With 881 properties to rent and earnings of more than $15 million per year, a London-based host is the most profitable Airbnb user
Airbnb is no longer an app that helps property owners earn some additional income. Using the service has become a real business in the emerging sharing economy, in which some of the most active users can make millions.
According to statistics provided by AirDNA, the most active landlord is based in London. They offer 881 places to rent and have made $15.5 million over the last 12 months.
Another active user gets $15.45 million from their 504 properties in Bali. The Indonesian island is also world’s most profitable destination. The average earnings per property is more than $40,000 per year.
Other prolific landlords have offerings in Cape Town, Paris and Barcelona where they earn over $1.3 million thanks to their apartments, flats or single rooms.
AirDNA CEO Scott Shatford told The Telegraph that the economy is shifting and new types of businesses are emerging.
“Airbnb is no longer a community just for individuals renting out their space or properties on their own,” he said.
“These numbers don’t show a multimillionaire sitting on a gold mine. These are businesses that have emerged in this new economy, with hundreds of employees, managing other people’s second homes.”
Shatford admits that such development has its downsides. Mostly because the app is slowly becoming less of an alternative for people who want to avoid hotels during their travels.
“These people want to meet people, and for them it’s getting harder and harder to decipher what is a corporate rental hotel against the one where Jane is going to meet you at the door and tell you all about the cool things to do in town.”
An Airbnb spokesperson disagreed with the standpoint, stating: “The vast majority of Airbnb hosts are regular people who share their homes – typically their greatest expense – to boost their income and support their families.”
However, TechCrunch reported yesterday that Hostmaker, an Airbnb management service had received $15 million in funding.
Hostmaker is run by Airbnb superhost Nakul Sharma and aims to manage a range of properties owned by people who do not have the resources to publicise and run a small business on the site. It is a sign of how Airbnb’s platform is transforming as businesses see new ways to profit through the platform.
