Building on the global success of the sharing economy and its poster child Airbnb, a team of experienced entrepreneurs is building GuestReady.com to professionalise hosting on home-sharing platforms. The service, which is aimed at busy Airbnb hosts launches today in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, Paris, and Amsterdam.
GuestReady’s set of services is aimed at real estate investors and hosts on Airbnb and it’s complementary platforms who are looking for help in managing their property. The startup provides a range of host services such as laundry, cleaning, check-in and check-out of guests, but more importantly, manages entire properties, which includes guest communication, maintaining listings on multiple short term rental sites, and ensuring the property generates the maximum possible yield.
Airbnb and similar websites have become increasingly popular among leisure and business travellers who are looking for an alternative to long-term stays at hotels or serviced apartments. While traditional property agents focus on long-term rental and management of properties, GuestReady focuses on the underserved niche of short-term and vacation rentals.
Lou Chan, Co-Founder and MD of GuestReady Hong Kong sees in this trend the big opportunity for GuestReady: “Hong Kong has long been the top choice for traveller, and the market naturally responds to it. According to a survey in 2015, 1 in 3 Hong Kong people who use the internet dip into sharing services like Airbnb. Supporting data also predicts that Asia-Pacific will become the world’s largest market for digital travel sales this year; alternate accommodation providers are set to cash in on this increasing traveller numbers.”
“As the short-term rental industry is maturing, there is a natural need for more efficiency, professionalism, and standardisation. Especially with business travellers, the property and any service related to a stay need to be of immaculate quality. For non-professional hosts, this is hard to achieve, which is where we step in.”
By launching GuestReady globally, the startup leverages location-specific advantages and taps into economies of scale to keep costs at bay. Chan, who previously was part of the founding teams of Rocket Internet’s Wimdu and Zalora, believes in the long-term success of platforms like Airbnb.
The startup has been backed by Switzerland’s Swiss Founders Fund with an undisclosed sum. Romano Brandenberg, Venture Partner at Swiss Founders Fund, sees big potential in the growing and maturing short-term rental market. “Living and work patterns are becoming ever more mobile and the 12-month rental agreement or a room in a hotel is often not an adequate solution anymore for today’s business travellers, digital nomads or city hoppers. Short-term rentals offer a great alternative for these audiences” elaborates Brandenberg, and considers GuestReady a missing link in the industry to enable more property owners to become hosts.
GuestReady.com launches today in Hong Kong and five other markets in Europe and Asia and is expected to roll into new countries soon.