He was born in 1984 in Boston. Nathan Blecharczyk He is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb. Considered technological as it is subject to electronic commerce laws, it experienced its lowest days during the pandemic period. Revenues fell 80% and laid off about 20% of staff. The co-founder, who regularly hosts guests at his home, talks about how the business was strengthened as the population changed their travel habits.
The company was established in 2008 due to the problems they had to pay rent with their partners. Now many people find themselves in this situation because of the crisis.
Yes, when we started the company 14 years ago, Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and I were struggling to pay our rent. Now, a third of homeowners in Spain say that home ownership has helped them meet their rising living expenses. Half, which helps them pay for their house. It’s a great job for our hosts and I think it also brings a whole new wave of people to the platform. A typical landlord in Spain currently earns around 3,700 euros per year, which is the equivalent of two months’ additional salary.
How did the company survive the pandemic?
We had a very difficult transition because within a few weeks our revenue was down 80%. We made a difficult decision and laid off about 20% of our staff. A percentage representing about 1,800 people. After the outage, Airbnb saw tremendous growth and strength. And again we had record third quarter results. We are in very good shape.
Big tech companies are seeing drops in the stock market and are reducing their workforce due to the macroeconomic environment. Airbnb lost more than 40% of its stock value last year. Could the company still be out of business?
We do not expect any layoffs and we continue to recruit now as we have grown in a very disciplined way. As many other companies are currently learning, we learned a lesson at the start of the pandemic. After ten years of growth and prosperity with easy access to money, it was very easy to hire large numbers of people. Frankly, too many people. And we had to do this fix a few years ago. But we learned and we continue to grow very sustainably. An annual growth of approximately 8% in the number of employees. We also did not see the effects of the war in Ukraine affect our financial results.
The company has a philanthropic arm that stretches as far as Ukraine.
Thanks to our hosts, who opened their homes for free or at a discount, we hosted more than 1,000 refugees in the first six months of the war.
The European Commission wants online tourist rental platforms to be more transparent. Will Airbnb take action?
The European Commission’s proposal is in line with initiatives already implemented at Airbnb. If you look at the top 200 markets in the world where Airbnb operates, 90% of them have short-term rental arrangements. And we are committed to working closely with your governments. For example, two years ago, governments had access to data and noise, disturbance, etc. We have launched the City Portal to solve the problems. We have also worked very closely with the EU, sharing the data so that regulators have full clarity on where tourists stay by region.
What do you think of these regulations to control the use of short-term tourist apartments in cities like Barcelona?
We respect and support cities that have their own views on how they want to organize this activity. Our view is that these rules should be fair, proportionate and balanced. Issues like housing, affordability and mass tourism are big issues in Spain, but we also know that many people depend on it to make ends meet. We have seen many cities reach equilibrium and we believe it can be done. Of course there are limits, and we see ourselves as part of the solution to some of these challenges. For example, we are putting a lot of effort into developing their capacity to deliver tourism.
Rental prices are particularly high due to the low housing supply. Can the company be part of the solution?
I think what we’ve seen throughout the pandemic and even longer is that there are a lot of forces affecting home prices. And I don’t think Airbnb is a major driver of these changes. During the pandemic, there was a time when tourism left the cities and house prices went up for other reasons.
Airbnb is constantly being updated, will it be possible to book flights without leaving the platform in the short or medium term?
Not in the near future. We were working on something like this at the beginning of the epidemic, but at that time we didn’t have the resources to pursue it or the thesis about how to differentiate ourselves regarding flights. We realized that we needed to focus more on our core business. There are still many opportunities and work to be done.
And in the long run?
Everything is possible. We’ve accomplished a lot in a short time and I’m sure we can achieve much more.
“Tourism has changed forever”
What are the new trends in travel?
The pandemic has increased remote working, which has led to changes in the way people travel and live. An explosive category is stays of 28 days or longer. They have grown 160% since the start of the pandemic and now account for 20% of nights booked in Europe.
Will tourism return?
No, it’s changed forever. I think the most important part of the changes is this remote ability that many people have now and will continue to have. This means you can travel more spontaneously, to more places and for longer periods of time.
On Airbnb, offices are already optional.
It’s about having access to the best talent to innovate. And they really value the opportunity to work remotely. We have seen that working remotely can also be very productive during the pandemic process. In fact, our most productive period was the pandemic period.
How does the company adapt to changing trends in the tourism market?
On the one hand, we have a large number of house types around the world. They are in cities and rural areas and there really is something different for everyone. So, as consumer behavior changes rapidly, we easily found the type of accommodation and experience people were looking for. We’ve also tried to make sure we create innovations that meet variable demand.
What were the latest news?
We have released 150 new features for the app during the pandemic. And one of the newest is a whole new way to search on Airbnb. Instead of typing in a destination, you can now start searching by experience category, such as ‘vineyards in Spain’. Also, as part of the winter launch, six new categories have been created, including my favorite ‘Game’, so kids can have fun opportunities in every destination.
Landlords are important parts of the company. Who are they?
The vast majority of homeowners are individual. There’s a lot of interest out there, so we’re now focused on making it easier than ever to get started with hosting. We’ve increased AirCovery insurance coverage from $1 million to $3 million and are supporting “superhosts” to guide your first steps. Additionally, we allow our experienced and well-reviewed guests to choose to host.
What is Spain’s place in Airbnb’s business strategy?
Spain is a very popular destination within Europe and it’s not just about cities. It has many coasts and we have worked very closely with the Canary Islands to attract digital nomads, for example. In Malaga, which is a trending and very strong destination for Airbnb, work is also being done with local governments to encourage remote work.
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