Expedia has downplayed the threat from Airbnb, saying that the ramifications of the room-renting company have been ‘immaterial at this point’.
Speaking earlier this week, the Expedia president and CEO told investors that AirBnb has had no effect on their business due to it’s appeal to a different share of the market.
“We don’t see it in the business, it is not affecting us directly at all. If anything we think that Airbnb may be getting a new class of consumer into travel. It is typically a lower price point, it appeals to millennial’s and we think that, based on different occasions, sometimes some consumers will opt for rental type inventory and sometimes they will opt for hotels and we think the hotel product is a great product and it certainly shows up in our numbers.” 
The company posted around £10 billion in bookings for the three months to the 30th September, a rise of 21 per cent compared to the same period as last year.
Whilst the CEO of Expedia said that AirBnb was not affecting business for the moment, he said it could put pressure on pricing going forward in the future. He said that the company will add more ‘apartment’ style listings to its portfolio in the next few years.
