If Airbnb Wants to Own the Entire Trip, It’s Time to Make Some Acquisitions
Photo Credit: Airbnb has been vocal about your aims to branch out beyond short-term rentals. Skift
Skift Take
Airbnb’s capital allocation tells a different story than ambitions laid out at conferences. You don’t become a travel superapp by buying back your own stock.
When I interviewed Brian Chesky at the Skift Global Forum last September, he told me on stage that he was "not happy" with Airbnb's growth rate.
But the gap between where Chesky says the company should be and where it actually is has only widened after four straight years of deceleration: 40% growth in 2022, 18% in 2023, 12% in 2024, and about 10% in 2025.
Eventually, he said, he wants growth back above 20%.
I bring this up because at ITB Berlin this week, two of Airbnb’s most senior executives laid out a vision that is ambitious — yet out of step with how the company allocates its capital.
Jesse Stein, Airbnb’s global head of real estate, described Airbnb as a place to plan an “entire trip,” including vacation rentals, hotels, and a car ride from the airport. Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk said the company is “once again thinking about being the one-stop shop for travel.”
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