COMPANY NAME - AirBnB UK

Political

External Factor Opportunity / Threat Importance External Factor

Cleanliness and Hygiene standards – Increase in

govt. laws on standards after Covid-19, AirBnB Threat - High
imposed further enhanced cleaning protocol

General regulations and property permissions - It’s

important to make sure hosts are allowed to host
guests in their property; ability to host may be Threat - Medium
restricted by contracts, laws, and community
rules.

Government Policy
Threat - Medium
Contractual agreements and permits, Mortgage
restrictions, Subsidized housing restrictions,
Agreements with Housemates, EU consumer
protection law

Reopening tourism – various Government

guidelines on the reopening of tourism
accommodation across the UK. Governments
across the UK are also passing laws restricting the
amount of people that can meet. Certain Oppurtunity -
individuals travelling from certain overseas Medium
countries are required to self-isolate so the UK
Government has requested that hosts keep a
record of inbound guests for 21 days to help assist
with local outbreaks
Economic
Growth

Current Political situation in UK is stable but Brexit

Oppurtunity -
Political Stability can be risk to UK's political stability which can lead
Medium
to decline in tourism
 VAT - UK is allowing VAT registered businesses to
apply for a deferral of VAT payments, or a Oppurtunity -
temporary 5% reduced rate of VAT for tourism
Low
and hospitality, AirBnB is not affected by VAT only
the hosts are liable
Tax Policy

Hosts must adhere to UK's National Tax laws,

Business Tax Rates. Hosts are also allowed Tax- Oppurtunity -
free allowances by the UK Govt. and Free Tax Low
guide by AirBnB

Current national threat level by MI5. The threat to

the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland) from terrorism is SUBSTANTIAL. The
Terrorism & Military threat to Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland- Threat - Medium
Considerations
related terrorism is SEVERE. SUBSTANTIAL means
an attack is likely and SEVERE means an attack is
highly likely.

AirBnB advises hosts to adhere to all UK's

Enviromental Law Threat - Low Interest Rates
environmental and safety regulations

Various relief programmes that have been

introduced by governments across the UK. Grants
and tax relief for small businesses in the
Funding grants and hospitality sector, income support for self- Oppurtunity - Credit
initiatives employed individuals, pausing rent or mortgage Medium Availability
payments, Application for a small and medium
business interruption loan, deferral of VAT
payments
Some cities in the United Kingdom have specific
rules for Short-Term Lease. Hosts must for the 90 Threat - High
night rule in London

Exchange Rates
Edinburgh City Council published guidance about
when planning permission is required Guidance Threat - High
for business

Glasgow City Council released supplementary

planning guidance which addresses short-term
Threat - High
accommodation City Development Plan: SG10
Meeting Housing Needs

Trade restrictions Inflation

and reform
Northern Ireland prohibits anyone from providing
or offering to provide tourist accommodation as a
Threat - High
business unless there is a valid certificate issued
by Tourism NI in force in respect of the premises
 Isle of Man - Hosts are required to register with Disposable
the Department for Enterprise before listing their Threat - High income of
space consumers

Guernsey – Hosts need to obtain a permit from

the Guernsey Government in order to provide Threat - High Housing Cost
paid visitor accommodation

Jersey - has rules that apply to use of housing Threat - High

Taxation
 Economic Social

Opportunity / Threat Importance External Factor

Airbnb suppress the growth of Oppurtunity -

travel accommodation costs Medium

UK has their own assessment and

ranking system B&B and other Threat - High
hotels, so travellers get a fiar idea Cultural Factor

Increased options and price

competition for travelers’ Oppurtunity - High
accommodations

Property owners can diversify into Oppurtunity - High Age Distribution

short-term rentals

Property owners can diversify the Health

Oppurtunity - High
potential streams of revenue Conciousness
 Covid-19 causing income
Threat - High
restrictions, thus preventing travel

Property owners benefit from Customer Buying

Airbnb’s capacity to lower the Oppurtunity - Trends
transaction costs of operating Medium
short-term rentals

Benefit of increased tourism Oppurtunity -

supporting city economies Medium

If UK govt increases Interest Rates

due to Covid-19, mortgage value
Threat - low
can vary cost of the property, thus
affecting renters
Cultural Trends

Established mortgage lenders will

refuse to finance properties if hosts Threat - Medium
plan to offer the property on Airbnb

Pound fluctuation due to Brexit and

COVID-19. Currency instabilities
Threat - low
have a negative impact on Airbnb's
earnings

International travellers can get put

off due to varied Pound value and
Threat - low
unfavourable economic Demographics
circumstances

Inflation due to Covid pandemic can

cause a stop in international travel Threat - low
from underdeveloped countries

Airbnb raises local housing costs Threat - low

Industrial
Reviews &
consumer
confidence
 Industrial
Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a lot Reviews &
of people losing their jobs, which consumer
Threat - high confidence
will result in less travel, affecting
AirBnB

Higher housing costs for city

Threat - medium
residents

The shift from traditional hotels to

Organizational
Airbnb lodging leads to less-reliable Threat - Medium Image
tax payments to cities

Loss of tax revenue for

Threat - Medium
Governments
 Social Technological

Opportunity / Threat Importance External Factor

AirBnB have assessment and ranking systems for Oppurtunity -

travellers. Travellers recognise their perfect fit. High

UK residents are open to this life style and it has Oppurtunity -

become an social norm High Emerging
Technologies

External forces that effect the property rentals (of all

kinds) impose on neighbours Threat - low

Young UK residents are mostly using AirBnB property Oppurtunity -

for short stay visit to plan and host parties. Medium

Due to influence of COVID-19 pandemic, more landlords

are reluctant to let their houses and more travelers are Threat - High Technological
unwilling to travel. Maturity
Airbnb is a typical representative of sharing economy, Oppurtunity -
which is a main trend of recent years. High

Increased supply and variety of short-term Oppurtunity -

rentals available to travelers High

Consumers tend to explore and experience different

Oppurtunity - Target Market
culture and socialize with different people and the
High Communication
advent of Airbnb meets this demand.

