Travel industry professionals have expressed disappointment over Qantas’ new arrangement with Airbnb, which rewards frequent flyers when they book a home-sharing property through the airline’s website.
Revealed yesterday, the Flying Kangaroo will tap into the fast-growing sharing economy, by offering its loyalty members one point for every dollar spent on any of Airbnb’s 2.5 million accommodation listings.
While Qantas’ Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, described the first-of-its-kind arrangement between an airline and the peer-to-peer accommodation website as a natural fit, members of the travel industry see is a ‘slap in the face’ to traditional hotel partners.
However, a few industry professionals commented on KarryOn’s Facebook page saying it was the “worst decision” the airline could make for Agents and the hotel industry.
Karsten Horne, Managing Director of Reho Travel, wondered how the two businesses were a ‘natural fit’ when one (Qantas) is in “total control of its product”and the other isn’t.
“The other is… Hey I’ve got a mate with a plane he’s not using on the weekend and another mate who sort of knows how to fly it and we have some leftover fuel in the garage. As long as we get another mate to rate it 5 star, we will be fine!” he said.
Brent Ephraims asked why the carrier would support Airbnb “an unregulated part of the travel industry”, while Carrie O’Shannessy was concerned about the effect it could have on Agents.
Meanwhile, Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) said the carrier should understand the importance of working with “partners who fully support and contribute to the tourism industry” and not unregulated organisations.
“These online operators have morphed from their original idea of providing ‘share’ accommodation to becoming fully fledged commercial property operations where no sharing is involved.”
Carol Giuseppi, TAA CEO
“If these businesses want to operate in the commercial short-term accommodation market then they need to abide by the regulations of other commercial operators.
“Until that is the case, we call on tourism operators like Qantas to only deal with legitimate accommodation partners who adhere to the same regulatory framework as they do.”
A Qantas spokesperson responded to industry concerns, saying hotel bookings are still an important part of the airline’s offerings.
“Hotel bookings remain a very important part of what we offer, but we know Airbnb is something a lot of our customers like using and we think it’s important to give them the choice.”
Qantas spokesperson
