Airbnb recently partnered with Goa’s tourism department to encourage travel to unique and lesser-known destinations and to promote community-led tourism in the State. It also launched ‘Rediscover Goa’, a week-long celebration to highlight Goa’s vast cultural diversity. businessline caught up with Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager - India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb, to understand more about the initiative, latest travel trends and much more. Edited excerpts:
What is ‘Rediscover Goa’ all about?
Through this campaign, our focus is two-fold. One is to promote Goa as a destination to both domestic and international audiences. Secondly, Goa has been traditionally known for its beaches and nightlife but there is so much more Goa has to offer in terms of its rich cultural diversity and many other passion points, which are very important for the new age travellers — the millennials and Gen-Z. People are now seeking experiential travelling and the best way to experience a new city is to work with the host, indulge in their passion and get access to the community. That’s the idea of this week-long initiative.
Is experiential travel a post Covid-19 pandemic phenomenon?
Travel is increasingly led by millennials and Gen-Z travellers. Some global surveys even say if $100 is given to a Gen Z or millennial, they are most likely to spend that on an experience rather than on products or services. During the pandemic, people could not travel but there was this innate desire to connect. As things are now easing, more people are wanting to immerse and connect with the community and their passion points. Experiential travel was there even before the pandemic but the pent-up demand for travel has spiked it further.
What other new travel trends have emerged recently?
2-3 key trends come to the forefront. Now there is a lot more flexibility on offer. Companies are allowing employees to work from home or anywhere. So, people are no longer travelling only on weekends or holidays but around the year. The lines between living, working, and travelling have blurred. A lot of people are combining these three to make good use of the flexibility on offer. Secondly, the flexibility has led to people prolonging the duration of their stays. The third is the resurgence of responsible and adventurous travel.
Are you seeing long stays at Airbnb?
Staying above 28 days is considered to be a long duration. Currently, a good percentage of our bookings are for long-term stays. So, when people come to a city and stay for more than 25 days, they want to go deeper and immerse themselves in the local community and culture. So long-term stays are also giving more push to experiential travel.
Airbnb is seen as a premium homestay platform. Your views?
If you’re looking to stay in a private home or a private room with the host you can book an Airbnb for as low as ₹1,000. If you want to book an entire villa, penthouse or apartment, that is also available. As an open platform, our endeavour is to make sure that there is an Airbnb for everyone at every price point.