Brian Chesky explains what’s needed to accelerate Airbnb’s growth

Summary

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he isn’t happy with the company’s slowing revenue growth and outlined what he thinks is needed to speed it up. After hypergrowth years, Airbnb has moved to profitability and steadier growth, but Chesky wants the business to return to double-digit — ideally 20%+ — expansion. He says the plan is to accelerate the core home-rental business and layer on multiple new revenue streams: hotels, revamped experiences, on-demand services, and AI-driven features. Chesky expects growth to pick up next year but declined to give formal guidance.

Key Points

Airbnb’s revenue growth slowed from 40% (2022) to 18% (2023), 12% (2024), with Q1 2025 at 6% and Q2 at 13% year-on-year.
Chesky wants Airbnb to be growing in the teens and ultimately over 20% annually.
The company will prioritise accelerating its core home rentals both domestically and internationally.
Airbnb is expanding hotels and rebuilding its experiences and services offerings (relaunched experiences and launched services in May) to create multi-billion-dollar adjacencies.
Chesky envisions Airbnb as an “everything app” and has committed to making it an AI-first product to boost bookings and customer experience.
After cutting costs during the pandemic, Airbnb became profitable by 2022; the next phase focuses on rebuilding foundations for sustained, layered growth.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you follow Airbnb — as an investor, host, partner or competitor — Chesky’s game plan tells you where the company will chase growth. It’s not a flashy reveal, but it’s where product bets, hiring and partnerships will fall next. We’ve skimmed the noise so you can get the gist fast.

Context and Relevance

Chesky’s comments come after several years of decelerating revenue growth following the pandemic rebound. The shift from hypergrowth to profitability changed Airbnb’s priorities: now the focus is on building a broader platform with multiple services beyond holiday rentals. That strategy mirrors trends in tech where platforms diversify revenue lines and use AI to personalise services and increase transaction frequency. For stakeholders, the announcement signals renewed emphasis on product innovation (notably AI) and service expansion — areas likely to drive partnerships, competitive moves and potential shifts in host and guest behaviour.

Source

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/brian-chesky-airbnb-growth-rate-whats-needed-2025-9