Airbnb: A Report on Proposed Tactics and Recommendations for Growth

This report offers a strategic analysis of Airbnb, focusing on proposed tactics and recommendations for business growth and market expansion. It examines various aspects, including engagement in aggressive public relations campaigns, ethical regulation analysis, and strategies for attaining a larger market share. The report also delves into maximizing savings for loyal customers, building a strong community of renters and property owners, and leveraging data-related flexibility to enhance user experience. Recommendations include intelligent marketplace development, addressing ethical and legal issues, and setting goals for market share and expansion, particularly in emerging markets like Africa and the Middle East. The report also emphasizes the importance of customer retention, safety and security, and the development of sustainable housing initiatives. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of Airbnb's challenges, opportunities, and strategic pathways for achieving sustainable growth and market leadership.

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
Table of Contents
4. Proposed Tactics....................................................................................................................3
5. Recommendations..................................................................................................................5
References................................................................................................................................10

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
4. Proposed TacticsEngagement in the Aggressive Public Relation Campaigns- Airbnb needs to
follow the different legal regulations which will be helpful for Airbnb in gaining
competitive advantage in the different countries such as New York wherein the legal
framework is robust. Through
engaging in the aggressive kind of PR campaigns, Airbnb
can be battling hard for launching the city-specific website which states that New York
supports Airbnb which will be sponsoring the marathon of New York (Moorman and Day
2016). Analysis of Ethical Regulations- In respective scenario, it can be seen that the short-
term vacationers create huge nuisance for Airbnb which has impacted their brand image.
Moreover, the different apartment owners use the rental home for the short-term vacationers
which affects the ethical prospects of Airbnb (Harraf et al. 2015). In such scenario, Airbnb
can introduce the copyright or patent laws and legislations that can be assisting them in
improving their services which will be suitable for the growth of the company in an ethical
manner.
Attaining larger share in the competitive business environment- Airbnb is a
recently established business idea that has to acquire some tactics to participate in a
sustainable competition in the market. From the worldwide perspective the company needs to
expand its establishment in the countries of Africa and Middle East to get a strong hold in
that section simultaneously apart from the countries it is already dealing in. The company
must look for three hotels in these two places like one has to be in Morocco and rest of the
two hotels in Egypt, conveniently in Hurghada at a low cost (Teixeira, Thales 2019).

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
Maximisation of the savings of the different loyal customers of Airbnb- Although
the company is not very experienced and mature in this field yet it is already successful in
capturing a set of market. It has to be kept in mind that companies like OYO and Oval Rooms
are two major competitions who also have a set of loyal customers. It sometimes becomes
difficult to snatch away the regular customers from other companies hence the company itself
has to develop its tactics in a way that the range of its loyal customers increases in a huge
number. At first the company must know how to maintain the existing customers with
efficiency and then highlight the part of capturing a new target market (Denning, Stephen
2014).
This would definitely increase the rate of booking because interested people would
start responding enthusiastically even more when they will get reviews and different
feedbacks from the previous customers about the owner of the rooms. It enables the customer
to choose the rooms according to their preference where they can also find the type of people
they wish to be accompanied by in the course of the tour (Varma 2016).
Building of the largest social related community of the different renters and property
owners
The company is aiming at meeting the 80% of the already existing market. This can
be very easily achieved by going through collaboration with the organizations like FTI and
TUI International who are in the management of the tours and transports. This can be a
brilliant tactics to use their popularity to reach the target market easily. It would be easier for
the company to initiate the expansion equally in an international market. These two
management sectors must arrange the international flights, transport internationally on behalf
of the company. The company can also tie up with Uber, a transport system that would help it
to fetch more customers.

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
5. Recommendations
Airbnb has at their fingertips wealth of data that its not leveraging as well as it could
have been. The guests, host and Airbnb can benefit from the organization better mining
related data along with making the valuable kind of insights which are available for the users.
It helps in making Airbnb smarter, efficient along with profitable kind of workplace.
Data Related Flexibility- Airbnb needs to offer the guests with the flexible kind of
itineraries with the options for adding plus or the minus range to the different requested dates.
The different airlines perform the same for filling up the seats on days with lower kind of
demands. It will be suitable for Airbnb in gaining proper insight on the needs and demands of
the different customers which will be helpful for both hosts and guests in managing the
effectiveness in a proper manner.
Intelligent Type of Marketplace- Airbnb already have an enthusiastic kind of user
base, the constantly improving kind of platform, which is considered to be the great
rebranding effort that can be understood for collecting the valuable kind of information. It is
time for Airbnb for giving the users access to more information as well as analysis. It is
possible for making the marketplace for Airbnb in an easier manner.
Airbnb has been under the fire in the recent scenario wherein there have been
different ethical and legal issues along with political aspects that has affected the growth of
Airbnb negatively. In order to improve the scenario, Airbnb needs to
build as well as release
the feature for addressing the different instances of someone who will be requesting the
booking which was being listed as vacant position, but then getting to know that the
information is not correct. Airbnb will be blocking the calendar right away as it will be
effective in manging the guests appropriately (Ma 2017).
Planning and Achieving Goals

