Airbnb bookings soar as pandemic restrictions ease

Bookings rose most notably for locations outside city centres and rural areas as people wished to travel but were still reticent to visit mass populated areas.

The San Francisco-based company also said the recovery in bookings was being led by families and small groups.

With the increasingly popular trend of shifting work from offices to people’s homes, long-stay bookings also saw a significant rise. Nearly a quarter of nights booked in the first three months of the year were stays of 28 days or longer, up from 14% in pre-pandemic 2019.

"Increasing numbers of guests are discovering that they do not need to be tethered to one location to live and work," Airbnb said.

The company reported 64.4m nights and experiences booked, up 39% from the fourth quarter and up 13% year over year.

All in all, Airbnb’s total revenues rose 5% to $887m in the first quarter, compared with a 22% decline in the fourth quarter of 2020, with its total losses rising to $1.17bn.

The company said it expected second-quarter revenues to rebound back to pre-pandemic levels although there was still uncertainty regarding the rest of the year since new strains of Covid-19 might appear.