Challenges Faced by Airbnb During the Pandemic Covid 19

This report discusses the challenges faced by Airbnb during the pandemic Covid 19, including decreased sales, reduced number of customers, reduced business performance, and more. It also includes a literature review on the impact of pandemic situations on the profitability of organizations.

CHALLENGES FACED BY AIRBNB DURING THE
PANDEMIC COVID 19
Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................1
BACKGROUND AND REVIEW OF THE PROBLEM FACED..................................................3
Background of the topic...............................................................................................................3
Research questions.......................................................................................................................3
Research aim and objectives........................................................................................................3
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................4
Rationale of the research.............................................................................................................4
Structure of the report..................................................................................................................4
Issues which AirBnb faced during the pandemic of Covid 19....................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................1
Pandemic situation has influenced the profitability of the organisation......................................1
DISCUSSION OF THE SECONDARY AND PRIMARY RESEARCH.......................................4
Research methodology.................................................................................................................4
Primary research..........................................................................................................................5
Discussion on secondary basis...................................................................................................11
1

CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE RESULTS...................................................................................13
RECOMMENDATION AND ACTION PLAN............................................................................15
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................15
Action plan.................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................20
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................20
2

BACKGROUND AND REVIEW OF THE PROBLEM FACED
Background of the topic
Covid 19 is a pandemic situation that has negative impact on business performance of an
organisation (Das, 2022). This research is based on Lodging Hospitality industry of United
Kingdom. The industry encompasses an extensive range of activities and services such as
lodging, food services, convention centers and restaurants. The lodging industry consists of
resorts, motels, bed, hotels and breakfasts. Within this research, AirBnb is a chosen American
organisation that operates an online marketplace for lodging, mainly homestay for tourism
activities and vacation rentals. Company was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and
Nathan Blecharczyk. AirBnb is headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. Covid 19
starting at the end of 2019. This situation directly or negatively impacted on hospitality industry
throughout the world (Datta and Mitra, 2022). The AirBnb faced the issue of rapid drop in
bookings that turn to impact on their sales and profitability in negative manner. Along with this,
the hospitality industry has been clobbered, from cruises, flights and lodging. AirBnb has
decreased their sales and revenues that turn to impacted on their business performance and
productivity.
Research questions
 What are the issues which AirBnb faced during the pandemic of Covid 19?
 How the pandemic situation has influenced the profitability of the organisation?
Research aim and objectives
Research aim: Main aim of the current research is “To identify the impact of pandemic situation
on the context of AirBnb”.
Research Objectives:
 To identify the issues faced by AirBnb during the pandemic
 To determine the influence of Covid 19 pandemic on the profitability of and business of
AirBnb
 To recommended strategies for AirBnb for reducing the losses and execute their business
successfully
3

Problem statement
Today, Covid 19 is a pandemic situation that negatively impact on lodging industry by
reducing their sales, performance etc. There are various challenges or problems faced by lodging
industry during the period of Covid 19 (Elshaer and Azazz, 2022). These are decreased sales,
reduced number of customers, reduced business performance and many others. These are major
challenges faced by Lodging industry that turn to impact on their corporate brand image in
negative manner.
Rationale of the research
Main rationale behind conducting this research is to identify the impact of pandemic
situation on the context of AirBnb. This is a main reason regarding doing this research in
effective and systematic manner (Gul and Susanli, 2022). There are different stakeholders that
are benefited from the current research. These are AirBnb, students, researcher and many others.
For researcher, present investigation is essential for them by improving their different types of
research skills that are data collection, time management, decision making and many others. For
AirBnb, current investigation is significant for increasing their understanding about the ways for
overcoming the impact of Covid 19. For students, this research assists them by improving their
knowledge about the impact of pandemic situation on the context of lodging industry of UK
(Kim and Liu, 2022).
Structure of the report
There are various activities that are essential in completing full report effectively and
systematically. These are defined below;
Activities Descriptions
Introduction This is a first activity that includes information about the research
topic. There are certain information that are included in introduction
activity including background of the topic, research aim and objectives,
research questions and many others.
Literature review This chapter is important in collecting secondary data from
various sources that are books, journals, articles and many others.
These sources are effective in gathering secondary information
effectively (Nair, 2022).
4

