Airbnb CEO says company will need millions more hosts to meet surging demand
Summary
Airbnb will have to add millions of new hosts to accommodate guests as travel picks up again following the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Brian Chesky told CNBC. "To meet the demand over the coming years, were going to need millions more hosts," Chesky said in an interview with Deirdre Bosa that aired Friday on CNBCs "TechCheck." But for Airbnb, which relies on people to open their homes to guests, the company will need to ramp up its number of hosts instead of building out more real estate or adding flights to meet demand. Its a problem similar to that faced by other companies in the gig economy such as Uber, which recently announced a $250 million stimulus in an effort to bring more drivers to its platform. The company rolled out a number of advertisements using photographs from Airbnb guests staying in homes around the world, in an effort to create a sense of nostalgia.