London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Airbnb predicts 'significant' travel rebound

Airbnb predicts 'significant' travel rebound

Online booking platform Airbnb has said it is preparing for a "significant" travel rebound as the world emerges from coronavirus lockdowns.

However the company said it was still "too early" to predict how the business would fare this year.

The company's revenue dropped 30% last year to $3.4bn (£2.4bn), as Covid-19 restrictions kept many from travelling.

That was better than many other travel companies, as people took to their cars for longer stays in private homes.

The firm said it has already seen a smaller decline in travel this year than in the last three months of 2020, when revenue was down 22% year-on-year at $859m. That was better than many analysts had expected,given the resurgence of Covid cases and fresh lockdown restrictions in many areas.

"Travel is coming back and we are laser-focused on preparing for the travel rebound," its chief executive Brian Chesky said.

Mr Chesky said he expected new travel preferences to emerge from the pandemic that will benefit his company.

He said the firm is optimistic that staying in private homes will appeal to people travelling to see family and friends. Remote working patterns will also allow people to take more frequent weekend trips - or even spend several months away from home, he suggested.

"We've seen a number of new use cases," he said. "We don't think we're ever going to go back to travel in 2019. It's going to change and it's going to be different."

However, Airbnb also warned that it still had "limited visibility for growth trends in 2021 given the difficulty in determining the pace of vaccine rollouts and the related impact on willingness to travel".

"We are not providing an outlook for the rest of 2021 at this time," it said in its first financial update for investors since its public listing in December.

Airbnb, which is active in more than 220 countries, said people around the world are travelling more domestically during the pandemic - but not enough to make up for the loss of business from international tourism.

Airbnb was founded by Nathan Blecharczyk, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia when they were in their 20s

Its business in Europe, which is fuelled by cross-border travel, was the hardest hit region in 2020, especially the UK, Germany and Italy. North America was the most stable.

Overall the firm lost $4.6bn last year, including $3.9bn in the last three months of the year, when it was hit with high costs connected with its stock market debut.

A recent survey conducted for the company in the US found that more than half of about 1,000 respondents had already booked or were planning to travel this year.

On a call with analysts, the firm faced some questions about its relationships with hosts, which has been strained this year partly due to financial losses suffered after cancellations.

But Angelo Zino, an equity analyst at CFRA, said he expected revenue to come "roaring back" as vaccines become widely distributed in the US and Europe by the summer, "reflecting the enormous amount of pent-up demand in the ecosystem".

"We believe Airbnb's business model and growth opportunities are highly attractive and struggle to find a better way to play the travel space," he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×