Airbnb acquires UK travel site for disabled users Accomable
Airbnb has bought a British travel website designed for tourists with disabilities.
Accomable, which was founded two years ago by two entrepreneurs with spinal muscular atrophy, has been bought by the US company for an undisclosed sum.
It works in a similar way to Airbnb, allowing homeowners to rent out rooms or entire properties to tourists on a short-term basis, but only showcases rentals with step-free access and other accessibility features.
After the deal, Accomable's listings will be merged with Airbnb. The company's team will move to the Airbnb office in the UK and its chief executive Srin Madipalli will relocate to San Francisco, in the new role of product manager for accessibility.
Airbnb, which has grown to become one of the world's most valuable private tech companies, does show listings that are suitable for disabled guests, but Accomable allows users to filter listings in greater detail.
This year a study revealed that Airbnb hosts were more likely to reject disabled guests, even those which advertised their lets as wheelchair friendly. Research from Rutgers University found while hosts approved 75pc of guests without a disability, this dropped to 43pc for those with cerebral palsy and 25pc for people with spinal chord damage.
Accomable currently hosts bookings for 1,100 properties in 60 countries, with staff picking accommodation offering features such as wheelchair access, hoists and roll-in showers.
Mr Madipalli, a former City lawyer, said demand for Accomable's homes had outgrown its small team. "We were looking for a way to scale what we do and we wanted a technology platform who had the infrastructure we needed," he said.
"The problem is across the entire sector, there's a complete lack of provision. Our vision is to help Airbnb be more accessible and reach out to the community that we have built.
"What attracted us is the scale, now we can do more from within Airbnb."
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Airbnb is planning to expand its offering for disabled guests. It said it was already improving its accessibility checklists for hosts and researching how to improve its apps for the blind and visually impaired.
By 2020, as much as 25pc of tourism spending in Europe is expected to come from those with accessibility needs, according to the European Commission. The market is worth £12bn a year to the UK alone.
Accomable previously raised £300,000 from angel investors in 2016.
