
The online platform for vacation rentals may be further diversifying its business model, after unveiling the first lodging unit created by the company in Japan. Is this only the beginning of a new trend?
The company launched a new subsidiary called Samara to lead this diversification strategy; its aim to foster the development of such structures in areas lacking hotels and tourist accommodations, sometimes undergoing a phase of rural exodus and concentrating an aging population. Innovative architectural projects supported by the online marketplace aim to encourage a stronger sense of community in these areas.
Airbnb hopes to gradually confirm its new role as a stakeholder of urban development. This new model could also be an alternative following the multiplication of restrictions faced by the platform in an ever-growing number of markets and cities. Japanese authorities instituted legal measures to better monitor the website and its users last March.
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