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
Airbnb should capture a greater share of the accommodations market, which will be
directly proportional to increased bookings. To achieve that, Airbnb must try to get most of
the Internet users to its’ online network. Developing a large and interactive social community
will be first priority in order to increase its’ online footprint. Building such a platform with
property renters and owners will be crucial. To convert vision into reality, Airbnb must pay
heed to situational as well as industry analyses in a well-defined and a time bound manner in
order to achieve its’ goals by the end of 2021. The growth of the company would require
Airbnb’s entry into new markets as well as increasing its’ penetration in the existing ones.
Airbnb must acquire hotels in the Africa and the Middle East while acclimatizing to the
cultural differences and customs.
The goal should be to primarily capture at least 10 percent market share in this region.
It should acquire resorts in Hurghada, Egypt as a low-cost destination and a hotel in
Morocco, with estimated costs being $ 40 million and $ 30 million respectively. Airbnb must
enter into a well-suited partnership with tour operators (FTI) and Tui International. These
tour operators will arrange transportations and tours for the guests. Airbnb should also form a
partnership with local cab services such as Uber which will arrange the local (intra-city) and
long-distance (tourist spots) travels for the guests (Beck 2016)
To woo the niche markets, Airbnb must develop specific programs such as Cultural
programs and Environmental tours, to interest young clients. Also, developing full packages
(including tours, travels, excursion, etc) will be beneficial for families who have no idea
about the destination they are travelling to (Gibbs 2018).
An aggressive strategy
With all the goals meticulously planned, Airbnb requires an aggressive strategy
encapsulating a five-year period that would holistically combine dynamic product

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
development and diversification with market development and subsequent penetration.
Seizing opportunities and banking upon public interests and hypes would be crucial in the
market expansion (Lines, Greggary 2015).
Retaining the customers
As Airbnb proceeds with its’ market expansion, retaining the customers would be the
most essential. The customers must feel satisfied in order to use Airbnb’s services in the
future. For that, it should constantly upgrade an interactive Customer Management
Programme where there would be feedbacks from the customers directly to the hosts. Airbnb
can plan to create a separate grouping of hosts who regularly receive great feedbacks. That
would create a hierarchy of hosts in Airbnb’s database and possibly, encourage all hosts to
provide better accommodations that their peers, speaking of which, Airbnb can also develop
incentives for the better performers (Biber et al 2017).
A customer satisfaction rating of minimum 90 percent should be the aim. Airbnb must
enhance the safety and security programs that would essentially decrease the compensations
by 8 percent. The above two points can be combines together along with developing clear
policies and guidelines for a minimum quality of services provided by the hosts which must
be religiously adhered to by the hosts. Guaranteeing these well-defined standards will give a
realistic user experience to the guests and as it is well known in the service industry, honesty
goes a long way in retaining customers (Chen, Yong, and Karen Xie 2014).
Short term objectives
In the short term, for a period of two years, Airbnb must aim to capture and increase
the market share by one percent, which would require the increase of its’ users to one
hundred and eighty-five million. It would require about 50 percent more bookings than the

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
current levels (Anwar, Syed Tariq 2018). This expansion can be achieved by planning local
gatherings in different metropolitan cities which can be organised by local communities.
These gatherings can hold several activities to interact with the local populace and Airbnb
will gain publicity by sponsoring these events. Airbnb must strive to get more properties and
hosts to comply with its’ guidelines regarding safety, security and quality offered, while at
the same time it should adjust the prices so that the customers can save about 3 percent more
than their current saving average, that is, Airbnb must price its’ accommodations a bit lesser
than other competitors. Low pricing and better quality would be possible only if Airbnb’s
customer base increases (Guttentag, Daniel 2015).
To achieve that, Airbnb must develop a comprehensive tool for online analytics, duly
analyzing the social media behaviour. With a booming online social media, Airbnb must
present itself as a lucrative package, while maintaining good reviews and a constant buzz.
People must be talking about the services provided by Airbnb, and at least half a dozen
contemporary celebrities must be subscribed to the activities of Airbnb and offer their castles
and related premium accommodations (Zervas et al 2017). Surprise spotting and meet-ups of
celebrities with regular customers in such premium accommodations must be converted into
online hypes to attract new users.
Hundreds of emotional and authentic stories of communities and their cultures and
customs can be effectively blended into a product for their accommodations at the same time
focussing on the tourist spots nearby. These stories will reach out to a far wider audience.
Feedbacks must be carefully monitored (Yunis, Tarhini and Kassar 2018).
Towards a sustainable future
Airbnb must highlight its’ resolve in building a sustainable future for the whole of
humankind and what better industry to be in than the Housing industry? Sustainable

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
accommodations remain a glaring topic in most of the developing world and even a few
developed countries. Airbnb can develop a special programme for sustainable housing in
cooperation with governments, non-governmental organisations, the international bodies, etc.
It can raise funds and launch campaigns to help the housing sector, which will keep it in the
limelight as well develop confidence among the customers (Dickel and de Moura 2016).

Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
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Running head: PROPOSED TACTICS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR AIRBNB
Zervas, Georgios, Davide Proserpio, and John W. Byers. "The rise of the sharing economy:
Estimating the impact of Airbnb on the hotel industry." Journal of marketing research 54, no.
5 (2017): 687-705.