An “pressing focus” on affordability has prompted Airbnb to advertise extra closely rooms inside individuals’s properties, reasonably than whole properties, shifting again to the journey platform’s roots.

The enterprise will elevate the prominence of its a million single-room listings as holidaymakers tighten their belts, and try to handle apprehension over the prospect of staying with a stranger.

Airbnb, more and more involved with the notion its service has grown dearer, will make room listings — sometimes cheaper than these for whole properties — extra seen on its platform from in the present day.

“Actions communicate louder than phrases,” Brian Chesky, co-founder and chief govt, instructed The Instances. “Our actions are that we now have prioritised essentially the most inexpensive technique to journey on Airbnb because the factor that we’ve chosen to spend money on.

“You all the time have to fulfill individuals the place they’re. It’s a must to be related to the market. We can’t be out of sync with the market. And what the general public is saying is, ‘We wish to lower your expenses’.”

With inflation and fears of recession looming over shoppers throughout a lot of its key markets, Airbnb has grappled lately with claims that its platform had grown dearer. Final yr it sought to make the whole value of bookings clearer following frustration with cleansing charges on prime of core charges.

In an try to deal with issues over security, and unease across the prospect of staying inside somebody’s house, Airbnb may even encourage hosts — the individuals who hire out rooms on its platform — to share extra details about themselves with customers.

“The No 1 reply is lots of people stated they felt uncomfortable staying with a stranger of their house,” Chesky stated. “And I get it. That appears like just a little little bit of a loopy thought.”

Single-room listings on Airbnb may even clearly mark whether or not the room has a lock, if the lavatory is shared or personal, and who else can be staying on the property. Hosts will have the ability to share tidbits, corresponding to the place they went to high school, in “passports” for customers to peruse.

Primarily based in San Francisco, Airbnb is among the world’s largest journey companies. Based in 2008 and as Airbed & Breakfast, the platform initially let individuals hire out rooms to travellers, earlier than increasing to permit entire properties the next yr. As we speak it has some 6.6 million listings and, having gone public in 2020, the group has a inventory market valuation of $76 billion.

The corporate has confronted accusations of fuelling “overtourism” in areas corresponding to Cornwall, the place some residents complain {that a} increase in Airbnb properties has intensified the height journey season and exacerbated a housing disaster.

“The larger a enterprise is, the extra scrutiny or criticism it deserves,” Chesky stated. “Is all of it truthful? Most likely not. Broad brushstrokes. We’re not liable for all of the individuals coming off cruise ships and flooding vacationer districts.

“I believe the overwhelming majority of individuals on Airbnb keep longer than they [would] keep in lodges, so possibly they’re — by definition — much less transient than resort travellers. Fifty per cent of our nights are for stays longer than per week.

“A few of the criticism is truthful. I believe it actually varies from metropolis to metropolis. Typically, once I speak to cities, I believe it helps greater than it hurts them.

“I by no means wish to make a broad blanket assertion like, ‘We’re good in all places for everybody’. For those who say that, you then’re not being considerate about what detrimental impression you’ve got. It’s a must to be nuanced; you need to go metropolis by metropolis, group by group.”

A change on Airbnb’s platform final yr, encouraging customers to seek for potential journeys by class, reasonably than location, has been “fairly efficient” to date at redistributing demand, Chesky claimed.

In future, its search operate may prioritise areas that need extra tourism over people who need much less. “We haven’t figured that half out but,” he stated. “However I believe it’s solvable down the street.”