Airbnb's plans to organise a overnight stay on the Great Wall of China have been ditched after it received negative feedback from local authorities and news outlets.
Airbnb described the stay as a "once-in-a-lifetime experience", developed as part of an essay competition for eight guests to stay in full-sized beds at waypoints along the wall, with no windows or ceilings.
Guests were also promised a multi-course "intimate gourmet dinner, each representing a different aspect of Chinese culture", plus musical entertainment and a sunrise hike.
However on Monday the Chinese cultural department that manages the Badaling section of the Wall, where Airbnb planned to host the event, said it never received an application for a residential lodging event at the landmark.
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The competition sparked fears that it could cause damage to the Wall on Chinese social media, with some going as far as to say that Airbnb was wrong to exploit the landmark for its own marketing.
The firm said last night that it has made the decision not to move forward with the event as a result, but denied that it had not cooperated with authorities beforehand.
A statement read:
We were excited to promote the Great Wall and Chinese cultural heritage with our Night At The Great Wall and while there was an agreement in place that was the basis for the announcement of this event, we deeply respect the feedback we have received.
When the competition was first announced, Airbnb China's chairman Nathan Blecharczyk said Airbnb had been working with historians and preservationist groups to make the event happen.
Read more: Airbnb aims to go public before the end of 2020
This was not the first time Airbnb has hosted such unique competitions, with previous events being held on a reef on Australia's Great Barrier reef, and on a research submarine used as part of filming for Blue Planet II.
The move marked part of a wider effort to increase user adoption of Airbnb in China, where the company has seen its listings more than double in the last year despite fierce competition from local providers and strict regulation on foreign visitors.
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CityAM
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