Discussion of
primary and
secondary research
This is a methodology chapter that assist in gathering secondary and
primary data through various methodologies. These methodologies are
research approach, research philosophy, research choice and many
others.
Results of the
research
This section helps in evaluating both primary and secondary data from
research analytical tool. Within this research, frequency distribution
analysis and thematic analysis (Pal, 2022).
Recommendation
and action plan:
This is last activity that helps in recommending some information
about the topic to the AirBnb.
Issues which AirBnb faced during the pandemic of Covid 19
As per the view of Bailey and Breslin, (2021), travel and tour industry hit were hard after the
pandemic rise in the world. The profit of the organisation impact a lot as their revenue and sale
reduced a lot. The global crisis has proven as one of the greatest challenge that any company
faces during their past business operation. The issue that they face are:
Cancellation and reimbursements: When the Covid 19 announced in the world all the
activities are stopped. The companies also need to refund their customer payment which was
made by them for availing their service. Organisation has to announced that they are refunding
their buyers amount for the reservation they made for certain time. Cancellation the package and
deciding the amount is the most difficult task because they need to provide proper reason for the
amount they will deduct and many more. They need to evaluate the service amount they charge
from their buyer for the service they will be rendering. There are many buyers who lately inform
that about the cancellation they will be doing. This become issue as they need to effectively
communicate their employee about the reimbursement they are providing so that communication
gap between them can be reduced.
Reduce in customer footfall: Another issue that they face is there customer base reduce
as a lockdown was announced in the organisation. This affect them as customer are cancelling
their tour or travel that they planned. In fact, after the unlocking was started than to buyers has a
fear to go out and enjoy. This impact them as their customer base reduces which affect their sale
and revenue. Decline in the buyers is the major issue for every company because major part of
income is earned by them.
5

Dissatisfied employees: The next issue that they face is there employee are not satisfied
by the policy that are being designed after the pandemic. The whole working scenario of the
companies alter a lot. Remote working has started which affect the staff as they are not getting
proper working environment. The employee is getting frustrated while working at home which
affect their productivity and performance. They are not able to maintain their personal and
professional life. Company had to lay off their staff because of the crisis so that they can protect
the business environment (Alam, 2020). This layoff becomes the burden as the pressure
enhanced on those employees which are there. They need to do diversified work which affect
their performance and motivational level.
Risk factor: Organisation has faced so many risk at that time which are providing proper
sanitizing facility, following social norms in more effective manner is the problem that they need
to face so that they can protect their stakeholder from the infection. They need to properly
analysis the situation so that they can form strategy that best suit them and help them to fight
with their competitor in more effective manner in the time of Covid 19. Avoiding risk is the
major concern so that they can provide service in the best manner.
Failing to abide by laws: The company provides service to other national also for that
they need to abide them by the local laws and regulation that is being designed by government
after pandemic hit. This becomes problem as they need to critically evaluate laws before renting
any property or service to their consumer after the crisis. There are many laws which also differ
from one place to other this situation is also need to be analysed properly so that they can fulfill
their buyers need.
Reduce in Profitability: The major issue that they face after the pandemic hit is that
their profit margin reduces because the customer is getting low. The purchase that will made
before is high but after that it lower down which affect their profit. The sales reduce which
impact their revenue. The revenue margin is low which in turn reduces their profit. Profit
reduction is the major concern because their financial performance will see a decline and the
company do not have enough liquidity which can be used for business operation.
Increased cost due to adoption of safety and hygiene measures: Cost of production is
increased with the pandemic arose. Companies need to adopt various safety tools and methods so
that proper sanitising facility can be provided by them. This becomes a major concern because
6

company does not have enough cash at that time and increasing the cost of production means
charging high from the buyers. This will be issue for them because the revenue will be low.
Issues in understanding customer buying behaviour: The needs and wants of customer
is so dynamic that keeps on changing. Earlier it is possible to understand their perception as
communication is easy but when the pandemic hit all the sources becomes difficult. This
becomes there concern as the buyer’s behaviour in the current time is so negative that it becomes
challenges to turn this consumer behaviour in more positive way (Pallangyo and et. al, 2020).
The buyers are responding in so low manner that it becomes vogue for organisation to know
what they want in the recent time from the companies. There motivational level after the hit of
Covid is demoralise because they are not feeling safe.
7

