Airbnb announced more than 100 new changes and updates to its platform Monday with a focus on flexibility, ahead of a widely anticipated boost in trav

Airbnb announces a big new update focused on flexibility — here's what's new

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2021-05-25 15:30:05

Airbnb announced more than 100 new changes and updates to its platform Monday with a focus on flexibility, ahead of a widely anticipated boost in travel as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to subside in some parts of the world.

The changes come on the tail of Airbnb's first-quarter earnings. While its net loss tripled due to debt repayments and restructuring costs, it reported 64.4 million nights and experiences booked, up 39% from the prior quarter and up 13% year over year, showing the company was rebounding from the impact of the pandemic. During Airbnb's earnings call earlier in May, CEO Brian Chesky said the company was going to work to point demand from customers to where it knows it has the supply from hosts. The changes may help it do that.

Chesky said Monday that Airbnb is also making the updates because people are less tethered to home and work, are traveling more frequently and are staying at their travel destinations longer.