Airbnb is entering a new era.
The popular platform no longer wants to be limited to short-term rentals and is gradually paving the way for a much broader model of travel services. Hotels, experiences, services and artificial intelligence are now at the center of the company’s strategy.
Airbnb co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, outlined what comes next, emphasizing that expansion into new categories and international growth are key pillars for increasing revenue.
Chesky’s revelations came during his speech at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference last week.
The new range of services
Airbnb is preparing to expand its activities even further. The company is already strengthening Services and Experiences, while at the same time seeking a larger share of the hotel market.
“You will see significant expansion into new categories,” Chesky said, essentially announcing a continuous flow of new services over the coming months.
Are ads coming to Airbnb?
One of the biggest opportunities for new revenue appears to lie with hosts themselves. Airbnb is considering developing services that hosts will be able to purchase, following the model of major marketplaces such as Amazon, Alibaba and Etsy.
At the center are sponsored listings. In simple terms, hosts will be able to pay for their properties to appear higher in search results and gain greater visibility on the platform.
And the amounts are not insignificant. Chesky estimates that this activity alone could generate additional revenue of up to $1 billion, with particularly high profit margins.
And this, as he noted, would be only the beginning.
Artificial intelligence is changing Airbnb
On the other major front, artificial intelligence, Airbnb is already in an experimental phase.
Chesky is “bullish” on AI, estimating that the real revolution for consumers has not yet begun. Despite the buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, he argues that the daily lives of most people have not changed dramatically.
That, however, could change soon. He estimates that over the next 18 to 24 months, there will be a major shift in AI from businesses to consumers.
The end of “type what you’re looking for”?
The next generation of artificial intelligence, according to Airbnb’s CEO, will not be limited to text. Video, photos, voice and multimodal models are expected to play a decisive role. He predicts that in the future, people will not even need to type to communicate with computers.
They will talk to them.
Airbnb is already testing the new model
The company has piloted a new artificial intelligence environment, different from traditional chatbots. The goal is a more visual and more natural conversation with the user.
Instead of the traveler simply typing what they are looking for, Airbnb gradually wants to create an experience where the search will become more interactive and “live.”
The project is still at an experimental stage. But one thing seems clear: Airbnb wants to transform itself from a platform for finding accommodations into a much broader digital “companion” for the traveler.
