Market sizing: estimate Airbnb's yearly fee revenue from the Indian market

Estimate how much revenue Airbnb earns in India in a year. Walk through your approach out loud: define what counts as revenue, build the estimate from assumptions you can defend, do the arithmetic, and check whether the result is plausible. ```hint Bookings first, Airbnb's cut last Airbnb's revenue is a share of what guests pay. Estimate the value of stays booked first, then apply that share, and size domestic and foreign travelers separately because they behave differently. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "revenue" mean Airbnb's own fees, or the full amount guests pay for stays booked through it (gross booking value)? - Should the estimate cover stays located in India (booked by Indian and foreign guests), money spent by Indian residents on stays anywhere in the world, or both? - Should the answer be in Indian rupees or US dollars, and for which recent year? - Should experiences and other non-stay products be included? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear revenue definition and scope that separates booking value from Airbnb's share of it. - A transparent equation in which each driver (travelers, Airbnb's share of bookings, nights, price per night, take rate) is estimated from labeled assumptions that suit India. - Correct arithmetic with consistent units and currency. - A sanity check from an independent angle, such as host supply, and a range showing which assumptions matter most. ### Follow-up Questions - Rebuild the estimate from the supply side, starting from the number of listings. How close do the two answers land, and which would you trust more? - Which single assumption moves your answer the most, and how would you pin it down with real data? - If Airbnb wanted to double this revenue in India within a few years, which lever in your equation would you push first?