Booking.com Hits Five Million Listings

Booking.com announced Tuesday (April 10) that it has hit five million reported listings in homes, apartments and other unique places to stay.

In a press release, the company said that the number of reported listings within this category has grown 27 percent compared to the previous year, growing faster than traditional options, such as hotels, motels and resorts. The milestone of five million listings makes it the global leader, said the company, trumping Airbnb.

“We know that travelers are passionate about exploring a huge variety of different stay experiences, including everything from apartments to houseboats,” said Olivier Grémillon, vice president at Booking.com, who leads the business’ strategy in homes and apartments. “We’ve been pushing hard to add as many amazing homes and apartments to our platform as possible in order to guarantee that we’re providing the choice and diversity our customers crave. We’re definitely proud of this milestone and will continue to strengthen our leadership position in this space. No matter what type of experience our customers want, we aim to connect them with the unique stay that’s just right for them.”

Booking.com said that research conducted last year with more than 57,000 travelers in 30 markets found that 30 percent want to stay in an apartment or condo in 2018, which further showcases the consumer demand for these types of accommodations. Other research conducted by the company last year, in which it polled 19,000 travelers in 26 countries, found that 21 percent – or one in five – would consider listing their own home on a travel accommodation website in 2018.

Booking.com’s milestone comes as competition in the home-sharing market is heating up with expanded offerings. Last month, Airbnb announced that it will start sharing information with the Chinese government as it seeks to grow its business in that market.

“Like all businesses operating in China, Airbnb China must comply with local laws and regulations,” a company spokesperson told BuzzFeed. “We’re committed to doing all we can to keep our hosts and guests informed about our work in China, and we recently updated our hosts about our requirements under the law.”