Text | Sina Technology Luo Ning
Number of Periods: No.46
嘉宾：Airbnb爱彼迎首席业务官 Dave Stephenson
On May 9, Airbnb released its financial report for the first quarter of 2024, revealing that the number of accommodation and experience bookings on the platform exceeded 133 million. Its revenue increased 18% year-over-year to $2.1 billion. Net profit also rose sharply by 126% from the same period last year to $264 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $424 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20 percent, up 6 percent year-over-year.
During the "May Day" period, Airbnb also officially announced the launch of a new special category "Ace", which stimulates people's imagination with travel destinations such as "Flying House", Carl's Flying House, and Ferrari Museum Magic Night.
Recently, Sina Technology's "Science and Technology 100" spoke with Dave Stephenson, Chief Business Officer of Airbnb. He mentioned Airbnb's three goals: first, to stay at the forefront of trends and strengthen the brand's power; second, to establish an emotional connection through circle culture and reach audiences in subdivided fields; Third, it inspires consumers to imagine travel through new experiences, showing that Airbnb is more than just a shared accommodation platform. At present, the popularity of China's outbound tourism makes him continue to be optimistic about the Asia-Pacific market, and he believes that "China's outbound tourism has huge growth potential." ”
"Experiencing different cultures in depth is what travel is all about"
As more and more countries open their doors to Chinese tourists, people are looking for more unique experiences in their travels. Dave Stephenson has his own unique understanding of this, citing the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics this summer as an example, and if people will "conform" to Paris during the Games, then one of Airbnb's "trump cards" this time, the Belfry Observation Room of the Musée d'Orsay, is a unique and niche experience.
According to Airbnb, the room was remodeled around clock elements by Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of the Paris Olympic torch, and is located in the clock tower of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The view from the window is right on the banks of the Seine, so you can see the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the banks of the Seine. In addition, the Musée d'Orsay has a collection of works by Impressionist masters such as Monet and Cézanne, so it also attracts many tourists.
Dave Stephenson believes that such an "Olympic complex" allows Chinese to gain more emotional value when traveling abroad. In his opinion, these uniqueness will make more Chinese travelers realize that Airbnb has to offer more than just travel accommodations, but more than just extraordinary experiences. "For travelers, the value and meaning of travel lies in experiencing different cultures in depth," he said. They also love to travel with family and friends. These are all things Airbnb excels at. ”
"Cut into social networking and try to break the circle"
"Trump" is Airbnb's major attempt to cut into social networking and young people, and its core is to "break the circle".
On the Airbnb platform, "Ace" projects have been listed all over the world, including: Wake up from the Musée d'Orsay to see the Olympic Games, Carl's flying house, Ferrari Museum Magic Night, X-Men 97 Marvel Academy, "Mind Squad 2" headquarters, the game Loft designed by the Internet celebrity "Speechless Brother", the exclusive club of comedian Kevin Hart, the "living room concert" of singer Doja Cat, the "Purple Rain" of music legend Prince, the world tour bus of singer Feid, The home of Bollywood star Janway Kapoor.
As Dave Stephenson explains, "These 'trump cards' are inspired by a wide range of geographies, interests and pop culture circles, and are the focus of a lot of attention on social media. "Through the launch of 'Ace' listings and experiences, we were able to attract more people to Airbnb and deepen their impression and interaction with the brand." ”
In this regard, he specifically mentioned three goals: "First, it brings strong brand power to Airbnb, putting Airbnb at the forefront of trends and becoming the first choice for Chinese travelers and global travelers."
Second, "Ace" allows us to reach our niche audience and build an emotional connection with the circle culture they are interested in. For example, for Gen Z, it is the "speechless brother" Khaby Lame and Doja Cat, and Gen X is more familiar with Prince's "Purple Rain".
The third point is that the "trump card" expands the boundaries of Airbnb, showing that Airbnb is more than just a shared accommodation platform, and we can actually inspire consumers to imagine travel. As more "ace" listings and experiences come online throughout the year, we're making it even more tangible for consumers to see that Airbnb has more to offer than just travel and accommodation, and that we can do more than we have in the past. ”
"Promote the product innovation of the Chinese team to more regions"
It has been eight years since Airbnb officially announced its entry into China in August 2015, and in the past eight years, some technological innovations by the Chinese team have also made a global platform like Airbnb have a better user experience.
Dave Stephenson points out that value for money is one of the most important considerations for Chinese travelers, and we continue to make sure Airbnb has an edge over other accommodation options. At the same time, Chinese travelers are eager to experience the authentic life and cultural customs of the locals, and as more and more Chinese travelers start to travel abroad, the trend of group travel with friends and family is becoming a trend, which is a big reason why we have launched a series of new multi-person travel features that will support Chinese users to have a better experience when traveling abroad.
In addition, Airbnb has developed more localized product features for Chinese users, including "smart input" and "smart recommendation", to make the search process easier for Chinese users. These features are all specific features developed by the Chinese team, and "user feedback is very good". As a result, Airbnb has been able to replicate this kind of product innovation in Asian markets like Japan and South Korea, which have similar pain points, and have received the same positive reviews.
He said that Chinese outbound travelers are a very large and important market. Focusing on China's outbound travel market also puts Airbnb in a very advantageous position. In addition to the Chinese market, he is very optimistic about the rapid growth of travel in Asia in the past two years.
"According to Airbnb's fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 financial reports, Asia-Pacific is Airbnb's fastest-growing region. It's a relatively small percentage of Airbnb's total business, which means there's a lot of potential for growth in APAC going forward. Therefore, as Airbnb's Chief Business Officer, I am optimistic about continuing to invest in the Asia Pacific market, especially Chinese outbound travelers, and explore more growth opportunities. ”