Airbnb Builds Hotel Team to Take On the OTAs
Photo Credit: Airbnb has expanded its lobbying efforts across the U.S. Flickr / Open Grid Scheduler/Grid Engine
Skift Take
For years people have wondered whether Airbnb's business is doomed as it faces increased regulation around the world. Airbnb has an answer to getting shut out in that manner — hotels, hotels, hotels.
Airbnb is making two key moves to build out its hotel business — elevating a former hotel executive and hiring a Booking.com veteran — in a bid to compete in what could be its biggest growth opportunity.
Airbnb’s global head of real estate, Jesse Stein, announced on LinkedIn Thursday that he is taking on the newly created role of head of hotels, while continuing in his current post.
Prior to joining Airbnb in 2020, Stein spent five years at KHP Capital Partners, and from 2009 to 2015 he served in development positions at Wyndham Hotel Group and Kimpton Hotels.
Stein said that his priorities in the new position will be building hotel partnerships, putting together a hotels team, and figuring out how hotels will appear on Airbnb.
