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AIRBNB is seeing an increase in revenue due to increased bookings thanks to the COVID-19 vaccination which has caused activity restrictions to be relaxed and people choosing to start vacationing outside of their homes.
Vacation bookings increased by 52% for a total of US$10.29 billion, beating predictions from the stock market that thought Airbnb only earned US$6.93 billion in the first quarter.
“Summer travel increased by 60% in February and March 2021,” said Airbnb as quoted by Reuters, Friday (14/5).
Most of the trips were made by citizens over the age of 60 in the United States because they are among those who have received the vaccine.
The company, which is located in San Francisco, hopes that in the second quarter at least they can achieve the same revenue as in 2019. With the hope that travel in the midst of a pandemic and between cities can increase go hand in hand with giving vaccinations to all people in the US.
According to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, said Airbnb also benefits from requests for longer stays resulting from trips that have been rescheduled by travelers on group trips.
“Airbnb seems to have managed to overcome the pandemic because it has prepared a larger location to stay in big cities due to distance restrictions. A surge in orders also occurred in the UK after the government gave a signal that it would ease restrictions, including in France, which slowly opened to easing activities in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
He added, however, that Airbnb does not want to mention 2021 as a good point in their company’s economic recovery in the second quarter because the pandemic is still there at this time.
Airbnb recorded an increase in revenue of 5.4% in this first quarter. The risk of loss also decreased to US$59 million from the previous US$334 million in 2020. The loss was calculated from cost cuts due to trip cancellations. [antaranews]
