We analyzed AirBnB customers and Japanese Travel booking sites. To enhance the business of AirBnB, we propose the solid strategy.

1. Localization Strategy
for Airbnb in Japan
Smith Andrew David
Yoshimaru Junko
Temple Univ.

2. Summary-1
• Japanese Travel Market
• Different points in Japan
• Seasonal Demand(Peak season)
• High demand in Tokyo and Osaka
• Net café and cheap places for young travelers
• Customer Insights in global
•
•
•
•
Price consciousness
Connectivity and Communication
Flexible Travel
Niche
• Analysis of web users in Japan
• Analysis of hotel booking in Japan
• High Demand for Quality from Japanese Service
• Emergency support
• Language support
• Payment support

3. Summary-2
• Seasonal / Weekend Strategy
• Critical needs for AirBnB
•
•
•
•
Attractiveness for visitors 1-3
Localization Strategy for AirBnB
Localization Plan for Japan 1-3
Conclusion
• Appendix
Competitors and Localization Models
Competitors: Rakuten Travel 1-4
Best Reserve
Localization model: Amazon.com
Analysis booking websites in Japan

4. Japanese Travel Market
Market size (JTB No.1 travel agency Forecast Dec. 2012)
• Japanese Travelers 287 Million ( +0.3 %)
• Foreign Travelers in Japan 8.9 Million ( +7.9%)
• http://www.jtbcorp.jp/scripts_hd/image_view.asp?menu=news&id=
00001&news_no=1635
Inbound Tourism
• Visitors from overseas are increasing this year.
• Especially the young travelers from overseas travellers are not good
at finding budget hotels..
• Location and Experience is important.

5. Different Points in Japan
•Seasonal Demand (Peak season)
Live Events, Meetings, College entrance exam in Tokyo, Wedding party.
•High Room demand in Tokyo and Osaka
In Peak season and consecutive holidays, No budget rooms in Tokyo and Osaka
High occupancy rate for hotels
in Tokyo and Osaka
Osaka
Toky
o

6. Different points in Japan
• Cheap places for young people without a room are
provided.
People can’t find a good place to stay in Tokyo can use Manga café(Internet cafe)
and Sauna are solutions for the people who can’t find good room after midnight.
<Pros>
Internet and soft drinks are provided for free
Cheap and easy to use
<Cons>
Noisy and uncomfortable
.

7. Global Customer Insights
• Price consciousness
AirBnB customers are experienced or young travelers who visit for personal
reasons rather than business. Price is extremely important.
• Connectivity and Communication
IT skilled generation can be reached through various forms of social media
such a Twitter or Line which are popular in Japan.
• Flexible Travel Schedule
Affordable rooms that allow plenty of time to stay and arrange plans.
• Niche
design of room, location, places and themes appealing to various hobbies
and interests

8. Analysis web users in Japan
Japanese trend
Payment preference:57.7% of Payment done by credit cards. 47% is by COD, 33.9% by CS
Credit cards
Cash on Delivery(COD)
Convenience store(CS)
Bank or ATM
Internet /mobile banking
Additional chared to providers
2 Seconds is too long for Japanese users
Akamai Reveals 2 Seconds is the New Threshold
of Acceptability for eCommerce Web Page Response
Times
http://www.akamai.com/html/about/press/releases/2009/p
ress_091409.html
http://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsu
sintokei/whitepaper/ja/h24/html
/nc243140.html

9. Analysis hotel booking in
Japan
Net agency sales is increasing in Japan compared with data in 2007 and 2005
All
Direct booking
Hotels’ website
Net agency
Big Travel agency
Small
TravelAgency
http://ryoken-jp.com/club_enquet/3pun-35.pdf
Hotel
website:9.6%
Net Agency:15.0%

10. High Demand for Quality from Japanese
• Emergency support
Japanese users are not used to staying in private houses in Japan.
Users needs supports from hosts via SMS or Twitter or Line.
• Language support
Japanese people are sometimes not good at reading English documents. All
reviews are English.
So reviews should be translated into Japanese.
• Payment support
Young Japanese people don’t usually have credit cards. Payments from
Convenience stores or mobile phone are more convenient.

