Airbnb boss lays foundation for longer-term rentals

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Airbnb is plotting a push into longer-term housing rentals and a renewed drive on experiences as part of a shake-up of the travel accommodation app.

Chief executive Brian Chesky told the Financial Times that from next year the online rental company would “go a little bit beyond its core business”, including an expansion of its experiences and services. He pointed to more changes, due next month, that would mark the “biggest update to Airbnb ever”.

“Travel is our sweet spot,” he said. “Eventually the big frontier for Airbnb is to go beyond travel,” adding that “there’s an eventual opportunity for Airbnb to become a greater part of your daily life. Not just once or twice a year.”

Offering rentals of up to a year represented a “huge opportunity”, Chesky said. He vowed that, with only 18 per cent of gross nights booked in the second quarter this year coming from stays longer than 30 days, more can be done. Extended stays of more than three months are even rarer.

“In this post-pandemic world, there’s this . . . unrecognised market of a month, two months, three months, because people can work from laptops, people are going away for the summer,” Chesky said.

His vision for a renewal of Airbnb’s business model comes as the technology app faces pressure from policymakers worldwide over depleting housing stock in major cities. New York, which was one of Airbnb’s biggest markets globally, this month introduced rules limiting residents’ freedom to rent rooms in their homes on Airbnb, culling about three-quarters of listings in the city.

Chesky does not see New York as a “precedent”, though. “Most people in New York City and beyond feel like there was absolutely a win-win on the table,” he said, citing offers to city authorities to introduce a hotel tax or a housing registration scheme to limit people renting their primary homes.

Airbnb’s plans include expansion of its housing offering as well as “things to do on your trip”. Chesky also highlighted a “long list of ideas” under consideration, including rental cars and dining pop-ups.

“The second biggest asset usually in someone’s life after their home is their car,” he said, and Airbnb has long considered a pivot to car rental. “That’ll be the next thing,” he said.

Airbnb this year launched its “rooms” feature, a return to its roots when it would offer space in people’s homes, as well as greater insight into hosts, as part of more than 50 new features and upgrades to the app.

Also speaking to the FT, Jay Carney, Airbnb’s global head of policy and communications who joined last year from Amazon, predicted that New York’s policy will not solve the housing crisis, and will only serve to increase hotel room rates and price less wealthy tourists out of visiting the city.

“New York is a good example of where . . . they have a problem which they think they can fix with this regulation,” said Carney, a former Obama administration official, but he argued that the “sledgehammer approach” will bring “zero change” to the housing crisis.

“It will be compounded by hotel prices [going up while] tourists on a budget won’t be able to come to New York,” Carney added.