Oppurtunity -
AirBnB's honest two-way communication Competition
High

Potential
Travelers feel like they belong, empathized and Oppurtunity -
Copyright
understood in their choice via the AirBnB portal High infringment

AirBnB provides a good source of income for UK's aged Technological

population which is almost 50% of the population. Oppurtunity - low Barries

Young people are going to travel/will be more willing

to in a COVID world but will be difficult for Old people, Oppurtunity - low
so places who cater to the older people will suffer

AirBnB attracts UK's 25 million young travellers looking Oppurtunity -

for short term stay medium

Reviews helps travellers as they feel like they belong, a Oppurtunity -

perfect fit high
 Bad reviews can hurt and lead to decline of sales Threat - High

AirBnb's review and feedback platform provide hosts Oppurtunity -

and travellers with important information high

AirBnB rebranded their image to make everyone Oppurtunity -

around the world feel that they belong high
 Technological Enviromental

Opportunity / Threat Importance External Factor

AirBnB's improved AI technology - Pollution &

Oppurtunity -
improves search for travellers and green house gas
helps hosts optimize pricing High emmisions

AirBnB's improved machine learning - Promoting

helps finding the perfect place for Oppurtunity - positive business
travellers supporting advanced search High ethics and
in most areas across UK sustainability

AirBnB utilizes Data Science to improve Oppurtunity -

their product and marketing programs High

AirBnB's NLP - provide improving

Oppurtunity -
reviews resulting in best experience for
travellers by using data High

Reduction of
their carbon
footprint

AirBnb one of the leaders in the

modern Social Media platforms. They Oppurtunity -
have user friendly and most upto date High
platforms
 NLP provides AirBnB the strategy to Oppurtunity -
remove employee cost in terms of
High
Customer Care Services

Technological tools to screen guests

Oppurtunity -
(entry way cameras and decibel
Medium
meters)
Climate &
weather
AirBnB utilizes various modern AI Tech
and Data Science to improve their
Oppurtunity -
marketing media and create better
High
Social Media Adverts on various
platforms

Other technology such as better Enviromental

displays (video/walk throughs) other Threat - High
Legislation
companies can create imitations

Local imitator rental companies can Geographical

utilize modern cheap AI tech to Threat - High location &
compete against AirBnB accessibility

Areas with no/less internet is a barrier

Threat - Low
– leads to less/no awareness = no sales
 Enviromental Legal

Opportunity / Threat Importance External Factor

AirBnB’s business model encourages users to

Oppurtunity -
experience eco-friendly activities in remote
places in UK. Medium

Health & Safety

AirBnB has developed online experiences to
help local hosts as well as guests during this
Oppurtunity -
Covid pandemic. AirBnB's feedback platform is
High
an honest and open situation based
information present for both hosts and guests

Oppurtunity - Equal
The amount of energy and water used in an Medium opportunities
AirBnB home is substantiable less than the
one used in hotels, due to less services being
present

AirBnB never invests itself in the process of

improving homes to offer a better place to Oppurtunity - Advertising
guests, for AirBnB both, guests and hosts, are Medium Standards
clients.

Oppurtunity - Product
Sustainable – AirBnb has no overhead costs
Medium Labelling
 The lack of facilities such as pools or saunas Oppurtunity -
reduce even more de CO2 print compared to Safety Standards
Medium
big chain hotels

As climate change’s all over the world, AirBnB

has the possibility to show better and newer Oppurtunity -
options to guests than a regular hotel. Every High
home can be an AirBnB.

If International guests are not used to UK's

cold weather AirBnB doesn't have a
standardized heating condition as every home Threat - Medium
is different, international guests can be
uncomfortable Future
Legislation

AirBnB properties in the EU mst have an

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) -
details on the energy performance of your Threat - Medium
property and what you can do to improve it.

UK has great public transport system, allowing

Oppurtunity -
travellers to easily travel to various parts of
the country Medium
 Legal

Opportunity / Threat Importance

AirBnB's framework has instructed hosts to

provide medical supplies, gas safety
regulations, fire and hazard prevention, child Threat - Medium
safety, climate control checks, water safety,
occupancy limits

Emergency contact information - Local

emergency numbers, the number for the
nearest hospital, host’s contact number and Threat - Low
backup contact and a best way to reach the
host.

Short term lease oppurtunities increases

competition for hotel industry Oppurtunity -High

AirBnB utilizes Digital Marketing Platform and

links up with various events such as London Oppurtunity -High
Fashion Week and various other Internet
platforms, which requires very little legalities

AirBnB's logo has to be present on and outside

Oppurtunity -High
the property
AirBnB instructs the host with a framework on
safety on regulations as per UK government,
but has no/very little control over it. Hosts are Threat - Medium
fully liable and must provide safe and secure
premises on their own

Open identification system and criminal record

system. The credit system is the cornerstone of
Oppurtunity -High
UK's online transactions in the sharing
economy.

Short Term lease banned/only allowed for 90 Threat - Medium

day period across the various parts of UK

Cyber laws - AirBnB faces abuse of policies and

local planning laws. Professional operators Threat - Medium
have ffake accounts to set traps against