11. Payment support is critical
Ratio of Card holders among Japanese youth is lower than those
http://www.jcbcorporate.com/news/pdf/report2012.pdf
who are aged over 30y.
Payment at Convenient Stores Ideal
Over 54000 stores are open 24 hours.

12. Seasonality / weekend strategy
•Seasonality Strategy
• Airbnb global website does not consider certain seasonal changes.
• In Japan, the demand often fluctuates with the season.
• In Spring all people have to go Tokyo for meetings and Entrance
ceremonies.
• Weekend strategy
• Japanese demand is basically fluctuating by holidays and weekends
• Young people want to travel during Japan’s frequent 3-day weekends for
the following reasons:
• Leisure : Tokyo Disney resorts, Tokyo skytree, Hot springs in Hakone
• Shopping: Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Odaiba,
• Peak season in TOKYO, people have to shorten the travel schedule due to
lack of rooms or expensive room charge.
Critical needs for AirBnB

13. Attractiveness for visitors-1
• AirBnB site is attractive by utilizing excellent photos
• Japanese people want to get more information from a Key message.
• No.1 e-commerce in Japan, Rakuten onlineshop group uses Key message and
appealing discount offers which are easily visible on the front page.
Discount Event
Discount coupons
Small Photo

14. Attractiveness for visitors-2
• Mercedes’s site is modified to Japanese version.
http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/
Many photos appealing
http://www.mercedes-benz.co.jp/
More tex and info

15. Attractiveness to visitors-3
• Mercedes’s site is quick to respond to visitors’ needs.
http://www.mercedes-benz.co.jp/
Support for
purchase
Popup!
• Visitors to AirBnB already know where they want to stay.
• Many photos are not needed for Japanese users on Top page.

16. Localization strategy for
AirBnB
Key words
Detail
Value for stay
Provide detail filters for visitors. Distance from train
or bus station is vital information.
Discount offer
Discount coupon or points for young generations
Best rate offer
Ask for the budget before selection
Focusing on big
cities
Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, and other big Major
cities (Craigslist cities are referred).
Select from Location Name or Station name
Key words
Place
Responders to Customer Satisfaction Survey get
rewards.
Location
Price
Customers
satisfaction
Easy to find
Product
Best Recommendation from customers
Last week/Month in Tokyo…
Many photo on the top page is cluttered for visitors.
Use seasonal events and words including hobby
and station name.
Registration
Registration from twitter or LINE and Facebook is
good for hosting or staying.
Promotion

17. Localization Plan for Japan-1
Quick search Window
Direct Links for Room
suggestion
Major Place Displayed
• Major Location Name or Tourist attraction must be Displayed
• Seasonal Photo is good for Xmas visitors.
• Quick search Window must item for the city

18. Renewal for Japanese version-2
Localization Plan for Japan-2
Social tool bar
Sort tool bar to find
best rooms
Average price
suggestion
Showing Price
in Big size Font
• Room’s photo is important content. All users want to know the price. So Price
is displayed in large font where it can be quickly seen.
• Host Language is important for Japanese. Basic setting for Japanese Language
filter is required or should be displayed in normal setting.
• Time it takes to the nearest station or tourist attraction should be displayed.
• To share this page Social tool bar is required.

19. Localization Plan for Japan-3
To eliminate Language barrier
Detail filter shown
• Detail Filter must be shown directly. Japanese people want to control
all filter items for booking to select Japanese speakers.
• Access from the nearest station must be shown
• For Japan, access to a convenient store is better for booking.

20. Conclusion: Focus
•
• Japanese Domestic market which is the key to success for AirBnB.
• Use key words, Phrases and illustrated Maps rather than Photos.
• Support young generations who don’t have experience.
• Eliminate Language Barrier.
• Provide Social tool bar for sharing the experience with friends.

