The hospitality sector is evolving rapidly and is constantly welcoming new actors, each bringing their own concept that is supposed to meet the needs of consumers. In recent years, all professionals have witnessed the boom in private rental accommodation, particularly that of the American giant Airbnb. While travellers are delighted to have a wider choice of accommodation to stay in, tourism professionals are not entirely of the same opinion. Numerous regulations are therefore being introduced to control the frenetic development of this new offer.
The rise of private renting of furnished accommodation
While hotel operators are just beginning to return to profitability in the wake of the health crisis, Airbnb reported its second most profitable quarter to date with revenues of $2.1 billion. Airbnb has benefited from increased consumer spending, which has enabled it to see its revenue jump 58% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022. However, this growth is slower than in the previous quarter, when revenues jumped 70% year-on-year in Q1 2020.
As a result, Airbnb beat Wall Street's earnings estimates, and the company is also announcing a $2 billion share buyback programme. In the second quarter of this year, the company reported over 103 million booked nights and experiences. This is Airbnb's largest quarterly figure ever.
The model offered by Airbnb indeed seems very resilient and resilient as its CEO Brian Chesky explains: "It's good to remember that before the pandemic, our bread and butter was cross-border travel and urban travel... and of course the pandemic came along and that was mostly shut down and yet our business picked up because people were using Airbnb differently. I think the most important thing here is that our model is obviously incredibly adaptable."
The company has also seen the pandemic as an opportunity to reshape itself, shifting its focus from urban and international travel to more suburban and 'non-urban' destinations. And the current economic climate could once again work in Airbnb's favour, as the company expects to see its numbers grow in the coming months.
In the financial crisis of 2008, people were worried about being able to pay their bills, pay their house... and so they're turning to hosting, and we think a lot of people might turn to hosting once again.
Brian Chesky, CEO and founder of Airbnb...
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