Airbnb Challenging Canadian Hotel Chains
Home-sharing operations continue to experience explosive growth in Canada and around the world, according to the Q1 2017 INNvestment Canada report from Colliers International Hotels.
The report found Airbnb, which operates in 34,000 cities across 191 countries, has become a major force not only in the home-sharing industry (it represents 85% of the home-sharing market in Vancouver, for example), but the accommodations industry in general.
Airbnb's $31B market valuation is now trending above market capitalizations for hotel giants like Hilton, Wyndham and Hyatt. While recognizing the difficulty in tracking the performance of short-term rental companies, the report estimated Airbnb represented 2% to 5% of the hotel market share in major Canadian cities in 2015 and has continued to rise.
Unlike the U.S., legislation for these burgeoning businesses has been slow in coming in Canada. The report said only Quebec has legislation in force for short-term rental operators. In Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria, legislative reports have been written and discussed, but still await city approval.
