Airbnb is no longer just a short-term rental platform—it is actively transforming into a travel and living brand that people use weekly, not just a few times a year.
This shift doesn’t mean Airbnb is moving away from short-term rentals—in fact, it is expanding its presence in key international markets to grow its core business. However, Airbnb’s long-term goal is to increase how often people engage with the platform by:
✔ Adding adjacent services that enhance the guest experience.
✔ Helping hosts operate more efficiently so they list more often.
✔ Expanding beyond short-term stays and traditional home rentals into new supply types.
To explain this multi-year strategy, Airbnb is framing its evolution using Amazon’s playbook—starting with closely related services before expanding further.
“We’re going to really, really start adjacent to travel. A traveler booking a home—what else would they want to book? And we offer these other experiences and services that could potentially bring in new guests that then book more homes on Airbnb.”
This approach allows Airbnb to increase engagement, drive more frequent bookings, and create new revenue streams—without abandoning its core business.
📍 Expanding Airbnb’s Core Short-Term Rental Business (But It Will Cost Money)
Airbnb may operate in over 220 countries and regions, but its core business is still heavily concentrated in just five markets:
✔ United States
✔ United Kingdom
✔ Canada
✔ France
✔ Australia
These five countries alone account for about 70% of Airbnb’s gross booking value. While these mature markets remain strong revenue drivers, Airbnb is now aggressively investing in expansion markets where growth is happening much faster.
- In Q4 2024, the number of nights booked in Airbnb’s expansion markets grew at more than twice the rate of its five core markets.
- These expansion markets include countries like Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, South Korea, China, and India.
- This confirms that Airbnb’s efforts to grow beyond its core regions are succeeding—but this kind of international expansion requires investment in brand awareness, host supply, and local platform optimizations.
“Each of our targeted markets we have to factor in where the market is, the level of awareness and consideration we have among local travelers, and the level of product optimizations we need to make, to make sure that we are appropriately addressing the local audience.”
📌 What This Means for Vacation Rental Managers:
✔ If you operate in a core market (US, UK, Canada, France, Australia), Airbnb will remain a strong player—but expect more competition as expansion markets grow.
✔ If you list properties in an expansion market (Latin America, Europe, APAC), Airbnb is increasing demand, which could mean more bookings.
✔ Expect Airbnb to continue investing in localized strategies—adapting pricing models, marketing campaigns, and platform features to fit new markets.
While Airbnb is committed to short-term rentals, its ability to grow the platform long-term depends on succeeding in these newer markets. This is why they are spending heavily to grow beyond their five dominant countries.
📍 Expanding Beyond Stays With More Travel-Related Services
To keep guests coming back to Airbnb more frequently, the company is introducing more services that support the full trip experience.
Unlike Airbnb Experiences 1.0, which struggled due to poor visibility and timing, these new services will be seamlessly integrated into the booking process.
- Instead of making guests search for services, Airbnb will surface them at the right time.
- These could include:
✔ Pre-booked services (transportation, groceries, childcare, luggage storage).
✔ More personalized recommendations based on the guest’s trip.
✔ Experiences that match the stay, rather than being a separate product category.
📌 How This Avoids the Mistakes of Airbnb Experiences 1.0:
❌ Experiences 1.0 were hard to find. → ✅ New services will be built directly into the booking process.
❌ Guests don’t plan activities at the same time as booking a home. → ✅ Airbnb will time offerings better.
❌ Airbnb didn’t properly market Experiences. → ✅ This time, they are putting real marketing investment behind new services.
By making Airbnb a one-stop-shop for travel planning, they hope to increase engagement and keep users returning for more than just bookings.
📍 Expanding Beyond Traditional Stays: New Supply Types
Airbnb is not just expanding into long-term stays—it is preparing to expand into new types of supply, beyond homes.
- 17-18% of Airbnb’s nights booked are already for 30+ day stays.
- Airbnb-Friendly Apartments (AFA) allow renters to sublet their units while maintaining a long-term lease.
✔ AFA has expanded to 750 buildings and 200,000 units in the U.S..
✔ 1,500 units have launched in the U.K. in partnership with Greystar.
✔ Latin America is the next expansion target for 2025.
But beyond long-term stays, Airbnb is investing in its supply team to onboard new types of supply.
- This could mean co-working spaces or gym classes, i.e. things you may use when traveling or in your city.
- At Rental Scale-Up, we have discussed the potential for Airbnb to expand into areas like car-sharing, as part of its goal to become a more frequently used platform.
📌 Why This Matters for Hosts & Property Managers:
✔ Airbnb is shifting toward onboarding new types of supply, which could mean more competition in certain markets.
✔ For property managers, Airbnb’s expansion into alternative supply could create opportunities for multi-unit operators.
✔ If Airbnb moves into adjacent sectors (like car-sharing or co-living), it could further increase platform engagement.
This shift aligns with Airbnb’s broader goal: To make the platform useful even when users aren’t traveling.
📍 Why Airbnb Is Talking About Amazon’s Playbook
With all these expansion plans, Airbnb is preparing investors for increased costs.
- Expanding in new markets = costs money (but should have long-term ROI).
- Launching new services = costs a lot of money (but could open new revenue streams).
- Onboarding new supply types = requires a larger supply team and operational investment.
- To justify the spending, Airbnb is positioning itself like Amazon—a marketplace that serves both consumers and suppliers.
Amazon spent years investing in logistics, seller tools, and cloud services before those bets became highly profitable.
Airbnb is making the case that:
✔ Short-term costs will lead to long-term growth.
✔ They are not just a travel company—they are a marketplace connecting travelers, hosts, and service providers.
✔ They are rolling out new services step by step, not all at once.
📌 What This Means for Vacation Rental Managers:
✔ Expect Airbnb to push aggressively into long-term stays and alternative supply types.
✔ Hosts may see more business opportunities if Airbnb launches a marketplace for host services.
✔ Long-term, Airbnb wants people using the platform regularly, not just for occasional bookings.
