Airdna

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Recent Articles about Airdna
Tourists followed a tour guide through a backstreet in Florence, Italy, in 2017. Photo: Bloomberg

Airbnb Confronts Tighter Rules on Rentals as Pandemic Ebbs

By Cory Weinberg · May 13, 2021 8:16am PDT
As Airbnb works to reinvigorate its business after the pandemic all but extinguished travel to urban destinations, it is confronting a fresh threat from regulators intent on limiting the number of homes they allow to be rented out to tourists. In cities around the world, but especially in Europe, authorities are taking steps to tighten the rules... As Airbnb works to reinvigorate its business after the pandemic all but extinguished travel to...
In typically tourist-filled Prague, Czech Republic, a man crosses a nearly empty Old Town Square. Photo: AP
Exclusive

Slump in City Travel Raises Risk Airbnb Hosts Will Look Elsewhere

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 5, 2020 6:01am PST
Airbnb’s business in big cities shrank in late summer compared with a year earlier, previously unreported figures show, as the coronavirus pandemic kept the brakes on urban travel. The steep decline has raised concern inside Airbnb that some hosts might abandon the platform permanently, which would reduce the number of listings and make it... Airbnb’s business in big cities shrank in late summer compared with a year earlier,...
Airbnb policy and communications chief Chris Lehane. Photo by Getty. Photo illustration by Mike Sullivan
Exclusive

Airbnb’s Spin Master

By Cory Weinberg · Oct 28, 2020 8:18am PDT · 1 comment
Chris Lehane was piping mad. Laurence Tosi, Airbnb’s chief financial officer, had accused the Airbnb policy and communications chief of spending millions of dollars before Tosi had signed off on the plans, approval Lehane didn’t think he needed. Their dispute flared up near the parking lot behind Airbnb’s headquarters one... Chris Lehane was piping mad. Laurence Tosi, Airbnb’s chief financial officer, had accused...
Airbnb Rental Supply Fell This Summer for First Time
By Cory Weinberg · Sep 22, 2020 6:01am PDT
Data Point

Airbnb Rental Supply Fell This Summer for First Time

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 22, 2020 6:01am PDT
With a successful pivot to close-to-home travel, Airbnb has managed to defy early predictions that the coronavirus pandemic would doom its business. But previously undisclosed figures nevertheless show the toll the crisis has taken on the home rental site. Airbnb had about 5% fewer listings on its site that were available or rented in July... With a successful pivot to close-to-home travel, Airbnb has managed to defy early predictions...
Airbnb’s headquarters in San Francisco. Photo: Airbnb
True Value

Why Airbnb’s IPO Should Clear $30 Billion

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 26, 2020 7:02am PDT
Nothing would better epitomize the stock market’s strange surge in 2020 than a blockbuster initial public offering from a travel company whose business was bludgeoned by the pandemic. But that is exactly what looks likely for Airbnb. The Silicon Valley darling is a good bet to secure at least a $30 billion valuation when it goes... Nothing would better epitomize the stock market’s strange surge in 2020 than a blockbuster...
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo: Bloomberg
Exclusive

Airbnb’s New Strategy: Living Without Google

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 31, 2020 7:08am PDT · 1 comment
Employees who worked on Airbnb’s marketing team in recent years have sometimes pondered a tantalizing question: What would happen to the company’s growth if it stopped spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year on ads that appear high up in Google search results? The pandemic may have given Airbnb the opportunity to test... Employees who worked on Airbnb’s marketing team in recent years have sometimes pondered a...
Image: Mike Sullivan
Exclusive

Influx of Professional Hosts Tests Airbnb’s Message

By Cory Weinberg · Jan 21, 2020 7:01am PST · 1 comment
Last fall, in Airbnb’s first major advertising campaign in more than two years, it portrayed hosts as regular homeowners happy to rent out a spare room and socialize with their guests. The message—that Airbnb helps foster a global community by bringing together travelers and locals—is one Airbnb has promoted since its earliest... Last fall, in Airbnb’s first major advertising campaign in more than two years, it...
Photo: Bloomberg
Airbnb Looks to Settle Old Fights, Faces New Threats
By Cory Weinberg · Aug 7, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
Photo: Bloomberg
Exclusive