LITERATURE REVIEW
This refers to the process used for gathering in-depth information through available
secondary sources. These are articles, books, magazines, journals, publication research and many
others relevant to the topic. Main purpose of the literature review is to determine the research
gap. In this research, main gap is the impact of pandemic situation on the context of AirBnb. In
previous studies, there was lots of data available regarding the impact of Covid 19 on hospitality
industry, but there was lack of information regarding the challenges faced by AirBnb during
Covid 19 (Xiong, Chen, Okumus and Fan, 2022). This chapter contain the secondary information
of the topic selected by researcher. It is the most important part while conducting any
investigation. The past public data are being used discuss here so that investigator can gain
insight knowledge of study. This section also addresses the gap between past and present
research.
Pandemic situation has influenced the profitability of the organisation.
As per the view of Abd-Alrazaq and et. al, (2020)., after the pandemic the period of
investing in organisation has becomes a concern for the organisation. Their profitability has
reduced a lot which effect their organisational performance as well as productivity. There is a
negative impact of the situation on profit margin of the company. The profit amount reduced a
lot which becomes a major issue. Whole world is fighting with the disease and the business
activities are shut down. There are some factors which affect the profitability of organisation,
some of them are:
Shortage of customer: When Covid came all the countries imposed a strict lockdown in
their country so that they can protect their economy. This becomes problem because the travel
and tourism activity shuts down which impact the profit margin of hospitality industry where the
major source of income is the capital received by tourist. Even when the lockdown was stopped
then to buyers are not planning for any tour. They are more concern towards their health. So the
amount that they spend on travel are being utilised on other manner. This effect the profit of the
company as they are not getting enough income for the hospitality service. The customer is more
keen towards their health.
Reimbursements strategy: The another component that affect the profit amount of the
hospitality industry is the reimbursements policy that was announced by the government. As
1

company are not getting customer in this time, their sale is low and at this time they need to pay
the amount that is received by customer for the earlier booking. This becomes a major issue
because the capital is still low and in that time they need to refund the amount to their buyers.
This reduce their profit margin.
Reduce in investment: Another issue which impact their profitability situation is the new
investor are not ready to invest their capital in the company. There is no new investment that is
made by the investors on the hospitality industry. This impact their profit as companies cannot
expand their business because investment is low (Marra and et. al, 2020). The shareholders have
a fear of getting their capital lost. This is the main reason that company is not able to enhance
their capital at the time of Covid 19. Investor has the risk that this company can be shut anytime
because the pandemic is so bad that the financial stability is low everywhere.
Not able to generate leads: The companies are adopting various innovative marketing
strategy to promote their brands but not able to generate leads because customer is not getting
attractive and book their tour. The health is becoming the major issue for the company as buyers
are not generate any leads. The amount of capital they are investing on publicity is the problem
that they are expanding more but not getting result from it. Generating leads is must because it
enhances the customer base as well as organisation can better know what strategy will be best for
them.
Increased amenities: The concept of work from home has enhanced which enhance the
cost of production for the company as they need to provide extra amenities to their employee so
that smooth functioning can be done. This is the another issue as sales is low than to company
need to pay amount for the facility they are providing to their staff. Facilities like laptops,
internet facility, proper broadband, health equipment and many more. This creates burden
because having the devices is must in hospitality sector so that they can track their work and can
run their businesses.
Market competitors: Another factor that impact the profitability of the organisation is the
degree of competition the firm faces. There are so many rivalries in the travel and tour industry
which design so many innovative ideas that can help them to attract more customer towards
them. the market if hospitality industry is not a monopoly market. There are larger number of
seller available in that industry. So competitors approach in the time of Covid impact the firm
profit margin.
2

There are some major that can be implement by the companies if they want to enhance their
profit margin at the time of pandemic some of the approaches that they can adopt are:
Keeping additional focus on managing hygiene: Hospitality industry can follow proper
hygiene in their property which help them to attract more buyers towards their company as
compare to their competitor. If this is strictly follow by the companies, then customer will have
low concern for the health and they will book their tour in the brand. This will help the to boost
their sale, earn more revenue. Keeping focus on hygiene is must if they want greater revenue.
Developing employee engagement: In the time of pandemic companies cannot hire new
employee, so for this they need to develop effective interaction with their staff so that they can
retain in this time. Retention is more because recruiting and hiring new employee need time and
money. Brands are not such a position that they on regular basis hire new staff and provide them
training in the Covid situation. So they need to make attractive communication so that employee
feels motivated and will work for the company and reduce their extra cost.
Emphasising over developing customer loyalty: The another strategy that can be
design by hospitality sector is Emphasising over developing customer loyalty. If customer is
loyal towards the hotel or traveller agency than they will not switch to any other brand for
making any booking (Ahmed and et. al, 2020). In the time of any crisis, if companies want to run
their business and earn income then customer loyalty is must for their survival. The company
should develop many innovative ideas which can help them to enhance more consumer loyalty
within the organisation.
Conclusion of literature review:
From the above literature review it is being noted that the hit of pandemic was so hard for
the companies as their survival in the market becomes difficult. The sector has face so many
challenges which impact their performance and profit. The major issues that they face at the time
of crisis is providing the best safety measures to their stakeholders, so that they can earn revenue
and compete with their competitors. Some of the problems that are being faced by them are
reduce in their customer base, generating leads through social media, reducing cost of production
and many more.
3

