![\"Brian](\"https:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/14CE8\/production\/_100142258_hi045041940.jpg\")
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky<\/span><\/figure>\nWhile the site has offered hotel rooms and boutique locations for some time, they will now be listed in a separate category, making them easier to find. AirBnB Collections will also group certain types of accommodation for specific trips, such as a honeymoon.<\/p>\n
AirBnB was founded in San Francisco, and in this small-but-symbolic market the company has seen a dramatic decline in accommodation spaces.<\/p>\n
Data gathered by the San Francisco Chronicle suggests short-term rentals dropped by more than 50% in less than six months. At the same time, long-term rental site Zillow reported a rise in available apartments in the Californian city.<\/p>\n
The data was collated by Host Compliance, a firm that aids cities in enforcing regulations on short-term rentals. It included companies other than AirBnB, such as HomeAway and Flipkey.<\/p>\n
But as the biggest player in short-term rentals, AirBnB has been hit hard. According to the Chronicle, in August 2017 the site had 8,740 listings in the city. By January, that number had dropped to 4,191.<\/p>\n Around the world, AirBnB said it has 4.5 million listings.<\/p>\n The company told the Chronicle they considered January 2018 to be a \u201chard reset\u201d and that it was now confident that all of the listed spaces were fully compliant. Many of the disappearing properties were assumed to rental tenants renting out spare rooms without the knowledge of the homeowner.<\/p>\n San Francisco is not the company\u2019s biggest market – that is Paris, followed by London and New York. But what happens here could provide a blueprint for other cities, particularly those where affordable housing is at a premium.<\/p>\n “Platform accountability works and works very, very well, just as we expected,\u201d said Dale Carlson from ShareBetter SF, a group calling for stricter regulations on short-term rentals.<\/p>\n He believed AirBnB\u2019s latest announcement ended \u201cthe myth of home sharing\u201d, adding: “Airbnb is morphing into just another online travel agency. It\u2019ll be pretty hard to sustain a $31bn valuation in that market.\u201d<\/p>\n Exactly when the company aims to list on the stock market is unclear. Last month, chief financial officer Laurence Tosi departed, with reports suggesting internal tensions over how long the IPO process was taking.<\/p>\n AirBnB is now not expected to list until next year at the earliest.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" AirBnB is offering new services aimed at wealthier travellers as it seeks to compete in the luxury travel market. The accommodation site will offer a dedicated section for boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts and more unusual locations such as treehouses and boats. The firm also announced \u2018AirBnB Plus\u2019, a stamp of approval for locations it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":403723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[17312],"yoast_head":"\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/ichef-1.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/12FB0\/production\/_100144777_whatsubject.jpg\")
The site will group properties ideal for certain purposes, such as a honeymoon<\/span><\/figure>\n