shut its domestic travel and experience listings by the end of July amid “pandemic challenges”.
“Airbnb China will consolidate and focus on the outbound tourism business,” he wrote in an open letter posted to the company’s WeChat account, adding that the company would maintain its Beijing office.
Airbnb has registered about 25mn stays in the country since it launched in mainland China in 2016. Bookings — including foreigners travelling into China — have accounted for about 1 per cent of Airbnb’s overall revenue, one person close to the company said.
The company had made a concerted push to expand in the country, rebranding in 2017 in China as “Aibiying” in an effort to compete with homegrown operators such as Tujia and Xiaozhu. Blecharczyk had also made monthly trips to the country since taking charge of Airbnb’s China business.
The company’s founders were attracted by the lure of Chinese tourists. Before the pandemic, they spent $255bn on international travel in 2019 compared with $135bn for Americans, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization.
By 2020, Airbnb had about 150,000 properties on offer in China, compared with about 1.2mn from market leader Tujia, according to a University of Queensland report published last year. “Unlike most other countries around the world, China has not embraced Airbnb,” the report concluded.
But Airbnb has struggled to turn a profit in China despite the push.
Larger domestic travel booking platforms such as Ctrip have also pushed into the home rental segment, marketing offers alongside hotel bookings.
The pandemic and Beijing’s strict zero-Covid policies have compounded Airbnb’s problems by…