Reinforcing the Airbnb narrative

But it’s not all about the new guests for the brand. More than 80% of bookings on Airbnb are group trips. Along with the Icons announcement, Airbnb also shared updates to its interface that provide a more seamless experience when booking group trips.

New features include shared wishlists and a redesigned messaging tab that allows other guests in the group to communicate with the host. The platform also tapped artists from around the world to design digital postcards of the destinations.

The interface updates reflect what the brand hopes to become a competitive advantage over one of the key players in the travel category: hotels. Airbnb ranks third in the market, after Expedia and Booking.com. The number of Airbnb listings surpassed its pre-pandemic high for the first time last year. This is despite cities around the globe passing laws to curb the number of Airbnbs.

“Now that people are traveling again, we’re reaching more and more people. We’re expanding, and our audience really needs to understand, ‘Why should I book an Airbnb versus a hotel?’ For the new traveler that’s coming to Airbnb or considering Airbnb, we just need to connect the dots for them,” Asai said.