Tourism: after two years of health crisis, Airbnb is restarting strongly and doing better than before the pandemic

Airbnb is doing better than ever.

In the first three months of the year, the accommodation booking platform recorded 102 million nights and activities (also called "experiences") booked, more than any other quarter so far.

This is 34% more than for the same period of 2019, which Airbnb has now chosen as a basis for comparison, arguing that 2020 and 2021 had been abnormal years, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bookings are exploding and the group expects sustained demand until the end of the year almost everywhere: in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Asia, where China and Japan remain the only two countries in the world closed since the start of the pandemic, appears to be the great absentee.

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Despite everything, Airbnb's turnover is eloquent: it is 80% higher than that of the first quarter of 2019 and 70% over one year, at 1.5 billion dollars.

Better than analysts forecast.

Airbnb confident for this summer

The company also says it is confident in the volume of reservations for this summer.

It even observed an unprecedented level of activity for the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday season.

These results “reflect the return of tourism, with Airbnb gaining market share, supported by the efficiency of its platform model”, reacted, in a note, Baird analysts.

Apart from tourism, the company also benefits from new uses linked to remote work, explained Brian Chesky, the general manager, during the presentation of the results.

To echo this trend, Airbnb announced last week that it is now allowing its employees to work from wherever they choose, with no salary changes, including if they are working from a location where the cost of life was lower.