Brian Chesky, founder and CEO of Airbnb, says he wants to see lower prices and a return to the platform’s roots as an alternative to expensive hotels, and says the company plans to improve the pricing structure of accommodations.
Chesky told Bloomberg News that “We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-a-vis hotels—that is really important. When we started Airbnb, our original tagline was ‘a cheap, affordable alternative to a hotel.’ And the majority—the primary reason people came to us is because it was a better value than a hotel. And we still think that’s a core value proposition that we have to offer.”
That doesn’t mean that the site will drop the high-end luxury listings it’s cultivated and publicized, but it does mean that it will put more emphasize on getting hosts to keep items such as cleaning fees down, and on giving a clear total price upfront. It is also sharing more data with hosts to give them a better picture of what others are paying or want to pay.
