Airbnb CEO says company focused on boosting long-term stays

By Doyinsola Oladipo

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vacation rental company Airbnb sees a huge opportunity to grow its long-term rental business as short-term rentals are under growing scrutiny in tourist hot spots like Athens and Barcelona.

The company is focused on growing its long-term rental business, which refers to stays of 28 days or longer, CEO Brian Chesky told an audience at a travel conference late Wednesday. Local governments around the world have clamped down on short-term rentals as they try to increase housing supply for full-time residents. 

"Stays of 30 to 90 days, monthly stays, the seasonal stays, I think that’s a huge growth opportunity," Chesky said. Long-term rental bookings have grown in the last few years, he added, now reaching 17% to 18% of the company’s business, compared to 13% to 14% before the pandemic.

The company is focused in part on expanding its long-term rental and experience businesses while also offering new services like matching people with homes who do not have time to be Airbnb hosts with those who would like to be hosts but do not have properties to list on the site.

Chesky told the audience the company also sees sponsored home listings as a billion-dollar revenue opportunity, noting what he has seen from Uber and competitor Booking Holdings’ business models. 

Greece and Spain are among the latest countries to tighten regulations on vacation rentals in an attempt to address housing shortages.

(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis)