Is Airbnb’s long bet on India finally beginning to pay off?

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.When 35-year-old Rooma Sinha listed her studio apartment in Goa’s Arpora village on Airbnb two years ago, she wasn’t sure about how things would play out. Renting the apartment out would assure her of a steady income, but the AirBnB listing had the potential to help her earn much more.

However, things were slow for many months after she listed on the alternative stay platform and the takings weren’t enough to sustain her.That changed last year.“I saw bookings shoot up on Airbnb,” says Sinha, who resides in Bengaluru. Indeed, the apartment’s average occupancy had gone up to 80% and that gave her the confidence to go all in.

“I quit my job at a financial firm last year and am focusing on my business fulltime.”Sinha now manages three other properties under Airbnb’s co-host programme, where hosts manage properties on behalf of other home owners. She has also bought another studio apartment and expects it to go live on Airbnb in a couple of months.Currently, Sinha charges an average of ₹3,000 for a night’s stay at her Arpora flat, with the tariff going up during peak season.

What’s interesting is that almost all of her guests are Indians.Sinha’s experience reflects a larger shift Airbnb has been preparing for over 15 long years. The company is moving from being an alternative option to becoming a mainstream accommodation platform for Indian travellers.AirBnB was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk.

The idea had actually been conceived a year earlier, when Chesky and Gebbia, who were broke and looking to make some money, began renting out air mattresses in their apartment in San Francisco, leading to the name Air Bed and Breakfast. That handle was later