Airbnb's Chesky Says He Was Wrong About Hotels, and Cars and Flights Are Next

Airbnb's CEO is publicly walking back one of the company's founding positions, which matters for anyone competing with Airbnb for the same guest across hotels, rentals and add-on products.

Speaking at Skift Global Forum, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said he had been fundamentally wrong about his long-held opposition to hotels, describing his previous resistance as an ideology he "had to get over."

Hotels

Airbnb now lists more than 4,000 hotel properties, primarily boutique and independent accommodations in cities including New York, San Francisco and several Spanish cities. Expansion to Paris and London is planned. Chesky said he would be open to eventually listing major chains such as Marriott and Hilton.

He said guest demand drove the reversal, particularly for last-minute, single-night and business-travel bookings. He projected that the hotel business alone could generate multi-billion-dollar revenues without competing head-on with Booking.com.

Cars and flights

Airbnb already sells car rentals and plans to add flights "one day." Chesky said the company has "gotten over a little bit of our religion of no commodities," while maintaining that unique listings will remain the core offering. He also touched on experiences, where Airbnb has added mainstream tours and activities alongside its more distinctive offerings.

Not an OTA?

Asked whether Airbnb qualifies as an online travel agency, Chesky called the description "incomplete" and positioned Airbnb as a "community" rather than a traditional OTA.