Airbnb , a company that considers everyone ’s place to be part of one vainglorious hotel , recently decide it might be a proficient thought to bring ethnic heritage sites into its real landed estate portfolio . But a particular offer to pass a night on the Great Wall of China has been cancel after complaints on social medium .
The contrive check on the one C - old fortification that stretches thousands of miles was part of a competition series Airbnb has been running send for “ Night At . ” A one dark stay is offered in various alien locations around the populace to a few prosperous winners . In this case , drug user wereaskedto publish a short response to the query : “ Why is it more authoritative now than ever to break down barriers between culture ? How would you want to build Modern connection ? ” Eight essays would be choose as the victor and the dirty money would be a one night stay in a tailor-make safety tugboat , a multi - course epicure dinner , and traditional Taiwanese entertainment .
On Tuesday , Airbnb releaseda statementsaying the event has been canceled . Reportsemergedover the weekend highlight on-line reaction of Chinese citizen to the planned publicity , and some hoi polloi were n’t happy about it . In its promulgation regarding the cancellation , Airbnb said , “ we deeply respect the feedback we have received , ” and “ We have made the determination to not move onward with this case . ”
user of the Chinese micro - blogging siteWeibohad miscellaneous reactions to the stunt . According to transformation provided by theSouth China Morning Post , some were quite negative . Examples included :
“ The Great Wall is a historic keepsake under protection , how can they get it be turned into a common invitee house ? ! ”
“ So now even ancient relic can be rented to guests for a profit ? ”
“ It ’s not like anyone can stay there … the ace selected must have a gamy quality of fictitious character . Airbnb has come to China to promote Chinese culture , if they do it well we can support them . ”
In response to the criticism , Airbnb China commented on Weibo that “ Protecting diachronic and ethnic relics was the original design of our natural action , and remain a primary circumstance , ” and it vowed it would “ not move a unmarried nail throughout the whole line of this scheme . ”
Formosan state mediareportedon Tuesday that the cultural commission that superintend the Great Wall had bring out astatementsaying “ it was not cognizant of the upshot and no approval had been render . ” But Airbnbclaimedin its dismissal that “ there was an concord in berth that was the ground for the announcement of this case . ” We ’ve pass out to the company to ask what party it had made an agreement with but we did not obtain an immediate reply . The South China Morning Post claims that a partnership was arranged with the province - possess Beijing Badaling Tourism Company , based on remarks by a ethnic commission official .
The mind of rest on the Great Wall overnight is n’t something that ’s unprecedented ; holidaymaker are allowed to bivouac out if they like . But that ’s a spot different than having a special - build suite inside a sentry go pillar along with an entourage of chefs and entertainers . The fact that Airbnb has bend over backward to whirl this as a high - concept meditation on get over ethnic barrier rather than a introductory publicity stunt is a pretty good meter reading that organizers knew they were straddling a thin line . It ’s blood-related to a Taiwanese company offering lodging on top of Washington ’s Mount Rushmore principal with free red-hot dogs and a jugful stria .
China is an important market for Airbnb . The company took on aChinese namelast year and has project its bookingsmore than double . The slack regulative environment is a dream come honest for a disruptive tummy used to fighting angryhotel ownersandauthoritieswho say it raises rents and exasperates gentrification . But local competition from new entrants in the grocery likeTujiaandXiaozhuensures that the future tense wo n’t be well-heeled , and it certainly does n’t want to urinate off authorities .
[ BBC ]
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