The US-based company, which listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in December 2020, recorded sales of $3.4 billion last year – down from $4.8 billion in 2019.
This drop was an improvement on earlier predictions that Airbnb’s sales could reduce by more than 50% in 2020 due to the pandemic – revenue was boosted by a stronger fourth quarter when sales only fell by 22% year-on-year.
Airbnb recorded a net quarterly loss of $3.9 billion between October and December, while its loss for 2020 was $4.6 billion. Although these losses were inflated by charges associated with its flotation.
Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “Our performance in 2020 showed that Airbnb is resilient and inherently adaptable. Travel is coming back and we are laser-focused on preparing for the travel rebound.”
Dan Thomas, an analyst at global primary research firm Third Bridge, said: “The results beat expectations and speak to the resilience of the vacation rentals category through the pandemic, and add to expectations that whole home rentals will power any broader lodgings recovery in 2021.
“The strength of Airbnb’s brand means the platform can acquire more customers directly, rather than through expensive channels like Google’s paid ads. This gives Airbnb a competitive advantage over Booking.com and Expedia.”
Sooho Choi, global head of travel and hospitality at technology consultancy Publicis Sapient, added: “Various lockdowns, particularly in the UK and Europe, may have unsurprisingly tempered Airbnb’s results, but the advantage of a connected platform with scale and reach is clear.
“However, competition is stiff – and not just from within the industry. Competing sectors like airlines are partnering to provide luxury home rentals, and hotel companies are successfully targeting leisure customers.”