DISCUSSION OF THE SECONDARY AND PRIMARY RESEARCH
Research methodology
Research philosophy: The methodology of research philosophy is a set of beliefs and principles
for evaluating information. There are three major sorts of philosophies: positivism,
interpretivism, and realism (Ledford and Gast, 2018). The investigator chooses the positivist
philosophy so that numerical data can be analysed and assessed in a methodical and appropriate
manner over a set period of time. As a result, positivist philosophy is relevant and appropriate for
systematic information analysis.
Research approach: The research approach is a methodology that aids in the implementation of
the selected philosophy so that goals can be reached in a systematic manner. Inductive,
deductive, and abductive approaches are the three main types of approach. The deductive
strategy was chosen by the researcher because it aids in the analysis of quantitative data
acquired, allowing study to be conducted using reliable and meaningful numerical data. The
advantage of the deductive technique is that it only examines numerical and statistical data over
a specific time period.
Research strategy: The process that aids the investigator in collecting relevant data is referred
to as the research strategy. Action research, case study, survey, interview, systematic literature
review, and many other methodologies are available. In order to compile important pieces of
information, the researcher relied on a survey and a thorough literature study. The purpose for
doing a survey is that numerical and primary data can be collected in a certain amount of time,
and the goals may be met in a methodical manner (Pandey and Pandey, 2021). A questionnaire is
created as one of the survey instruments so that information from the chosen human participants
can be recorded. On the other hand, the investigator may choose to conduct a systematic
literature review in order to collect secondary data from sources such as books, articles, journals,
newspapers, and other publications. As a result, the investigator chooses a systematic literature
review and survey so that pre-determined objectives and goals can be easily met.
Research choice: The methodology that gives the type of information needed to conduct the
entire inquiry is known as research choice. Mono method, mixed technique, and multi-mixed
method are the three main options. The investigator chose the mono approach since it allows
them to choose between two major types of research: qualitative and quantitative. The
4

investigator has chosen quantitative research as a method of achieving set goals. It has been
determined that the investigator chose quantitative research in order to collect numerical and
statistical data. The benefit of quantitative research is that it allows for the collection of
numerical data in such a way that statistical facts and figures can be given more weight.
Data collection: Data collection is a practise that includes two types of data collection: primary
and secondary data. The investigator has chosen both data gathering methods so that the research
objectives can be addressed properly. The investigator chooses the primary data collection
method so that first-hand data can be gathered (Papachristos, 2018). The term "first hand" or
"raw data" refers to information obtained for the first time by addressing a fresh source. The
questionnaire was chosen as the major data instrument since it includes both raw and numerical
data. On the other hand, secondary data collecting is chosen because it aids in the utilisation of
previously published information.
Sampling: Sampling is a research methodology that aids in the selection of a specific number of
human participants for the collecting of valuable data. Probability and non-probability sampling
are the two types of sampling (Hoon and Singh, 2019). Probability sampling is selected by
researcher because it helps in selecting large number of participants. 30 participants are selected
by investigator from the industry of travel and tourism because they have great knowledge
regarding this (Snyder, 2019).
Primary research
Frequency distribution table
Q.1. What is the impact of COVID-19 over lodging industry? Frequency
a) Positive 0
b) Negative 30
Q.2. What are the issues faced by AirBnb during global pandemic of COVID-
19?
Frequency
a) Decreased customer footfall 9
b) Increased cost due to adoption of safety and hygiene measures 8
c) Issues in understanding customer buying behaviour 7
d) Dissatisfaction among employees 5
5

