Can Airbnb Continue to Grow after Facing Today’s Challenges?

Abstract

Airbnb is one of the most successful companies in the sharing economy sector. This paper discusses whether Airbnb can continue to expand amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis by comparing Airbnb's strengths against the strengths of competitors and the challenges it encounters from environmental dynamics. First, we discuss the sharing economy. The business model and the operations of Airbnb are examined as background information about the company to have a better understanding of the sharing economy business in practice. Next, we analyze opportunities and threats from the external environments. The strengths and weaknesses of Airbnb are also examined and compared to those of Airbnb's competitors. Furthermore, the challenges it faces due to the COVID-19 crisis are scrutinized. Based on Airbnb’s core competencies, customer-oriented diversification with flexibility in crisis management can be the strategies Airbnb needs to utilize to cope with the crisis to compensate for declining revenues and the growth potential.