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As the world begins to normalize after a year of pandemic, Airbnb (ABNB) is trying to seize the opportunity to convince users to take spontaneous travel without a particular destination in mind.
“We’ve seen a paradigm shift in the way people search for travel on Airbnb. Before, people knew where they were going. That’s why there is a search box. [that asks] where are you going? Today, 40% of our customers who come to Airbnb don’t have a location in mind or don’t have a date in mind, ”Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told Yahoo Finance a day later that Airbnb released its first financial results as a public company.
On Tuesday, Airbnb launched “flexible search,” an open way to search for homes or apartments to stay, showing there’s a pent-up interest in getting away from it all – without putting too much emphasis on location. Users book in shorter windows than ever before, with many finding a destination within 30 days of travel, according to Airbnb.
“The reality is they’re in a house. They say, ‘I feel stuck. I’ll go anywhere within a few hundred kilometers. I want to go there in the next few months. “We allow more flexibility,” Chesky said.
This open search feature is ubiquitous on other travel websites, including Booking.com (BKNG), Expedia (EXPE), Momondo, and Skyscanner. While this is not a useful tool, for example, for business travelers, it is a good tool for leisure travelers – especially those with flexible hours who can work remotely, as many do. do during the pandemic.
“Fewer people are traveling for business. Fewer people have very purposeful destinations and that means they’re open-minded. We can direct travelers and demand to where we have the supply,” Chesky said. “It really helps to balance supply and demand. I also think a level playing field. I think it can benefit Airbnb.”
Airbnb reported better-than-expected revenue in its first quarter as a public company, although gross bookings were down 31% year-over-year. With 4 million hosts on the platform, Chesky said the most important area of growth was to recruit more people to open their homes.
“A lot of people like to start hosting at the start of a life change. As we see more flexibility, there are more empty houses that people are leaving behind. In 2019, 23% of our hosts were first guests. There are great opportunities to convert guests into hosts, ”he said during the investor call on Thursday afternoon.
Currently, Airbnb calls its senior, experienced hosts “superhosts”. Before the pandemic, the company was iterating on a superuser model similar to a loyalty program. During the interview with Yahoo Finance, Chesky hinted at a future product that would encourage users to continue to book on the platform.
Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm and on LinkedIn.
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