Some believe that hotels stand to gain from Airbnb's NYC woes. Properties that might see an upside include Sonders and traditional hotels using Airbnb to sell rooms, especially if Airbnb opts to lean into the proposition.
Airbnb, a household name brand that claims 90% of its platform traffic arrives without marketing, clearly has substantial advantages in international expansion over competitors.
How things change: Expedia said its sale of Egencia won't have a major impact on operations or financials, although in years' past the company touted Egencia as a rising star. In 2018, Egencia was its own Expedia reporting segment and accounted for 8 percent of gross bookings.
Short-term rental owners in locked-down countries undoubtably suffered or went out of business in 2021. But for many owners in the U.S., it was the best of times, and their revenue soared. One wakeup call — there may not be an adequate number of listings to meet demand.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company expects to add millions of new hosts in the next few years, and it has plans to simplify the host signup process. But Airbnb has to be concerned that over the last six months that strategic growth imperative has been tough going.
Vrbo indeed seems to be stealing a bit of market share from Airbnb in the U.S. in recent months, albeit from a much smaller base. Vrbo's aggressive marketing campaign earlier this year appears to be paying off.
Despite Brian Chesky’s rhetoric about Airbnb needing to return to its local connections mission and roots, the economics point to Airbnb needing Domio- and Sonder-like listings. Even if it means negative publicity pre-IPO.