Expedia CEO Takes Shot at Airbnb Chief Brian Chesky's Long-Term Stays Mantra
Skift Take
Expedia Group's Peter Kern may or may not be correct in his claim that the trend toward long-term stays will eventually weaken to a considerable degree. On the other hand, his Vrbo vacation rental brand probably could have done more to capitalize on the trend.
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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.Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern conceded that its Vrbo vacation rental brand has seen its stays trending longer during the pandemic, but the trend has not been as "pronounced" as with Airbnb, adding "that swing is going to go back."
In a Skift interview after Expedia's fourth quarter earnings call last week, Kern took a not-so-veiled shot at Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky — although Kern didn't utter Chesky's name — and the notion that the travel and living dynamic is subject to enduring change because of digital nomads and the work from anywhere phenomenon.
Where's Waldo?"Frankly, I think, despite everything my friend says, that swing's going to go back," Kern said. "I'm glad he can work from anywhere, and Where's Waldo? or whatever. It's a fun game, but I don't know."
Kern's mention of "Where's Waldo?," or as it was initially known, "Where's Wally?" in the UK, referenced Chesky's decision to live mostly in properties listed on Airbnb, changing locations periodically, throughout 2022.
"Where's Wally?" aka "Where's Waldo?" started out as a series of puzzle books which saw characters doing comical things at a variety of destinations, and readers had to pick Waldo/Wally out of a group.
Chesky has argued that "travel as we know it is never coming back and there's a whole new game."
"Imagine hundreds of million
