The number of room bookings made through Airbnb could overtake even the largest hotel operators within the next two or three years, according to an investment analyst.
In a research note published by Barclays last week, Barclays European leisure analyst Vicki Stern pointed out that the number of rooms available on the room-sharing platform has already hit 1 million. This is more than the 687,000 rooms offered by IHG, the largest hotel company measured by rooms.
According to a report by Business Travel News, Stern’s note said Airbnb's current bookings are about 37 million room-nights per year, or a fifth of what IHG sold in 2014.
However, its rate of growth means it could top IHG’s numbers within two or three years.
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Another report on the note, by Quartz, says that by the end of 2016, Airbnb could hit 129 million room-nights per year. It also points out that Airbnb already represents up to 17.2% of hotel room supply in New York, 11.9% in Paris, and 10.4% in London.
One positive takeaway for the hotel industry is that Airbnb is likely to be dominated by leisure bookings, with business travel currently only accounting for 10% of bookings.
"There is currently no regulation applied to Airbnb hosts regarding fire safety, food hygiene and insurance," Stern writes in the note, titled Hotels: Is Airbnb a game-changer?.
"This is a key difference to hotels, which are required to adopt strict health and safety regulations, and this is one key reason why we believe the majority of business[es] would be reluctant to send employees to Airbnb accommodation instead of a hotel."
In October, it was predicted that Airbnb's valuation could soar to around US $13 billion if it goes ahead with plans for an employee stock sale.
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