Airbnb celebrated its first profitable year with $1.9 billion USD of net income.
👉 Background: When Airbnb first launched around 2008, it was considered wild to stay in someone else’s apartment.. But now it’s kinda become a whole lot more normal (even assigning guests with chores like taking out the rubbish).
👉 What happened: For the 2021 year, in the peak of the pandemic, Airbnb recorded a whopping $352m USD loss. But now, Airbnb celebrated its first profitable year with $1.9 billion USD of net income.
👉 What else: One of the big winners was Airbnb's Experiences vertical - it was up 20% year on year. After 6 years, it looks like its fiiinnnaally starting to take off.
💡Expanding into new verticals is an exciting way to take a business to the next level, but it's not a decision to be taken lightly.
💡Since their humble beginnings, homestays have been Airbnb’s bread and butter. But in 2016, Experiences were released… and they seemed like a pretty big pivot for Airbnb. Think: mole making in Mexico City, a music tour of Havana or walking with penguins in South Africa.
💡It took Airbnb many years to grow this vertical into a valuable division. And now, not only is the Experiences vertical growing - but growth is actually leading to guests making their home stays longer too. The old double whammy.
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