Before the Mid-Autumn Festival short holiday and the National Day holiday，Shanghai。Chairman of China of Airbnb, an online home rental company with a valuation of more than 31 billion US dollars、Co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk，We once again received Chinese media including 36Kr after half a year，Introducing Airbnb’s continued growth in the Chinese market，And the company’s future development strategy will focus on China’s non-first-tier urban markets。

Airbnb arranged the meeting in a 1921 bungalow building in the French Concession，The owner of this old house has listed it on Airbnb。

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Airbnb first gave out some interesting data at the September 21st event:

Domestic tourism business has accounted for 50%，Reservations in non-first-tier cities increased by 170% year-on-year；

Chengdu ranks second among Chinese cities most popular with Airbnb guests，More than Beijing and second only to Shanghai；

Domestic business during this year’s National Day Golden Week is expected to grow by 200% year-on-year，including Chengdu、Chongqing ranks among the top two cities。

These data mean，Airbnb’s business growth structure is changing，The growth space in first-tier cities is becoming saturated，Need to follow Tujia、Xiaozhu Rental and other local opponents fought hard in hand-to-hand combat。The corresponding one is，Second- and third-tier cities have played the role of growth engines for Airbnb for a period of time。Of course Bai Siqi and Peng Tao saw this early，They emphasize，Airbnb will better serve China’s second tier、Third-tier cities。

In the past year，The venture capital circle’s emphasis on the sinking market is spreading like 188bet app download pop music。E-commerce、Consumption、Practitioners in the retail field were the first to talk about this，Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng proposed a similar concept of “Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road inside and outside” in an interview with Caijing magazine at the beginning of the year，To distinguish two different users，There are many followers。Subsequently，Taking Pinduoduo in the e-commerce field、Represented by Qutoutiao in the field of content information，A number of start-up companies have completed the listing process in just two or three years，Let Internet observers within the “Fifth Ring Road” be shocked by the vast incremental market “outside the Fifth Ring Road”。

Even in rural China，The penetration rate of infrastructure facilities such as logistics, express delivery and 4G networks has been relatively complete，After product innovation on the traffic side，Pinduoduo and Qutoutiao are therefore able to grow rapidly。

In comparison，The online travel short-term rental market is a very important industry，Requires a lot of offline operation work，When this work extends from first-tier cities to second-tier and third-tier cities，The cost of educating users and the market will be higher；In addition，Airbnb is still a pure American company，Its localization capabilities will continue to be tested。

There were reports in 2017，Compared to its Chinese students，Airbnb is moving too slowly。

Actually, this is related to its concept。Airbnb founder and CEO Brian Chesky said at an event in Beijing in 2015，Airbnb has seen the booking and key collection process impact Chinese users with limited language skills，But Airbnb doesn’t intend to solve it。“Communication between tenants and landlords，is an important part of the entire Airbnb experience，It is also the key to maintaining the community，We do not intend to replace it with standard processes。”

When Airbnb entered China, its first stance was to engage in the high-end tourism market，Mainly engaged in outbound tourism business，Intended to allow more Chinese outbound tourists to experience Airbnb’s products and services，It does not involve the expansion of the "188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino sinking market"，There is no more development and operation of houses of varying quality。its products、The localization strategy of operations is also more cautious than that of the shared travel giant Uber in the same period，This prevents Airbnb’s brand from changing too much，The other side of the coin also makes Airbnb China appear constrained。

Airbnb’s initial strategy in China is tantamount to handing over the mid- to low-end short-term rental homestay market to local competitors，Companies like Xiaozhu Short-term Rental and Tujia have raised their valuations to over one billion US dollars through standardized accommodation and deeply involved operations，And effectively hinder Airbnb’s future expansion。Airbnb has indeed maintained its solid entrepreneurial philosophy，But we also lost some other good business opportunities。

But the unique complexity of the Chinese market，If Airbnb insists on operating with the lightest strategy, it may not gain a good reputation。Some guests question Airbnb’s poor service，Some landlords criticize tenants for causing damage to their properties。

2017，Brian Chesky said in an exclusive interview with China Business News，Airbnb has learned lessons from the experience of companies such as Uber China。Subsequently，Airbnb begins conversion strategy，Establish local team，Expand staff size，Improve products and operations based on the characteristics of Chinese users。

Now，Airbnb has grown its Beijing-based employee team to 200 people in the past year and a half，“Half of them focus on products”，Enough to do some product innovation for Chinese users。

