COVID19 and Airbnb – Disrupting the Disruptor

This conceptual research note investigates possible long-term effects of COVID19 on the trading of short-term rental spaces using online platforms. Airbnb is a major player in short term-letting, listing more rooms than “Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Accor Hotel Group” (The Spaces, 2020). Airbnb has disrupted the hotel sector by facilitating trading of space between ordinary citizens (Zach, Nicolau, & Sharma, 2020). The question we ask is: has COVID19 now disrupted the disruptor? We argue that this is indeed the case. We put forward two hypotheses how this disruption will affect the future of Airbnb and similar platforms: the proportion of investor-hosted listings will drop, and trading of space on Airbnb and similar platforms will not recover to its pre-COVID19 levels.