21. Appendix

22. Competitors: Rakuten Travel-1
• Rakuten Travel is the No1 web site based Travel agency.
• It was launched by another company (Hitachi Zosen), but Rakuten group bought
this site in 2003.
• This site attracts many customers by using many key words including Business
travel, Luxury inn, Onsen (Hot spring), Tokyo Disney Resort, Family travel,
Couple, Ski…
• Customers can get some reward points for booking (Normally 1%, up to 10%).
Mapp
Key
words
http://www.travel.rakuten.co.jp/

23. Competitors: Rakuten Travel-2
• Rakuten website design is excellent for travelers.
• Japanese version contain much information including air and rail
and rental cars.
• Promotes many campaigns for the specific travelers.
Hot spring campaign
http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/select/area/201311/
Discount coupon
Recommendations

24. Competitors: Rakuten Travel-3
Sort tool bar
Sort by Price, evaluation, and
recommendation
Easy access for Customer
reviews
Easy to wwitch back to
checked hotel for selection
Checked Hotels
Customer voice
http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/business/tokyo/C.html

25. Competitors: Rakuten Travel-4
Social tool bar
• All hotels are evaluated by hotel guests.
• Customer reviews are easily accessible.
• Customer reviews sometimes get responses from
hotels.
Evaluation Point
Service
Place
Room
Equipment
Bath
Food
Comments from
Hotels
http://travel.rakuten.co.jp/HOTEL/31951/review.html

26. Competitors: Best Reserve
• Best Reserve was established by the founder of Rakuten Travel (which
was called MyTripNet) after the Acquisition of Rakuten. He started this
site which is similar to Rakuten Travel.
Seasonal
Campaign
Mapp
Recommendations
http://www.bestrsv.com

27. Localization model :Amazon.com-1
• Amazon.com is a splendid model for AirBnB
• Amazon Japan sales are growing.
• Attractive Key words and messages.
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.jp

28. Localization model:Amazon.com-2
• To increase customer loyalty, Amazon now provides discount
points for all registered students.
Student campaign
Seasonal Campaign

29. Localization model:Amazon.com-3
Amazon Student
Student campaigns are supported by many sponsors which
focus on young generations
Student Rewards
Annual charge for free trial
(6 Month)
10% discount points
1500 points for registration
Sponsors
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/student/signup/info/ref=std_gwr_1311?pf_rd_m=
AN1VRQENFRJN5&pf_rd_s=right-csm1&pf_rd_r=01GS6E5NDC8HSXGTZVVZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=151503769&pf_r
d_i=489986

30. Worthy website of imitation
• Athome.co.jp is good example for AirBnB
Quick search from Illustrated Map
Area
Station/ Railway
Map
Railway Route
Time to the destination
Popup!
• Many location/ Station name on
next page
• Many option for the selection
http://www.athome.co.jp/rent/01_13

31. Analysis booking websites in Japan
•Similarweb.com provides good traffic data for AirBnB
http://www.similarweb.com/website/travel.rakuten.co.jp

32. Analysis booking websites in Japan
•Similarweb.com provides good traffic data for AirBnB
Rakuten Travel
Search Engine
Is Top
http://www.similarweb.com/website/travel.rakuten.co.jp

33. User Interests of Rakuten Travel
•SimilarWeb’s Analysis is heavy users’ interests of visitors to Rakuten Travel.
Rakuten Travel
Interests of
Rakuten Users
Big words are
Travel, Shopping, Hotel
reservation, Campaign,
Japan

34. Social tools users of Rakuten Travel
•Best social networks spreading the buzz and referring traffic in Japan is
Facebook and Twitter.
•In case of Rakuten Travel, this site has already have best reputation for
the travel booking. The ratio of social network is not so high.
•AirBnB have to attract visitors by spreading rumors and reputations.
Top 2
Facebook &
Twitter

35. Analysis other websites in Japan-1
•Similarweb.com provides good traffic data for AirBnB
TripAdvisor.jp
Search Engine Is
Top
http://www.similarweb.com/website/tripadvisor.jp

36. Analysis other websites in Japan-2
•Similarweb.com provides good traffic data for AirBnB
BestReserve.com
Direct Link Is Top
http://www.similarweb.com/website/bestrsv.com