Following the release of its 2024 Q4 financial report, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced an ambitious goal—to increase user engagement on the platform from "once or twice a year" to "once or twice a week."
This means Airbnb aims to boost user engagement by over 50 times.
If successful, this shift would fundamentally reshape Airbnb's business model—transforming it from a travel-focused short-term rental platform to a high-frequency local services platform.
The announcement sent Airbnb's stock price soaring 14.5% in a single day.
Currently, 70% of Airbnb's bookings come from just five countries—the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia—markets that are already highly saturated, leaving little room for further expansion.
Moreover, Airbnb has long relied on brand awareness rather than performance-based advertising to attract customers. While its website sees significant traffic and active users, many do not convert into actual transactions.
This is why Chesky's new strategy to increase usage frequency could be a response to market saturation.
At present, Airbnb’s biggest challenge is low-frequency demand—most users only use the platform once or twice a year, because it primarily caters to "out-of-town stays" and "travel experiences."
However, if the company expands into local services that users can access within their own cities, engagement levels could naturally increase. This shift aligns with the core value of local living platforms and could even integrate with AI-driven travel planning, creating a more comprehensive service ecosystem.
Whether Airbnb can successfully adopt a Meituan-style model will depend on its ability to develop a full-fledged local services ecosystem, starting with supply chain integration, payment infrastructure, and merchant partnerships.
If Airbnb effectively leverages AI to enhance ROI and execution, this transformation may indeed have a chance of success.
