The Rise of Home Exchange as a Strong Competitor to Airbnb
The platform Airbnb, which offers tourists the opportunity to rent apartments or houses for short periods of time, has long held a leading position in the market. However, in some cities, prices for Airbnb services have skyrocketed to the point that travelers have had to rethink their use.
A strong competitor has appeared on the horizon — «home exchange», which is gaining popularity.
The essence of it is that property owners, leaving their home for a certain period of time, offer it to other people practically for free, in return for the opportunity to live in another home themselves.
As reported by Bloomberg, the idea of home exchange has long been known, but this segment of the tourism industry is gaining popularity against the backdrop of high inflation, the spread of remote work, and rising hotel room prices.
All four home exchange companies — Kindred, ThirdHome, HomeExchange, and Behomm — have reported significant growth in 2023 compared to the previous year.
For example, Kindred, founded only in 2022, has increased home exchanges by 800%, with access to 30,000 homes in 100 cities. At the same time, HomeExchange, with over 170,000 members in 140 countries, showed a 53% increase, while ThirdHome, specializing in elite real estate, increased its membership by 41% and home exchange volume by 16%.
