Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky speaks during an event in San Francisco, Feb. 22, 2018. Airbnb Inc. announced Tuesday, May 24, 2022 it will stop representing short-term rental properties in China and focus its business in the country on serving Chinese tourists looking for lodgings abroad. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)BEIJING (AP) — Airbnb Inc. will stop listing homes and experiences inside China this summer and instead focus its business in the country on serving Chinese tourists looking for lodgings abroad, a company official said on social media Tuesday.
Airbnb began listings in China in 2016, but they have still accounted for only about 1% of company revenue in recent years.
The San Francisco-based company found the domestic Chinese business costly and complicated to run, and the pandemic has made matters worse.
There was little overlap between Airbnb’s business inside China and catering to outbound travelers, which Airbnb hopes will limit the impact of suspending the domestic offerings.
Airbnb joins a series of foreign internet companies including Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. that pulled out of China after running into fierce local competition and regulatory barriers.
“We have made the difficult decision to refocus our efforts in China on outbound travel and suspend our homes and Experiences of Hosts in China, starting from July 30, 2022,” said the chief strategy officer of Airbnb China, Nathan Blecharczyk, in a statement on its social media account.
Landlords represented by Airbnb have had more than 25 million guest arrivals since 2016, according to Blecharczyk’s statement.
The Chinese government has blocked foreign tourists from visiting since the pandemic hit in early 2020 and has told the Chinese public to avoid foreign travel that isn’t essential for business or study.
International airlines and other travel companies that operate in China expect that borders will re-open and travel by Chinese citizens will pick up eventually, although the timing is unclear.
Before you consider eBay, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and eBay wasn't on the list.
While eBay currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Wondering when you'll finally be able to invest in SpaceX, StarLink, or The Boring Company? Click the link below to learn when Elon Musk will let these companies finally IPO.
Get This Free Report
