The listing of Airbnb jeopardized by the coronavirus

news-single-imgcaption" style="width:240px">The rental specialist let his hosts cancel their reservations in China, the epicenter of the virus. (Keystone)

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Airbnb, the American rental giant, had planned to launch the process of its listing between March and April 2020. However, the coronavirus epidemic which is currently raging in the world could delay this process until 2021, according to Bloomberg. Many of the platform’s customers will cancel their travel plans after an already unprofitable year for Airbnb.

“The coronavirus epidemic is causing travel restrictions and other disruptions that have a direct impact on the travel and tourism industry and beyond,” Airbnb spokesperson Nick Papas said in a statement.

The rental specialist let his hosts cancel their reservations in China, the epicenter of the virus, without penalty until April 1. This reduced business in China by about 80% compared to a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

Founded in 2008, Airbnb ushered in a new era of travel by convincing millions of people to open their homes to strangers. The $ 31 billion startup runs a global platform connecting those who are willing to rent their homes to clients looking for cheap housing. The company collects fees of approximately 15% from customers and hosts. To date, Airbnb has more than 7 million registrations in more than 100,000 cities around the world.

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