Q.3. What is the influence of COVID-19 over profitability of AirBnb? Frequency
a) Negative influence 20
b) Positive influence 5
c) Neutral Influence 5
Q.4. What is the strategies that can be adopted by AirBnb for reducing losses
and executing business functions?
Frequency
a) Keeping additional focus on managing hygiene 7
b) Developing employee engagement 9
c) Emphasising over developing customer loyalty 8
d) Adopting crisis management strategies 6
Q.5. As per your perception should AirBnb invest their money and resources
in adopting crisis management aspects?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
Data interpretation
Q.1. What is the impact of COVID-19 over lodging industry? Frequency
a) Positive 0
b) Negative 30
6

a) Positive b) Negative
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
30
Interpretation: From the above graph this can be concluded that covid-19 has impacted the
lodging industry in high manner which is associated with including barriers within the industry.
In this manner out of 30 respondents, 30 respondents have said that covid-19 has impacted the
lodging industry in negative manner.
Q.2. What are the issues faced by AirBnb during global pandemic of COVID-
19?
Frequency
a) Decreased customer footfall 9
b) Increased cost due to adoption of safety and hygiene measures 8
c) Issues in understanding customer buying behaviour 7
d) Dissatisfaction among employees 5
7

0
2
4
6
8
9 8 7
5
Interpretation: From the above graph this can be concluded that out of 30 respondents, 9 have
said that decreased customer footfall is the major issue which is faced by AirBnb during
pandemic situation of COVID-19. On the other hand, 8 have said that increased cost on adopting
safety and hygiene measures. Besides this, 7 have said that issues in understanding customer
buying behaviour is the major issue. At last 5 have said that dissatisfaction among employees is
the major issue within organisations.
Q.3. What is the influence of COVID-19 over profitability of AirBnb? Frequency
a) Negative influence 20
b) Positive influence 5
c) Neutral Influence 5
8

a) Negative influence b) Positive influence c) Neutral Influence
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
5 5
Interpretation: From the graph this is deduced that the major impact of covid-19 over the
profitability is related with negative aspects. As out of 30 respondents, 20 have said that impact
of COVID-19 over the profitability of the organisation is negative.
Q.4. What is the strategies that can be adopted by AirBnb for reducing losses
and executing business functions?
Frequency
a) Keeping additional focus on managing hygiene 7
b) Developing employee engagement 9
c) Emphasising over developing customer loyalty 8
d) Adopting crisis management strategies 6
9

0
2
4
6
8 7
9 8
6
Interpretation: From the description this can be said that there are various strategies that can be
used by the organisation in order to develop organisational functions and to minimise losses. In
this manner out of 30 respondents, 7 have said that with the help of keeping additional focus on
managing hygiene losses can be reduced whereas 9 have said that with the help of developing
employee engagement losses can be reduced. On the other hand, 8 have said that by developing
customer loyalty losses can be reduced by the organisation. On the other hand, 6 have said that
by crisis management strategies losses can be reduced.
Q.5. As per your perception should AirBnb invest their money and resources
in adopting crisis management aspects?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
10

a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Interpretation: From the graph this is summarised that out of 30 respondents, 25 have said that
organisations are required to invest their resources over developing crisis management within the
organisation.
Discussion on secondary basis
From the information gathered through literature review this can be concluded that travel
and tourism industry has got various negative impacts from the industry in which the pandemic
has shown higher negative impacts. The global crisis of COVID-19 is associated in facing such
issues by the industry in which they are having problems in managing business functions. There
are various issues which are related with pandemic situation in which customers are not able to
manage their needs and demands (Kruse and Jeurissen, 2020). The situation of COVID has
increased workload for lodging industry as well hospitality industry. This is analysed that there
are various critical aspects which are added into business after the implication of covid and these
are rendering issues to the business and there management as well. On the primary data
collection this is seen that respondents have said that crisis management is the tool which can
be used by the organisation in order to manage future contingencies and to acquire success as
well. This is one of the greatest aspect which is used by the organisation in order to develop
future foreseeable situations and to manage the same with appropriate succession opportunities.
In order to use business strategy as to deal with situation of covid one of the prominent is related
11

with keeping hygiene measures within the organisation so that larger customer base can be
attracted and this way overall management can be exerted by the organisation.
12

CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE RESULTS
This is analysed that there are various measures which are required to be taken by the
hospitality industry so that to acquire success and to manage contingencies within business. In
this term it can be said that there are various challenges which are related with pandemic
situation of covid and business functions as well. In this manner these issues are required to be
mitigated so that business management can be executed and at the same time these issues are
associated with developing future aspects of the organisation (Crick and Crick, 2020). In this
term industry of lodging are facing issues related with their customers and managing the same
with appropriate succession so that business functions do not get hampered and at the same time
customers may be engaged with the business functions. Due to covid-19, customer footfall has
decreased as lockdown has minimised the customer to roam around and enjoy their vacation.
Due to this, cancellation and reimbursements are taking place as customers will have to cancel
their bookings which is associated with facing losses by the organisation. In this manner when
such downfall is taking place then this would be leading the company to loose major part of their
income and a potential share in their customers. On the other hand, due to covid organisations
are not able to focus over their employees and their well-being which means that their skills and
capabilities which means that dissatisfaction among employees can be created. Similarly covid is
one of the major risk for the organisation and this is related with stopping of the business
functions for the industry of hospitality (Operario, King and). In this manner it is being observed
that covid is generating risks of shutting down of business in which organisations not able to cop
up with current market scenarios. There are various laws which are required to be used within
the organisation in which organisations are facing difficulties in abiding with the same. The
industry of hospitality is facing issues in managing their business and in this manner the industry
is seeing future losses in such a way that they need to cop up with such situation as covid is not
going anywhere fourth coming years. The organisational profitability is minimised due to
minimum number of customers coming to enjoy their services. The cost of marketing is also
increased for the organisation as there are various measures which are required to be used by the
organisation so that they can cop up with such environment issues. Organisations are facing
issues in understanding customer behaviour as due to availability of various competitors into the
market. The competitors are having various marketing measures in which the businesses are
required to adopt such aspects so that to manage success and to manage their customers. The
13

