Rakuten Intelligence: Airbnb Is the Default Destination for Millennials
*By Tracey Cheek*
Airbnb has become the largest player in the lodging market and is growing by about twice the rate of traditional lodging chains as new travelers come onto the platform and existing users book more reservations, e-commerce analyst Ken Cassar told Cheddar Thursday.
Cassar, the vice president of strategy and insights at Rakuten Intelligence, said Airbnb now boasts a 25 percent share of the lodging market and reported a growth rate of 40 percent.
"Of that 40 percent growth that they saw last year, they saw 33 percent growth in new buyers, and they actually saw a little bit of an increase in spend amongst existing buyers, and that's usually pretty difficult," said Cassar. "When you're in a situation where you're bringing a lot of new customers in, they tend to be dipping their toe in the water so they tend to spend lightly, which tells us that folks are every quickly engaging with the experience."
Airbnb also tends to attract longer stays than conventional hotels.
Casser said the average Airbnb reservation is 3.3 nights, compared to 1.9 nights for the rest of the lodging sector.
"You know that when you book Airbnb you're going to have to play a cleaning fee, so it's not going to make sense to book one night if you're going to have to pay that cleaning fee," said Cassar. "So I think that there's a lot of incentive to use Airbnb for those longer stays."
As for pricing, there are cases where Airbnb can be a better bang for your buck than a hotel, but Rakuten Intelligence found that the average cost per night through Airbnb is nearly identical to the cost of traditional hotels.
"Over 2018, it was about $152 per night for a hotel, and $152 per night for an Airbnb," said Cassar. "The Airbnb $152 includes a prorated portion of that cleaning fee plus Airbnb fees, but it's not all about it being a much more aggressively priced alternative today as it might've been when Airbnb first launched."
The bigger difference may be related to the demographic of the traveler.
Rakuten Intelligence found that 42 percent of Airbnb buyers are under the age of 35 compared to 29 percent under the age of 35 for traditional hotels.
"Millennials seem to be a heck of a lot more likely to think about Airbnb, which certainly bodes well because millennials are going to get older, they're going to have more disposable income, they're going to travel more," said Cassar. "Airbnb seems to be their default destination."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/airbnb-is-the-default-lodging-destination-for-millennials-study).
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
