5 New Travel Startups Put Niche Spins on Short-Term Rental Booking
Skift Take
Airbnb and HomeAway clones are a dime-a-dozen. But we found a handful carving out niche market segments that seem promising. These startups focus on travelers interested in corporate-friendly lodgings, architecture and design properties, Asia's top destinations, and exclusive luxury residences.
Clones of Airbnb and HomeAway aren't new. At a basic level, it only takes about $1,000 and some basic coding skill to make a copy-cat short-term rental listing platform.
But to actually have a thriving business, you need to get hosts to list and travelers to book on your site and mobile app. That is no easy trick, of course. Airbnb has 2 million listings, far more than any aspiring competitors except for Tujia and HomeAway.
In fact, it's easier to create a business that supports hosts and guests that use the major short-term rental platforms, and we've named some of those rising stars recently (see, "5 New Travel Startups Defining Short-Term Rental Challenges in 2016.")
But as Airbnb needs to seek growth via hotel partnerships and incorporating the sale of activities and other travel products, a gap may open up for rivals that target niches in listings and audiences it hasn't developed, such as corporate travel, design-heavy properties, and properties with exclusive clientele.
In the past, we've covered Airbnb alternatives like Villaway, Kid & Coe, and Innclusive. But here's a fresh set of names aiming to hone the
