The health of the entire travel sector, as well as Airbnb, had started improving post the COVID-19 lockdown, but dark clouds are once again looming large.
• Unlike tech giants Meta, Amazon and Twitter, Airbnb has no layoff plans.
After years of trying to expand into other areas, the CEO of holiday home giant Airbnb wants to go back to basics: helping people make money.
"I tried to make too many things at the same time," Brian Chesky explained to AFP.
"Then the pandemic hit. We had to go back to our core business," he said.
The sudden stop of world tourism was a blow to the home rental company and forced layoffs of a quarter of Airbnb's workforce in 2020.
It also halted the company's foray into travel "experiences", Airbnb's foray into tourist activities.
The health of the entire travel sector, as well as Airbnb, had started improving post the COVID-19 lockdown, but dark clouds are once again looming large.
"The big clear thing is (in most countries) we're probably going to enter a recession, if we're not already in recession," Chesky said.
The company, which has about 6,000 employees, has no layoff plans, unlike tech giants Meta, Amazon or Twitter.
Instead, it wants to encourage more people to become hosts on its platform, growing alternatives again as travel enthusiasm cools.
"We have to be affordable" in terms of pricing, Chesky insisted, to allow consumers to travel despite the worsening economic climate.
- 'Big business' -
To meet the challenge, more hosts are needed: "We have to help people make money," Chesky said, "especially those who are reluctant to open their properties to strangers."
To encourage the reluctant, Airbnb unveiled a new feature Wednesday that provides neophytes advice from the site's highly experienced "superhosts," who provide advice and tips for a fee paid by the company.
In another move to attract skittish property owners, the San Francisco-based group will expand its user identification requirements to even more markets. It will also provide hosts with tools to better determine their rates and offer discounts.
Airbnb also announced the launch of its anti-party screening technology in the US and Canada.
Partying is the company's bet, with revelers breaking the rules and hosting wild blazes, scaring hosts or driving off potential suitors.
The San Francisco group increased the damage covered by its home insurance plan from $1 million to $3 million.
Chesky has made no effort to diversify over the long term. In five or ten years, "I expect we'll be doing a lot more than just hosting travelers," he said.
Specifically, the entrepreneur intends to revive "Experiences".
"There's a big business on the horizon. But it's taking longer than I thought.. It turns out that matching supply and demand is more difficult," he said.
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