I have commented on BKNG and ABNB before. Both companies are toll booth or entry points to lodging industry. BKNG has a strong position against hotels, ANBN is to vacation rentals. BKNG also covers vacation rentals.
To me, ANBN has saturated the vacation rental market. BKNG has saturated many years ago, and that's why BKNG is buying back shares, to me that's a much more efficient capital allocation strategy, than trying to create a new revenue source (very difficult).
All that said, the TAM is much larger for BKNG, as it's the entry point to the entire travel industry, where ANBN is a much smaller TAM. Between ANBN, and BKNG, BKNG is very clear a winner.
Thanks for your awesome write up though, I don't agree with your point that ABNB has a longer runway simply because it's a younger company, by that logic, a new startup should always overthrown the most dominant incumbents, which is very rare in reality.
As a shareholder, I've grown slightly more skeptical of Airbnb's diversification. I agree services and experiences overall are a bit underwhelming, but I'm willing to wait and see what else Chesky's planning.
We could certainly do that, but it would add more complexity to our overall hosting setup of the property. And we don't need another channel, the villa is very well booked via Airbnb. So I think we'll focus on getting the perfect setting as a "Superhost" there.
I have commented on BKNG and ABNB before. Both companies are toll booth or entry points to lodging industry. BKNG has a strong position against hotels, ANBN is to vacation rentals. BKNG also covers vacation rentals.
To me, ANBN has saturated the vacation rental market. BKNG has saturated many years ago, and that's why BKNG is buying back shares, to me that's a much more efficient capital allocation strategy, than trying to create a new revenue source (very difficult).
All that said, the TAM is much larger for BKNG, as it's the entry point to the entire travel industry, where ANBN is a much smaller TAM. Between ANBN, and BKNG, BKNG is very clear a winner.
Thanks for your awesome write up though, I don't agree with your point that ABNB has a longer runway simply because it's a younger company, by that logic, a new startup should always overthrown the most dominant incumbents, which is very rare in reality.
As a shareholder, I've grown slightly more skeptical of Airbnb's diversification. I agree services and experiences overall are a bit underwhelming, but I'm willing to wait and see what else Chesky's planning.
Shouldn't you list your property at BKNG as well to compare the host experience properly?
We could certainly do that, but it would add more complexity to our overall hosting setup of the property. And we don't need another channel, the villa is very well booked via Airbnb. So I think we'll focus on getting the perfect setting as a "Superhost" there.
Great write-up! What I like even more is your Villa in Mallorca. I'll bear this in mind for my next trip to this wonderful island!
Thanks for the feedback. We would love to host you in our "Villa Calmatzo" on your next trip to the beautiful Southwest of Mallorca.