As more people take advantage of the opportunity to work remotely, extend vacations, or just take a vacation at all, Airbnb has unveiled changes to its platform that cater to longer stays.
- Updates include a new search based on category, the ability to book two listings in one flow, and travel insurance for guests, per TechCrunch.
Following the numbers: Last quarter, Airbnb booked a record-breaking 102 million experiences and posted revenue of US$1.5 billion, up 70% compared to last year. The average daily rate has also increased by 37% to $168 over the same time in 2019.
In a video posted to Twitter, CEO Brian Chesky outlined the new features:
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Categories: Opens up options in new cities and towns with homes organized by what makes them unique, like amazing pools, creative spaces, or arctic locations.
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Split Stays: If you can’t decide between a treehouse or a cave dwelling, you can now look at splitting stays that are over a week long between two homes.
- AirCover: Guests will now have Airbnb travel protection, including check-in and get-what-you-booked guarantees (which somehow was not a thing before).
Why it matters: Although travel has rebounded, Airbnb continues to navigate stays that go horribly wrong, criticism over misrepresented homes and absurdly high cleaning fees, and the impact of illegal short-term rentals in municipal housing markets.
- Across Canada, cities are still trying to regulate, license and crackdown on the growing number of Airbnbs push rental prices in major markets higher and make hosts, landlords, and condo owners legally vulnerable.
While the end experience and sentiment towards Airbnb vary widely depending on who you ask, these updates aim to bring the enterprise-grade infrastructure of a large hotel to a vast community of individual hosts—and (of course) generate more revenue along the way.
