Airbnb and Booking: 12 Takeaways From Their Annual Financial Reports
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Dennis' Online Travel Briefing
Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Executive Editor and online travel rockstar Dennis Schaal will bring readers exclusive reporting and insight into the business of online travel and digital booking, and how this sector has an impact across the travel industry.While Airbnb was largely heads-down focusing on its core stays business in 2021, rival Booking Holdings expanded its product portfolio in flights and tours and activities.
The following are takeaways from Airbnb’s annual 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and a few comparisons with Booking Holdings’ report.
1. Airbnb Expanded Listings But Had No Material Experiences RevenueWith its largest marketing campaigns in five years carried out in 2021, Airbnb expanded its active listings 6 percent year-over-to 6 million, the company said. Listings include those for stays and experiences, but not for its Hotel Tonight brand. Although Airbnb earns host fees from its experiences listings, the company said, “substantially all of our revenue comes from stays booked on our platform.”
Airbnb was clearly focused on its core stays product throughout the year, but that was not the same at Booking Holdings.
2. Booking.com Expanded Its Flights and Tours and Activities BusinessesBooking.com’s property numbers, including hotels and homes, increased a nominal 1.1 percent in 2021 to 2.4 million, parent Booking Holdings stated.
It’s tough to compare Airbnb’s 6 million “listings” to Booking.com’s 2.4 million “properties,” but clearly Airbnb’s count grew faster because of its marketing campaigns, and greater ex
