Question:-

make a Environmental Analysis: Identify and define relevant PEST and PORTER considerations (not SWOT). It should be as a New Startup for Air BNB Host at Niagara on the Lake Ontario.

Answer:-

The new Airbnb host will provide unique homestay services to the tourists at Niagara. Purpose of starting the AirBnB host is earning profit by leveraging the tourist growth in Lake Ontario. Before launching a business, assessing the environment is necessary (Sadq, Othman, & Khorsheed, 2019). Niagara is one of the most visited tourist destinations across the globe. It attracts 13 million tourists every year across the globe (niagaracanada.com, 2020). The tourism spending in this region is worth above $2 billion per annum (niagaracanada.com, 2020). Due to the high popularity of the destination, starting an Airbnb host is profitable for the business owners.

Competitive Edge

The competitive edge is obtained from the unique resources, product or services of an organisation (Chatzigeorgiou & Christou, 2020). With the help of a competitive edge, the businesses become able to stand out from the competition (Font & McCabe, 2017). As an effect, attracting the customers in a highly competitive market becomes possible for the organisation. The competitive edge of the Airbnb host will be obtained from the brand and the low-cost services.

Airbnb is an organisation with a high level of brand awareness. Therefore attracting the guests would be easier for the new host. The customers prefer investing in brands with a positive image in the market (Le, Scott, & Lohmann, 2019). The brand image can be defined collective impression of the customers from their experiences with the brand (Albuquerque, Costa, & Martins, 2018). Airbnb is an organisation which is offering accommodation and food services to budget travellers in different parts of the world since 2008 (Tussyadiah & Sigala, 2018). Therefore the organisation became able to create a strong brand image by ensuring a positive experience with the customers consistently. The brand image of Airbnb is a unique asset which is rare and difficult to imitate. Therefore, by using the brand name, the new host will obtain a long-term competitive edge.

The low-cost service is another source of competitive edge for the new host. Many tourists prefer Airbnb hosts because of its services are more affordable than those of the hotels. So the cost-effectiveness of the services would also be effective to attract new customers. Although the low-cost service delivery model adds value to the organisation, it can be imitated easily (Castro, Quisimalin, de Pablos, Gancino, & Jerez, 2017). Airbnb competitors such as Tripping.com, HouseTrip and Flipkey are also offering low-cost services (Tussyadiah & Sigala, 2018). So, the new business will obtain a short term competitive edge from the low-cost model.