Business Analysis: Airbnb and Mercure Hotel - SWOT & PESTLE

This report presents a comparative analysis of Airbnb and Mercure Hotels, employing SWOT and PESTLE frameworks. The introduction outlines Airbnb's role as an online marketplace for accommodations and Mercure's position as a midscale hotel brand within the Accor group. The SWOT analysis highlights Airbnb's strengths in offering unique experiences and affordable prices, while Mercure's lies in its diverse hotel portfolio and global presence. Weaknesses for Airbnb include housing law challenges and ease of imitation, while Mercure faces competition from online platforms. Opportunities for Airbnb stem from growing guest interest and emerging economies, and for Mercure from global expansion. Threats include lawsuits for Airbnb and increased competition for Mercure. The PESTLE analysis examines political, social, economic, technological, legal, and environmental factors affecting both businesses, such as political regulations, social trends in tourism, economic impacts, technological reliance, legal challenges, and environmental sustainability. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings from both analyses, providing insights into the competitive landscape and external factors influencing the two companies.

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Hotel & Hospitality Management
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Introduction
Airbnb is an online marketplace that is involved in offering its customers lodgings, rooms
and homestays. The company does not physically own these assets or host any events, but act as
a broker in connecting the client with the providers of this accommodation. Airbnb operates on
the same concept as the taxi riding app Uber. Mercure hotel is a subsidiary of the famous France
hospitality giant Accor group. The hotel is a midscale brand operating 3 stars and 4 stars. By
30th June 2018, Mercure has about 790 hotels in over 63 countries, forty of these hotels being
located in Australia.
The SWOT analysis of Airbnb, the strength of the brand lies with the new experience it
gives to the customers by not offering the conventional hotel setting. Additionally, Airbnb can
offer accommodation to the guest at a pocket-friendly price. The strength of Mercure hotel is that
it has a different assortment of hotels on rating from 3 to 4 stars, accommodating customers who
are on a budget. Additionally, the hotel is spread in many countries enabling it to benefit from
the global market. In weakness, Airbnb is faced with the problem of housing laws that prevent
the various establishment from offering accommodation for profit. Additionally, the business is
easy to imitate due to its simple concept. The weakness of Mercure hotel is that the hotel giant is
losing on the online market platform to online businesses such as Airbnb (Guttentag, 2015,
pp.1195). Opportunities are in favor of Airbnb with many guests being attracted to the services
offered by the brand. The growing emerging economies also allow Mercure hotels to expand into
new global territories. Airbnb is facing the threat of lawsuits from all over the world due to
housing regulations (Elisabeth, 2015, pp.30). On the other hand, increased competition is the
major factor affecting Mercure hotels. Other hotel brands such as Marriot hotels are expanding
into the global markets.

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PESTLE analysis investigates the external environmental factors affecting a business.
Politically, Airbnb has faced fines and a lawsuit in many states due to politically induced laws.
Mercure hotel is faced with political factors such as terrorism and unstable political environment
in the global market. Socially, Airbnb can tap into the social market, since its whole concept is
based on connecting guest with house providers. Mercure also benefits from social factors due to
increased tourism (Ert, Fleischer and Magen, 2016, pp.70). In economic factors, Airbnb offers a
cheap alternative to hotels, increasing its profit margins. The economic standoff between the US
and China has affected the Mercure hotel. In technological factors, Airbnb relies heavily on its
website and apps. Additionally, technology as given Mercure a new market gap to advertise its
product. Legally, lawsuits are affecting the business of Airbnb, while lawsuits affecting Airbnb
may give Mercure an advantage (Yu, Byun and Lee, 2014, pp.116). Environmentally, Airbnb
boasts its sustainability by lowering greenhouse gases while an increase in global warming could
resort to Mercure shutting down some of its resorts.
Conclusion
The foregone is the discussion of SWOT and PESTLE analysis of Airbnb and Mercure.

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Bibliography
Elisabeth, R.O.B.I.N.O.T., 2015. Does environmental initiatives really mater my customers? A
joint analysis of performance and satisfaction measurement in the hotel industry. Journal of
Environmental Management and Tourism (JEMT), 6(11), pp.22-33.
Ert, E., Fleischer, A. and Magen, N., 2016. Trust and reputation in the sharing economy: The
role of personal photos in Airbnb. Tourism Management, 55(6), pp.62-73.
Guttentag, D., 2015. Airbnb: disruptive innovation and the rise of an informal tourism
accommodation sector. Current issues in Tourism, 18(12), pp.1192-1217.
Yu, Y., Byun, W.H. and Lee, T.J., 2014. Critical issues of globalization in the international hotel
industry. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(2), pp.114-118.