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- Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky thinks hosts on his platform should lower their prices.
- "We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-à-vis a hotels—that is really important," said Chesky.
- "We need to get our house in order," he added.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has a message for hosts on his platform: lower your prices.
"We want prices to move and to be more competitive vis-à-vis a hotels— that is really important," said Chesky as part of a Monday interview with Bloomberg.
Airbnb's current rate comparison tools for hosts do not incorporate nearby hotel rates. Chesky said he wants hosts "to look at rates for hotels in their area just so they have a sense of what travelers are getting on other platforms."
"We need to get our house in order," said Chesky, who pointed to issues of affordability, not showing customers total prices per listing, and fake listings as things the company would seek to address going forward.
Chesky's comments come amid a mixed year for Airbnb.
Though the company reported its first profitable year in 2022, fears of an "airbnbust" have plagued the company since last year — with hosts complaining of a slowdown in bookings, stiff competition over guests, and falling revenue.
These fears of an "airbnbust" come after a travel frenzy in 2021, which pushed revenue to record highs for hosts and likely contributed to more people listing their homes as rentals.
"We've seen a big uptick in supply, which means that demand is being spread out over more listings, leading to the occupancy decline," Jamie Lane, an economist at vacation analytics firm AirDNA, told Insider in 2022.
This coming year could be more competitive for hosts. AirDNA predicted in December that 2023 would see a lower occupancy rate for short-term vacation rentals than 2022.
The firm also predicted that supply is likely to outpace demand for these rentals in 2023, with the number of listings projected to increase by 9% year-on-year.
Representatives for Airbnb and Chesky declined to comment to Insider.