Holidays are best enjoyed with family and friends. This is the reason why people travel back home or go with loved ones on a trip. But booking a place for the destination of choice can be challenging, especially during the holidays. But not with Airbnb, an online service that matches people with vacation rentals and other accommodations.

Airbnb “offers [people] a unique travel experience” and does not come with the usual cookie-cutter type of expectations, said Jia “JJ” Chai, director of operations of Airbnb Southeast Asia.

Airbnb, which means air bed and breakfast, is a US-based company with headquarters in San Francisco, California. It was established in August 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk.

Chai said that Chesky and Gebbia were designers and long-time friends. They quit their day jobs and moved to San Francisco to study what kind of business they could venture into. But when they moved in, their landlord increased the rent and they didn’t have enough money to pay it. Since there was an upcoming big San Francisco designers’ conference at that time and all the hotels were fully booked, they thought of giving lodging to participants who had no place to stay to raise enough money for their rent. They bought three airbeds, put up the site in 48 hours and advertised.

Chesky and Gebbia immediately got bookings from three people with diverse backgrounds. One was an engineer from India, a father of three from Utah, and a lady from Boston. The lodging turned out to be an enjoyable experience for all of them that Chesky and Gebbia decided that this was the business they were looking for.

Since then, Airbnb grew as it addressed the need of more travelers for lodging. Today, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover and book unique accommodations around the world. The company offers a unique proposition where guests can choose to stay in another person’s apartment for the night, someone’s vacation house for a week, or even in an old castle in Europe for a month.

Airbnb has listings in over 33,000 cities and is found in 192 countries. The company also helps people who want to make extra income from their properties by listing and sharing them with travelers. It is an easy way for people to monetize their extra space without having to sell them.

Chai said that Airbnb continues to expand globally and sharpens its focus on Southeast Asia. He is doubly excited with his latest trip to Manila because the company is formally announcing its entry into the Philippines. The company will focus on engaging its rapidly growing community in Manila and throughout the country.

Chai said that company records show that Airbnb has seen over 400-percent growth year-on-year in the Philippines in 2012. Statistics also show that the number of guest nights booked on Airbnb in the Philippines increased by 345 percent in 2012 alone. Currently, Airbnb has over 975 listings in the Philippines, including 530 in Metro Manila. Airbnb also acknowledges that Manila is a growing travel destination, and that people from the Philippines are traveling abroad at increasing rates they are a crucial market to watch.

Chai said that he is happy with the statistics, especially because he has a special spot for the Philippines despite being a Singaporean. He said that he has learned to embrace the Filipino culture because he is married to a Filipina. This means he has more reasons to keep coming back to the Philippines, each time with a unique travel experience.