San Francisco-headquartered home-sharing company Airbnb Inc. is looking to scale up its partnerships with state tourism boards and government bodies in India and bring homestays in untapped locations on its global platform, a top company executive said. In the nearly three years of its presence in India, Airbnb has signed memorandums of understanding with the tourism departments of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Earlier this year, the company also partnered with several government agencies in the North-East, including the North Eastern Council (NEC) and North East Tourism Development Council (NETDC), in order to create awareness around homestays in the region.
“Government partnerships have been one of the key foundational pieces for our brand in India... We want to scale up our presence and go deeper in these states. We are also looking (for more partnerships) with other states,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, country manager, Airbnb India.
Source: Livemint