“We were just two guys looking to make their rent in San Francisco by renting out airbeds in their living room for people coming to conventions,” explains AirBnB.com's co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky who helped launch the site in 2007. The AirBnB didn’t take off until a year later though during the Democratic and Republican conventions in Denver and St. Paul when there wasn’t a hotel room to be found and more than 300 AirBnB users and city residents offered-up their spare rooms. 

The website functions on a simple premise: who needs hotels? The site allows people to post their guest rooms -- or a whole apartment if you so choose -- in order to earn some extra money by allowing travelers to crash with them (versus the increasingly more common, yet free, networks like couch surfing). The idea behind AirBnB.com is to let travelers see the city as locals live, explains Chesky, and “allow those same locals to benefit from their spare space.” All the comforts of (someone else’s) home, but the convenience of a hotel.

After establishing themselves in the United State and Europe (need an apartment in Paris’ 10th Arrondissement?), listing 5,378 venues in 146 countries as of early July, AirBnB’s now looking to move into the final travel frontier: China and Aisa.

I think it will succeed in China ... Shanghai is an international city and Shanghainese are pretty opened minded. This is also an alternative way of culture exchange.

— Leah Zhao

Eyeing Asia

AirBnB.com’s push into Asia though is a relatively new direction, but it will be just in time for October holiday travelers, looking to move beyond the crowds.

“We're moving into the Asia market for several reasons,” says Chesky. “First, it's a huge market, secondly, there's nothing like it yet in Asia and finally, this is a great service for travelers looking to save some money or experience a local culture from an insider, and Asia is a place people are truly looking to do this.”

Thankfully for Shanghailanders and the guests coming to town to visit them, the company will initially concentrate on expansion into some of China’s first tier cities (read: Shanghai and Beijing) with larger international populations, and then once settled, localize the site for lower-tier urban centers. With an English based site, Chesky explains, “we are first targeting expats, but we are currently [translating] our site into Chinese and Japanese,” making them accessible to much larger markets.

Although AirBnB’s current China offerings are a bit limited (only 21 and 12 listing in Shanghai and Beijing respectively verses 3,236 in New York and 1,189 in Paris), that’s why the name of the game is expansion.

For those 21 Shanghai posts though, there are already impressive options to choose from. Think an entire renovated French Concession apartment or even a room in a classic Shanghai lane house, two of the most popular Shanghai listings on the site.

Although AirBnB is concentrating specifically on China, Chesky says they’re looking beyond those borders as well. “We think there is tremendous amount of growth for us in Asia overall,” he says highlighting Hong Kong, Bangkok (currently 83 listings), Tokyo (38 listings), Seoul (21 listings), Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Mumbai as growth markets. 

Similar services like iStopOver.com and Crashpadder.com already exist and are direct competition in Europe and Canada, but AirBnB is one of the first of the B&B social networks to attempt this kind of entry into Asia.

Leah Zhao, a Chinese freelancer has hope for this type of tourism. “I think it will succeed in China,” she says. “Generally speaking I think those young Shanghainese who have spent time with foreigners will try this service. Shanghai is an international city and Shanghainese are pretty opened minded. This is also an alternative way of culture exchange.”

We were just two guys looking to make their rent in San Francisco by renting out airbeds in their living room for people coming to conventions

— Brian Chesky, AirBnB.com co-founder and CEO

Tracy Ni, a personal assistant living in Shanghai also agrees that the concept will be popular due to its social networking components. “I think it’s a spin-off of social networking service. It’s very fresh and interesting format for China though,” says Ni. “It makes it possible for people to be closer to each other, compared to the traditional hotel traveling. Travelers can also have an inside look into the local culture.”

Safety concerns

Although traditional hotels do have their draw backs, they have one thing going for them peer-to-peer B&B networks don’t immediately seem to have: security.

The majority of people in AirBnB and other similar sites are unlicensed, uninsured and their ability to legally rent you their space is often determined by local laws and landlords, many of whom aren't consulted.

Additionally, Ni points out that, “I would be very cautious if decided to rent out my space because the circumstances are different here in China; people have different quality from all over China. I would worry about the security.”

From the traveler’s side as well, although a venue can have a number of positive reviews, you never know what you’re getting into until you ring the bell.

One way AirBnB has ensured the quality of the venues, beyond posting simple user reviews from people who have stayed at the location, is that the company withholds a host’s payment until 24 hours after guests check in to their reserved locale. This helps ensure against any potential scammers and allows travelers to do what they came for: experience the country first hand, leaving their concerns back in customs.