ESCP Europe

Item type

Study and report

Dissertation

• MHM Hospitality & Tourism Management

Language

English

Publication year

2020

Note

• Master in Hospitality and Tourism Management (MHM)

Subjects

TOURISM SECTOR - CRISIS MANAGEMENT - ASIA

We are two students at ESCP Business School and we specialized in hospitality and tourism management. We are both passionate about the world of tourism, its opportunities and challenges for the future. We are also two lovers of Southeast Asia where we like to spend our holidays for its culture, its people and its gastronomy. This region of the world is rich for its landscapes and its industry and has become one of the most dynamic in the world (+7% growth between 2018 and 2019). Airbnb, a community platform for renting and booking private accommodation, has understood the potential that this part of the world has, especially for its tourism sector. In 2012, Airbnb will open its Singapore office, which also serves as its Asia-Pacific headquarters. As tourism innovation enthusiasts, we wanted to understand how the American unicorn has made its way into the Southeast Asian accommodation world and how it is becoming one of its key players. We contacted Airbnb managers in Singapore and offered to provide them with an international consultancy project. After numerous exchanges, they expressed their interest in our approach and asked us to carry out an analysis of the hospitality ecosystem in South and East Asia, its trends and challenges. Airbnb asked us to conduct a study to get an in-depth understanding of the market, supply, demand, trends and opportunities in the hospitality sector of three South East Asian countries: Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. A few days before the start of our consulting project, the COVID-19 epidemic spread around the world, bringing the economies of most countries in the world to a standstill and significantly impacting global tourism. We have therefore decided to reconsider the focus of our study. We first analyzed the hospitality ecosystem in Southeast Asia (supply, demand, trends, opportunities...). In a second step, we studied the impact of the coronavirus on the hospitality industry in Southeast Asia and how the different players in the sector have faced the pandemic. You will find these parts in the appendix. We have used this research conducted during our ICP to provide guidelines to Airbnb. In this master thesis, you will find the recommendations we brought to Airbnb to remain a major hospitality player in Southeast Asia after the coronavirus outbreak.