Airbnb Looks to Settle Old Fights, Faces New Threats

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 7, 2018 7:01am PDT · 5 comments
Airbnb’s regulatory roller-coaster ride has taken new twists as the company enters its second decade. When the home rental site sent employees updates on its talks with local governments in June, it heralded positive momentum with politicians in two of its “toughest markets,” Barcelona and Berlin. It decried a... Airbnb’s regulatory roller-coaster ride has taken new twists as the company enters its...
Visitors on the Great Wall of China. Photo by shankar s./Flickr
Exclusive

Airbnb Looks to Keep China Momentum

By Cory Weinberg · Jul 18, 2018 10:01am PDT
Airbnb’s increasing popularity with young Chinese travelers has made the country an important growth driver over the past year. Revenue from Airbnb’s China division is expected to climb by more than half to roughly $130 million this year, two people familiar with the matter said. While that growth rate is lower than last year’s... Airbnb’s increasing popularity with young Chinese travelers has made the country an...
Illustration by Scotty Reifsnyder

As Listing Growth Slows, Airbnb Faces New Test

By Cory Weinberg · Dec 11, 2017 7:00am PST · 1 comment
At a gathering of Airbnb hosts two weeks ago, CEO Brian Chesky fielded a question he gets frequently: Why is the company allowing professional real estate investors and commercial property managers to list on the site? In response, he said the company needed to be “more inclusive of who belongs on Airbnb,” but emphasized the company... At a gathering of Airbnb hosts two weeks ago, CEO Brian Chesky fielded a question he gets...
Art by Matt Vascellaro.

Amazon Studios’ New Power Player

By Tom Dotan and Priya Anand · Nov 2, 2017 7:01am PDT
Earlier this year, as Hollywood agents and producers struggled to divine a programming strategy coming from Amazon Studios and its leader Roy Price, some employees at the studio quietly delivered a message to the creative community: Avoid the confusion and bring your projects to Sharon, one industry executive recalled.It was a reference to... Earlier this year, as Hollywood agents and producers struggled to divine a programming strategy...
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg.
Airbnb Plots Big China Push
By Cory Weinberg · Nov 23, 2016 7:01am PST
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. Photo by Bloomberg.
Exclusive

Airbnb Plots Big China Push

By Cory Weinberg · Nov 23, 2016 7:01am PST
Airbnb plans to expand its small Beijing office tenfold to 300 employees over the next two years after years of tiptoeing into the country. The on-the-ground expansion would bolster recent momentum, as Airbnb says by the end of next month it will have doubled its listings year over year in China to 100,000.China accounts for just 3% of total... Airbnb plans to expand its small Beijing office tenfold to 300 employees over the next two years...
Source: Airdna. Graphic by Peter Schulz.
Data Point

Where Airbnb Gets to Play Full House

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 7, 2016 7:01am PDT · 2 comments
Airbnb has long attracted property owners seeking higher margins on short-term tourist rentals than long-term leases for city residents. But extreme cases are emerging in Airbnb’s latest hot spots for growth: Japanese cities.In June, around eight in 10 Airbnb listings in cities like Osaka and Tokyo were entire homes, up 6 percentage points... Airbnb has long attracted property owners seeking higher margins on short-term tourist rentals...
Poster for DramaFever's Korean melodrama Angel Eyes.

Video Startups Find Profit in Foreign Programming

By Tom Dotan · May 29, 2014 12:13pm PDT
Call it the “Moneyball” approach to the online video business. While companies like Netflix and Amazon pay millions for the rights to top-shelf television content, a set of lesser known sites are accumulating relatively inexpensive and overlooked programming from around the world and finding audiences for it both in the U.S. and... Call it the “Moneyball” approach to the online video business. While companies like...