Airbnb welcomes China with love and a new name
On Wednesday, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said Airbnb’s total Chinese guests had jumped 146% in 2016
Shanghai — Airbnb is showing China some love. The US home-sharing giant is adopting a new name for its business in the world’s second-largest economy — one that translates as "welcome each other with love" — as it doubles investment in the country and triples its local workforce to take on rivals. The startup intends to ramp up its Chinese business after more than doubling listings in the country to about 80,000 in 2016, CEO Brian Chesky told reporters in Shanghai. This year, it plans to offer customers in the city its fledgling Airbnb Trips service — a menu of options that can include concert tickets and restaurant reservations. It will begin to market "experiences" — a feature that lets people book local excursions. Airbnb, last valued at more than $30bn, is accelerating its drive into Asia after recently turning profitable for the first time, according to people close to the company. Since its start in 2008, the company has raised more than $3bn to pursue its goals of becoming a ...
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