Ask the average person what’s the first thing they want to do in this post-pandemic world, and travel is likely up there on the list. Airbnb says the travel rebound is in effect, pointing to Q1 financials that tell a story of strength and continued interest in hitting the road.
According to their quarterly report, Airbnb’s Q1 2021 revenue increased by 5 percent year-over-year. Revenue in Q1 2021 was higher than revenue in Q1 2020 and Q1 2019, driven by strength in North America.
With the rollout of vaccines and the easing of some travel restrictions, Airbnb is already seeing—and furthering predicting— significant improvement for the vacation rental market in 2021.
Airbnb also reported an increase in the number of hosts in their network. Active listings in non-urban areas in Q1 2021 increased almost 30 percent from the same period in 2019.
Even with this good news, the company reported a net loss of $1.2 billion for the quarter. Those loses largely were related to the repayment of term loans, impairment related to office space in San Francisco and stock-based compensation expenses.