Airbnb warns of end of post-corona travel urge

Increasingly higher costs, cyclical uncertainty and, above all, geopolitical turbulence are putting pressure on the world tourist’s wanderlust, which until recently was considered indomitable.

The home rental platform Airbnb

warned on Wednesday evening of disappointing results in the last three months of this year, according to the presentation of the quarterly figures for the third quarter. In unofficial after-hours trading, Airbnb shares fell almost 5 percent.

Analysts were shocked by the rather pessimistic expectation that Airbnb’s turnover this quarter will amount to 2.13 to 2.17 billion dollars: well below the average expectation of 2.18 billion. “We are seeing increasing volatility at the start of this quarter and are closely monitoring macroeconomic trends and geopolitical conflicts that could impact travel demand,” the US company said after hours on Wednesday.

Airbnb not only refers to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but also to the rising tensions between China and Taiwan.

In recent years, Airbnb has benefited greatly from the consequences of the corona pandemic. After the first lockdown, the rise of teleworking provided a strong boost for Airbnb: people realized that they could do their work from anywhere, including exotic locations.

As soon as the travel restrictions were gradually lifted last year, the rental platform benefited from the urge that consumers worldwide had after their long-distance holidays in the two corona years fell through. The effects of this were still clear last summer. The record summer for aviation also led to an excellent third quarter at Airbnb. The average price of a home rented through Airbnb rose 3 percent to $161 in the third quarter.

However, the first cracks were already visible: in North America, average rates fell for the second consecutive quarter. The warning of a disappointing last quarter is in stark contrast to the civil airlines. Almost without exception, they are counting on a continuation of the record summer in a great winter season.