Airbnb buys HotelTonight in deeper expansion

SAN FRANCISCO: Home-renting company Airbnb has bought HotelTonight, an app for finding hotel rooms at a discount, as it wades deeper into the hotel-booking business to attract a wider variety of travellers ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering. The acquisition, which Airbnb announced on Thursday, expands the company’s inventory by adding a number of listings from hotels, long viewed as the arch enemy of Airbnb, and is part of a strategy to win over travellers who have shied away from the risks and quirks of renting a stranger’s home. The bid to become a one-stop travel service for more mainstream sightseers puts Airbnb more squarely in competition with large travel sites such as Expedia Group Inc and Priceline. Airbnb declined to provide the terms of the deal. HotelTonight has raised more than $115 million in funding and was last valued at $463 million in a funding around in 2017. Airbnb Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky called the acquisition “a big part of building an end-to-end travel platform.” Airbnb has steadily moved into new businesses outside of homes, whose growth is threatened by regulations that cap short-term rentals. — Reuters