Airbnb embraces a paradox: CEO Brian Chesky says hotels are the future

The accelerated demand ext globally, with Latin America and Asia Pacific leading growth, even as North America growth softened

And those hotels: Chesky said Airbnb will be competing more directly head-to-head with that segment of the travel sector. “We’re going to be going significantly more aggressively into hotels,” Chesky said toward the end of the call

He added that Airbnb has spoken with hotels around the world, especially independent, boutique and bed-and-breakfast locations. “We’ve spent a lot of time looking at hotels as a

We think it’s really compelling, and we think that there’s going to be a lot more to do with hotels on Airbnb.” Airbnb’s hotel phase Crucially, Airbnb’s call centered around its expansion “beyond the core”—including hotels

Chesky referred to it as an “and, not a or” strategy: Airbnb will maintain its iconic s duct while ramping up hotel supply, especially internationally where it’s still seeing opportunity for growth. “A huge percent of hotels in Europe are independents,” Chesky said

Why the shift? Airbnb’s data suggests many travelers browse listings but don’t always book, citing lack of availability or preference for hotel amenities

By integrating hotels, Airbnb fills network gaps—especially in cities and peak periods, when options are limited

The company’s HotelTonight application was offered by Chesky as an example of a successful acquisition. “We’ve historically primarily focused on building organically, but we absolutely are open to acquisitions, and we are going to be looking at it

And I think that we are now in a better place to consider acquisitions now that … we have this new expanded strategy where we’re focused not just on all aspects of traveling, but also living.” It’s an open debate for some communities on Reddit whether a hotel or an Airbnb is the better choice

One thread, r/TravelHacks, features a discussion of whether there’s even a difference at this point

A er wrote the general consensus seemed to be that Airbnbs are better for large groups and hotels for solo trips, albeit dependent on the location

Surely, this is a gap that Chesky and Airbnb would to see close. -powered hospitality and lifestyle expansion Hotels are only part of Airbnb’s ambitious remake

Chesky also described efforts under way to turn Airbnb into what he described as an “AI-first application.” The company is betting on its AI-powered customer service agent to drive efficiency and personalization

He said this agent, leveraging 13 specialized models trained on tens of thousands of customer interactions, has already managed to reduce the necessity for human intervention by 15%

Chesky told analysts he believes “AI apps” will quickly become dominant—and Airbnb, as a “non-AI-native application,” needs to transform in that direction. “We’re starting with customer service

We’re bringing into travel planning,” he said

Then he described that what could look . “It will not only tell you how to cancel your reservation, it will know which reservation you want to cancel,” Chesky said. “It can cancel it for you and it can be agentic, as in it can start to and help you plan and book your next trip.” The CEO outlined future plans for deeper AI integration ranging from expanding language support to building toward a platform that can serve as an “everything app” for travel and experiences

Chesky the call by reinforcing Airbnb’s commitment to innovation and stressing what the company will not become: a commodity. “I don’t think we’re going to be the kind of thing where you just have an agent or operator book your Airbnb for you because we’re not a commodity

But I do think it could potentially be a very interesting lead generation for Airbnb.” Earlier in the call, Chesky said Airbnb is bably the biggest travel brand in the U.S. and that the company’s current moves are growing beyond that. “What we’re trying to do is build a platform, a platform that has s, services, experiences, hotels, of course, and much more

And we’re going to try to be expanding this platform and continue to [launch] new es over and over again.” For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft

An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing

Explore this year's list.