2016，Uber China makes peace with its local imitator Didi Chuxing，And Airbnb (many people say the name is very "earthy") is still competing with its Chinese competitors。At least from the current information，Airbnb from brand to product、Operations are sinking rapidly，It no longer wants to "hold it" like it did three years ago。

Can the new president meet Airbnb’s requirements

Bai Siqi updated the growth data information of Airbnb’s global and Chinese markets，We also formally introduced China President Peng Tao, 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino who was recruited through headhunting two months ago，And let him represent Airbnb with him。Peng Tao’s official job title is President rather than CEO，He previously founded the travel blog community product Bread Travel。

Four or five years ago，Peng Tao graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and University of Melbourne，is one of the popular entrepreneurs in China’s online travel market。Bread Travel received US$50 million in venture capital from Tencent in 2014，However, subsequent growth and commercialization results have been unsatisfactory。

Bai Siqi also serves as the chief strategy officer of Airbnb headquarters，The parachute landing in China a year ago was obviously to put out fires。

At that time，Airbnb China is once again in chaos due to the departure of China head Ge Hong。Although various data have been growing rapidly，Frequent coaching changes in just a few years have made it difficult for the outside world to have confidence in Airbnb’s development in China。The growth in the first two years mainly came from Beijing、Shanghai and other first-tier cities，Users here are obviously more receptive to sharing their private rooms with strangers and earning money，There are also some B&B operators who have effectively used the Airbnb platform。

But a reliable local business leader is still necessary，Several previous personnel attempts were hardly successful。“We want to find a candidate who understands more than just the first-tier cities in China，But to understand the entire market in China。Because we believe that China’s domestic tourism business，The domestic market is very important。" Bai Siqi said，He thinks Peng Tao can meet Airbnb’s requirements。

After an interview that lasted for 12 hours，Bai Siqi provided an offer from a professional manager，And Peng Tao chose to accept。

It is worth mentioning，Airbnb received investment from Broadband Capital before officially entering China in 2015，And have cooperated in the selection of China CEO，Broadband Capital is an important investor in Bread Travel，Also listed as a shareholder of Airbnb’s Chinese competitor Tujia。If the short-term 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino rental industry will gather industry in the future，Produce similar to past trips、Wine Travel、M&A cases in local life and other industries，This investment institution will play an important role。

But when meeting the media，Peng Tao refused to answer whether Airbnb China can independently raise funds to participate in market competition like Uber China before。

Co-founder of Airbnb、China Chairman Bai Siqi (left)，Peng Tao, President of Airbnb China

Peng Taocheng who just took up his new post，Airbnb’s development path in the Chinese market is to start from overseas travel step by step，To first-tier cities，And then sinking into second- and third-tier cities。Peng Taocheng，“Travel is low frequency，Need to establish brand。”

His task is very difficult。He is responsible for Airbnb’s growth in China，From the experience of other companies，This often means high standard KPI，And must move to lower-tier cities or even rural areas；At the same time，He also wants to ensure that Airbnb’s original brand image and concept will not be changed too much in the Chinese market environment。

Some changes have taken place in the Internet sharing economy in recent months，Make it seem like there is some conflict between these two goals。For example，The vicious extreme events that occurred continuously on Didi Hitchhiker，Making a large number of users denounce this travel company’s C2C sharing business，Didi senior management also admitted in their subsequent response，The previous Didi was too focused on growth，We will put user safety first。

Peng Tao expressed his attitude towards this: Airbnb will prevent data from data、Bilingual Customer Service、Huge insurance and other aspects protect the two-way security of landlords and tenants，Safety is Airbnb’s first choice。

“We have our own customer service。" Peng Tao said when answering whether Airbnb customer service is outsourced。When first entering the Chinese market，Airbnb’s customer service center and related staff are all located in the United States。

Three years ago，An American journalist once wrote an article "Airbnb Killed My Father" based on the tragedy 188bet app he experienced personally to reflect on the risks of the sharing economy，Causing Airbnb’s brand image to be severely damaged；In China，There are also occasional cases where disputes between landlords and tenants have caused Airbnb to be criticized and questioned。

Obviously，When Airbnb becomes an “Airbnb” that can make some decisions independently in China，It needs to prepare more for rainy days，Whether it is for user safety or your own business interests。

*Source of this article: 31氪, author:Zhang Xin, original title: "In order to both grow and brand, what has Airbnb done in the Chinese market?》.