NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, March 1, 2019

By Rosie Spinks

Airbnb’s origin story is the stuff that San Francisco startup dreams are made of. When the company was founded in 2008, early adopters started sharing their homes mostly concentrated in US cities. In the 11 years since, it has grown to a global force with a 5 million listings in 191 countries and 81,000 cities, according to the company.

And indeed the company’s growth—in both guest arrivals and its Experiences product—is increasingly being powered by cities that are far from Airbnb’s origins. In a new report, the company noted that these so-called “emerging markets” currently make up its 25 fastest-growing countries for guest arrivals.

Photo courtesy of Bruno Locatelli/CIFOR.