Airbnb’s Hotel Strategy Is Now ‘Much Bigger’

Airbnb is expanding its hotel ambitions beyond its initial pilots in highly regulated cities, signaling a broader approach to expanding its lodging network.

CEO Brian Chesky cited a strategy change during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

“Our strategy for hotels used to be, we thought of them as filling in network gaps,” Chesky said. “When a home is booked and homes are high occupancy you can get a hotel. It’s now evolved to as much bigger, a much more expansive strategy.”

He said the opportunity in hotels for Airbnb is “massive.”

“We think as we get more aggressive in hotels, not only do we open up the aperture to a huge TAM (Total Addressable Market) of hotels, it actually strengthens homes,” Chesky said.

In its fourth quarter shareholder letter, Airbnb stated it has run pilot hotel programs with independents