The number of people using Airbnb in London quadrupled in 2 years
Airbnb
And whilst it took six years for the room-rental startup to reach 1 million guest arrivals, it took just over two years to hit 4 million.
The San-Francisco-based company became profitable for the first time during the second half of 2016, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Here are some interesting things we spotted in Airbnb's London report for 2016:
- Paris was the most popular city of origin of the London guests, followed by New York, Singapore, Sydney, and Melbourne.
- Lambeth was the fastest growing area for London's Airbnb guests, followed by Croydon, Millbank, Camberwell, and Hounslow.
- San Antonio, Chile was the fastest growing city of origin for international guests to London in 2016 compared to 2015, followed by Angat (Philippines), Provo (Utah) Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh (Kuwait), and Winnipeg (Canada).
The UK capital could be the next big city to crack down on Airbnb - in September 2016, the chair of the UK parliament's influential Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) select committee Ian Wright wrote to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to ask whether he thinks greater restrictions should be placed on Airbnb hosts.
In a press release for the London report, James McClure, General Manager for Airbnb in Northern Europe, said:
"Airbnb continues to break records as guests from around the world seek authentic travel experiences in London homes and communities. Airbnb is growing because our platform reflects the way people live, work and travel in the 21st century and we are excited to see the novel ways Airbnb hosts are connecting guests to London's vibrant culture. We've taken important steps to ensure Airbnb's growth in London is sustainable and good news for everyone. We will continue to be good partners to everyone in the city and work together to help more guests discover the hidden gems in this great city."
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