Airbnb moving into flight searching market
A lot can change in eight years. Since launching in 2008, Airbnb has grown from a promising Silicon Valley idea into arguably the world's most prominent property renting service for travel purposes.
Like other companies before it that have risen to the top of a niche market, Airbnb is looking to diversify its role within the travel industry. It was reported yesterday that Airbnb has been developing a flight searching service that will allow it to facilitate the booking of air travel. Paired with its existing services as a rental facilitator, the company could perhaps use this new endeavour to position itself as a one-stop vacation shopping online destination—something that could make up for the fact that flight searching is not generally seen as a lucrative market.
Based on a presentation delivered by Airbnb's CEO last month, this new service is expected to be delivered through a section on the computer and mobile interfaces called Travel Itinerary. It will give users suggestions for the best airfare options based on price, travel time, and expected weather conditions.
Although this project—which is known within the company as "Flight"—is still in the early stages of development, it is expected to be finished before Airbnb's likely IPO in the next year-and-a-half. Earlier this year, the startup was valued at $30-billion, making it the second most valuable Silicon Valley tech startup behind Uber.
Just as Uber has had its share of controversies in Canada, so too has Airbnb. In a particularly difficult year for the Toronto housing market (from a buyer/renter's perspective), Airbnb was cutting into available living space for the city's permanent residents. Many tenants in Toronto's waterfront condos also took issue with Airbnb's activities in that area.