Airbnb's Fourth Quarter Takeaways and 8 Other Top Digital Stories This Week


Skift Take

This week in digital news, Airbnb had $276 million in losses in its fourth quarter — and that was before coronavirus struck. Not good news for a company that was hoping to go public this year. Plus, Tripadvisor is trying to offload its vacation rental businesses — will Expedia follow suit?

Digital Travel News Weekly Roundup

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines digital trends. For all of our weekend roundups, go here.
Airbnb Loses $276 Million and 6 Other Takeaways From Its Fourth Quarter: Airbnb’s fourth quarter financials show it is 10 times larger than Tripadvisor. They also provide clarity that Booking Holdings has a long way to go to catch Airbnb in short-term rental businesses. Airbnb’s growing marketing spend in 2019 likely means that Google will have a welcome new partner in coming years. Expedia Withdraws First Quarter Guidance and Halts Share Repurchases: You can expect numerous other companies to withdraw their first quarter financial guidance, if they haven’t already done so. A key question is how will the competitive landscape get reshaped once the crisis abates.