An “urgent focus” on affordability has prompted Airbnb to promote denser rooms within people’s homes, rather than entire properties, returning back to the travel platform’s roots.
The company will raise the profile of its listings of a million single rooms as vacationers tighten their belts, trying to address concerns about the prospect of staying with a stranger.
Airbnb, which is increasingly concerned with the perception that its service is becoming more affordable, will make room listings—usually cheaper than those for entire properties—more visible on its platform starting today.
“Actions speak louder than words,” co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky told The Times. “Our actions are that we prioritized the most affordable way to travel on Airbnb as the thing we chose to invest in.
“You always have to meet people where they are. You have to be relevant to the market. We can’t be out of sync with the market. And what the audience is saying is ‘we want to save money’.”
With inflation and recession fears looming over consumers in many of its key markets, Airbnb has grappled in recent years with claims that its platform is becoming more expensive. Last year it sought to make the total cost of bookings more clear after frustration with cleaning fees in addition to base rates.
In an effort to address concerns about safety, and unease about the prospect of staying inside someone’s home, Airbnb will also encourage hosts — the people who rent out rooms on its platform — to share more information about themselves with users.
“The first answer is that a lot of people said they feel uncomfortable staying with a stranger in their home,” Chesky said. “And I get it. Seems like a pretty crazy idea.”
Individual room listings on Airbnb will clearly state whether the room has a lock, whether the bathroom is shared or private, and who else will be staying at the property. Hosts will be able to share anecdotes, such as where they went to school, in Passports for users to view.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Airbnb is one of the largest travel companies in the world. Founded in 2008 as Airbed & Breakfast, the platform initially allowed people to rent out rooms to travelers, before expanding to allow entire properties the following year. Today it has about 6.6 million listings, and after going public in 2020, the group’s stock market value is $76 billion.
The company has faced accusations of fueling “overtourism” in areas such as Cornwall, where some residents complain the boom in Airbnb properties has fueled the peak travel season and exacerbated the housing crisis.
“The bigger the work, the more scrutiny or criticism it deserves,” said Chesky. Is it all fair? Mostly not. Broad brush strokes. We are not responsible for all the people getting off cruise ships and flooding tourist areas.
“I think the vast majority of people on Airbnb are staying longer than they (will) stay in hotels, so they are probably — by definition — less transients than hotel travelers. Fifty percent of our nights are for stays longer than a week.
Some of the criticisms are fair. I think it really varies from city to city. In general, when I talk to cities, I think it helps them more than it hurts.
“I never want to make a blanket statement like, ‘We’re good everywhere for everyone.’ If you say that, you’re not thinking about the negative impact you have. You have to be precise; you have to go from city to city, community to community.”
Chesky claimed that a change to Airbnb’s platform last year, which encouraged users to search for potential trips by category, rather than location, has so far been “very effective” in redistributing demand.
In the future, the search function could prioritize areas that want more tourism over those that want less. “We haven’t counted that part yet,” he said. “But I think it is solvable in the future.”