VRMA Administrator
Airbnb saw a record surge in bookings on its platform amid travel's recovery, with nearly 104 million nights and experiences booked from April through June 2022. Bookings climbed 25 percent from last year to 103.7 million. Long-term stays remain the fastest growing type of travel due to the advent of remote work, but international and city travel has bounced back. Airbnb said it was currently in the midst of its strongest peak summer travel season to date, while company executives said a slowdown could also be beneficial. "Airbnb was founded during the recession," declared CEO Brian Chesky in a conference call with analysts. He added that should another slowdown occur, "we think a lot of people may turn to hosting once again, so this is a big opportunity for us." Airbnb said almost half its reservations are for a week or more, and travel demand is still strongest in North America, where bookings are up 37 percent from 2019. European bookings have trailed those numbers, while demand remains below pre-pandemic levels in the Asia Pacific region due to Chinese COVID-19 restrictions.
BBC News (08/02/22)
