Airbnb’s sentiment score was moderately high at 0.73 (on a scale of 0 to 1) in Q1 2021, according to Global Data, with top themes in its earnings transcript report including mobile payments, regulation and geopolitics. The company’s sentiments were slightly higher than average for the Travel and Tourism sector (last measured on March 22), and it seems to have gained resilience by scaling back on growth areas and focusing on core operations.
“The terms ‘Travel’ and ‘Summer Travel’ were among the top keywords in Airbnb’s transcript, alongside ‘Hosts’/‘Hosting’ and ‘Investment’/‘Investing. ‘Online Travel’ is likely to be a bright spot in 2021,” said Rinaldo Pereira, Senior Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData. “In fact, the market value of online travel is likely to cross the US$1 trillion (€831bn) mark by 2024.”
“Airbnb is in an ideal position to capitalise on this growth, especially in the ‘new normal’ – post-pandemic. The pandemic has meant that many travellers are now looking to holiday in domestic and rural locations away from urban areas, especially whilst travel restrictions and uncertainty are both still present,” said Ralph Hollister,Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData. “The company’s online-focused, asset-light business model has allowed it to react quickly to changes caused by the pandemic, which has meant that Airbnb has fared much better in the past year compared with more traditional types of lodging providers.”
“A [GlobalData] Q1 2021 survey found that 73% of respondents are ‘continuing to’ and ‘more frequently’ spend time online. Airbnb’s digital and social media endorsements will further help it gain traction as it steps towards gradual recovery,” Pereira concluded.