buyers in current time are responding in low manner as motivation level of employees is near to
minimised level which bounds them not to perform in optimised manner. The safety measures
by the organisation are increased and due to this reason overall cost of the organisation is
increased and negative impact are seen over the industrial profitability. In this manner lodging
industry is facing issues in managing buying behaviour of their customers as needs and
preferences of customers are fluctuating in nature and this is not possible that to align with the
same at every possible time. So these are the issues which are generated by the organisation due
to the implication of COVID-19 and all these are related with managing business and customer
portfolio. On the other hand, industry of lodging is clearly dependent over their customers but
the result of covid is related with emerging of lockdown period which one of the greatest curse
for the industry of lodging and hospitality (Gamarel, 2020). This is stated that in the terms of
hospitality the industry is truly dedicated towards their customers and in this manner in order to
manage business organisations are required to manage their customers and their management as
well. It is understood that pandemic period has increased the stress level among companies
regarding their investment and profit level. It is determined that the level of profitability has
decreased because the performance and productivity level has decreased. It is analysed that there
is negative impact of the whole situation on the profit margin of the organisation. Some of the
factors that have directly impacted the profit level of the whole organisation are: one of the
factors is shortage of customers as pandemic has created strict lockdown and this ultimately
made customers to stay in their home. This problem created negative effect over the profitability
level of the organisation because they were not getting any source of the income. Tourists are the
people who are major customers of hospitality and tourism industry but with pandemic they were
not putting their funds on travel or rental services (Bloom and Cadarette, 2019). The other
negative impact of COVID-19 on profitability level is company has to reimburse the amount on
pre-bookings. This has created pressure on organisation to refund the whole amount even in the
time of their no sale and no revenue. The other one is market competitors as company has faced
great competition in the pandemic because competitors have more provided greater facilities to
their existing as well as prospective customers.
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RECOMMENDATION AND ACTION PLAN
Recommendation
There are various issues which are faced by the organization during this covid 19
outbreak which has resulted in losses and several problems created by pandemic. Such issues are
cancellation and reimbursements. Moreover, reduction in customer footfall and dissatisfied
employees along with the risk factor and failing to abide by laws which is followed by the
reduction in profitability and increased cost due to adoption of safety and hygiene measures and
also the issues in understanding customer buying behavior are also the issues faced by the firm at
the time of covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, It is recommended that to resolve out such issues in
order to grow and develop the organizations with better expansion in the market place. Hence, it
is recommended that the organization must increase its customer base by making the difference
in its sales and marketing strategies such as focusing on the quality photographs which can assist
in grow in sales number with good revenues. Time and first impression combination used can be
more effective to get improves in its productivity. Making the individual experience better must
be the target so that the individual feedback can make the difference in the brand image in the
market place. Moreover, targeting the enhancement of pricing strategies and response time along
with the installing a lock box and legalities which is also followed by the cleaning services and
details of the trips in an innovative and creative manner. Furthermore, health and safety with tax
compliance and attending and participating the marketing programs are also suggested to
AirBnb. There are various competitors for the organisation so in order to manage the business
functions the organizations are requisite to manage their competitors in such manner that in
terms of acquiring market edge as well. In the terms of sustainability there are various measures
that are adopted by the organisation such as adoption of eco-friendly measures so that future
generations can also be benefited for the organisation. There are three measures for the
sustainability such as economic, social and environment. Wind energy and solar energy is the
major practices that can be used by businesses in order to manage sustainability and to develop
their business in the time of covid crisis. This has raised a fear of our future survival and the
extinction of all life forms on earth, at the expense of our unprecedented growth and has led
global thinker and scientist to search for measure to achieve harmony with nature and balance in
our development and future sustenance. Although the notion was felt then and it led to start of
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environmental movement in 70s. The concept of sustainability is associated with acquiring future
edges in such manner that organisation may deal with human life and their needs in proper
manner. As AirBnb is one of the trending organisation which is gaining success in current time
and this manner in order to succeed their business in the time of covid it is required that to
manage global issue and to develop succession measures as well. The company may provide
personalised services to their customer so that to attract them towards business offerings and to
increase their profitability in negative as well. On the other hand, organisations are required to be
proactive so that they can sense future uncertainties and inhale their same into managing
business functions in appropriate manner. Technology is the other aspect which is needed to be
used by the organisation so that latest trends can be associated with the business and in the same
manner appropriate succession prospect can be added. Using of customer centric approach could
be the other recommendation which can be used by the organisation so that to manage their
customers base and to develop significant edge as against to competitors. The hospitality
industry is the one which is ever evolving; being at the forefront in comparison with other trade.
Every other day, you may be finding some practices becoming obsolete; waiting to be replaced
with new ones in order to meet the dynamic scenario. There are various terms which are needed
to be used by the lodging industry so that ultimate level of satisfaction can be given to customer
and at the same time higher loyalty can also be attained. The organisation should emphasised
over direct bookings so that customers may book their services in lesser cost so that assistance
can be given to customers in order to manage success opportunities. Besides this, the
organisation is required to be concentrated over digital marketing strategies so that new
customers can be attracted and at the same time their retention can also be increased.
Action plan
Improvement Activities Action Plan
Cancellation and reimbursements It is important for the organization set a time
limit of cancellation and refund policy
according to the amount paid by the customers
in order to reduce the losses.
Reduce in customer footfall It is essential for the firm to provide offers and
discounts so that customer loyalty can be
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gained for the long term relationships with the
customers.
Dissatisfied employees It is necessary for the enterprise to make
strategies for motivation to employees in order
to avoid employee turnover. Encouragement
must be increased among the employees
regarding work.
Risk factor It is significant for the company to follow the
entire steps of risk identification and
assessments along with the mitigation and
monitoring.
Failing to abide by laws It is vital for the administration to properly
review all the laws related to the labour or
working laws so that it can be followed in a
legal manner.
Increased cost due to adoption of safety
and hygiene measures
It is imperative for the management to reduce
the cost in operations and maximum savage in
health and safety as well.
Issues in understanding customer
buying behavior
It is crucial for the organization to conduct the
market research in an in depth manner with an
accurate facts and figures.
Reduce in Profitability It is critical for the firm to improve the pricing
strategies and competitive analysis so that
profitability can be gained with good number
of sales and revenues generations.
17

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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Q.1. What is the impact of COVID-19 over lodging industry?
a) Positive
b) Negative
Q.2. What are the issues faced by AirBnb during global pandemic of COVID-19?
a) Decreased customer footfall
b) Increased cost due to adoption of safety and hygiene measures
c) Issues in understanding customer buying behaviour
d) Dissatisfaction among employees
Q.3. What is the influence of COVID-19 over profitability of AirBnb?
a) Negative influenced
b) Positive influence
c) Neutral Influence
Q.4. What is the strategies that can be adopted by AirBnb for reducing losses and executing
business functions?
a) Keeping additional focus on managing hygiene
b) Developing employee engagement
c) Emphasising over developing customer loyalty
d) Adopting crisis management strategies
Q.5. As per your perception should AirBnb invest their money and resources in adopting crisis
management aspects?
a) Yes
b) No
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