By 2011, Airbnb was already in 89 countries and had more than 1…

  

By 2011, Airbnb was already in 89 countries and had more than 1… By 2011, Airbnb was already in 89 countries and had more than 1 million bookings. The same year, some of the valley’s most prominent venture capital firms invested $112 million in Airbnb, which was valued at more than $1 billion. But soon after, the company faced criticism when guests started trashing their hosts’ places. In 2012, the company implemented a “host guarantee,” which provides hosts with up to $1 million to cover any property damage they experience as a result of guests.The company also faced problems resulting from hosts getting evicted or fined for renting their places out. This caused major regulation headaches for the company. In 2014, the company introduced its new logo called the “Belo,” a symbol of belonging. But despite focusing on belonging, cities started to reject Airbnb. New York threatened to ban Airbnb and fire every host in 2014. Many laws were implemented to make it more difficult for hosts to rent out their apartments. Even San Francisco wasn’t happy.The company spent almost $8 million to fight a citizen-led ballot aiming to limit Airbnbrentals. The company tried to focus on its “Belonging anywhere” promise. It started collecting hotel taxes from hosts and giving it to municipalities and gave cities some of their data as “community compact.” In July 2016, Senator Elizabeth Warren urged theFederal Trade Commission to focus on websites like Airbnb that were making housingshortages worse. Two other senators signed the letter.Since 2016, the company has launched many new services and made many acquisitions. They include Airbnb experiences, Luxury retreats, Niido, Airbnb plus, HotelTonight, and so on. In September 2019, Airbnb announced it was going public in 2020.The company is now valued at $31 billion and does business in 191 countries. Originally Airbnb had no budget to spend on marketing, so it had to be creative. 1Discuss the best market segmentation strategy you think Airbnb should adopt. Justify your selection by making comparison to other market segmentation strategies Engineering & Technology Industrial Engineering Operations Management Share (0)