Latest news with #AirBnb
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE We live in the cheapest seaside town in the UK - it's in the middle of nowhere and it rains all the time - but we love it
It's a town so adored by locals that Paul McCartney dedicated his hit song to it in 1977. Located along the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland - 140 miles from Glasgow -Campbeltown sits on the coast and largely inspired The Beatles star's famous folk number 'Mull of Kintyre', which topped the UK charts for nine weeks straight. McCartney owned High Park Farm just outside the town and, like many of the 4,500 residents still living there today, loved the area for its idyllic setting and quieter way of life. Campbeltown made new headlines this week when it was named the cheapest coastal region to buy a property in the whole of the UK - much to the surprise of its adoring residents. The average home in the area is just £103,078, research by Lloyds Bank found, compared to the £965,708 you'd have to fork out to buy in Sandbanks, Dorset, the most expensive seaside town. Audrey Jopson, who moved to Campbeltown seven years ago to experience its small town charm, told MailOnline: 'It's lovely. It's peaceful, quiet, and everybody's friendly.' One shop owner, who was born in the town, said: 'It's just a different way of life. It's so relaxed, so beautiful; the beaches, walks, fresh air, the whole atmosphere of Campbeltown is lovely. 'It's a beautiful place to live. I don't understand [why it's cheap] because the properties are beautiful, absolutely stunning.' The shop owner travels between Edinburgh and Campbeltown and rents his seaside home of 30 years as an AirBnb - a phenomenon becoming ever more common within seaside towns across the UK as holidaymakers flock to the coast to escape city life. Emilia McMillan, proprietor at estate agent Kintyre Property Co., said the growing number of holiday lets in Campbeltown are making it harder for locals to rent. 'The properties are great, especially for those who are looking to invest, Buy To Let, it's very good return,' she said. 'Holiday lets are very good return, because quite a lot is happening although it's a small town, in the summer especially. 'Flats are ranging from £30,000, even less, to £60-70,000; it depends on the area, the condition and the size of it.' Ms McMillan added: 'The actual houses are very popular; unfortunately there is a shortage of those, for renters, because there are quite a lot of people buying to put them through AirBnb, so that's creating a shortage of housing. '[So it's difficult] maybe not to buy but to rent.' Containing two primary schools, one high school, a police station, Post Office, health centre, leisure centre, churches, several pubs, cafes and a vets, the town arguably has everything one would need to happily live there forever. Additionally, the area even boasts the tiny Campbeltown Airport, which offers twice-a-day, 17-seat flights to Glasgow taking just 45 minutes - by far the quickest way to travel to the nearest major city. But for the younger members of the town, settling there for the rest of their lives seems unlikely given the limited career and social opportunities. Millie West, 19, who runs second hand shop Campbeltown Supplies with her family, adores Campbeltown but has dreams to one day go off to college. 'I've lived here for nearly 18 years. I really like that it's a lot quieter, because in the bigger areas there's a lot more violence and everything. Here, you kind of know everybody, at least by face, so you know what's happening. 'Also, everyone kind of flocks together. Here we did all this on our own. Everyone helping out, everyone chipping in, everyone helping each other, it's a really good community for that. 'Obviously with it being so small, you can walk about a lot so it's not always that you need a car to get here, a car to get there.' Ms West said the nightlife is 'decent' for youngsters, with a few pubs and a DJ night on Saturdays. 'There are a couple of pubs that people tend to flock to, like The Feather and The Commercial,' she said. 'Because you can get the DJs in there on a Saturday night in The Feathers, and there's a pool table and everything in The Comms.' Information signs at Linda's memorial garden in Campbeltown, which explain what she did for the town and its surrounding areas On whether she wants to stay in Campbeltown forever, Ms West said: 'Probably not, but while I'm young I'm enjoying my time here. 'Eventually, hopefully, I'll go off to college or something because I've not done that yet. 'But it's something in the pages for me - I'm not quite there yet - but hopefully, eventually, I'll get there, and I'll be able to do my own things, and get a job that I'm wanting to do. Obviously I'm wanting to do this [run the shop]; it was my idea.' Ms West said it is possible youngsters will be able to buy houses one day, but it's made harder by the limited job opportunities in the area. 'It kind of depends what kind of job you're wanting to do [...] because there's not an awful lot of jobs around here,' she said. The teenager said it rains a lot but 'you get used to it' quickly. Like Ms West, 22-year-old Demi has lived in Campbeltown her whole life and works in the town's sweet shop. 'I think because you're used to it, if you were to come back, you'd probably see there're a lot more things to do in Glasgow, or wherever else, but it's good. Everybody knows everybody as well.' On whether she will leave Campbeltown, Demi said: 'I don't think so. I did think about it for uni when I wanted to go. I stayed. I was going to but I decided not to. 'I don't think I would cope with the business of a different setting. 'There're two primary schools in the town, and there's one high school. There are not too many people you wouldn't know.' Considering whether she will buy a house in the town one day, Demi said: 'Eventually yeah. I'm still living at home right now just saving, but hopefully a wee flat or something.' Despite its small size, Campbeltown was dubbed the 'Whisky Capital of the World' during the 19th Century due to its role as a major whisky production centre. At its peak, the town boasted more than 30 active distilleries, with three still operating there today. But perhaps what the town is most famous for is its links to The Beatles star McCartney, who bought High Park Farm just outside Campbeltown in 1966, marking his first home with his then wife, Linda. Before Linda's tragic death from breast cancer in 1998, the couple were married for three decades and had three children together, sharing a love for Campbeltown and its surrounding areas. Seven years after his public split from The Beatles, McCartney released 'Mull of Kintyre' in 1977 with his new rock band, Wings. The song details McCartney's 'desire is always to be here, Oh, Mull of Kintyre' and expresses his love for the area's 'dark distant mountains with valleys of green'. The hit's music video features McCartney, Linda and co-founder of Wings Denny Laine, strolling through the peninsula's hills. The clip also famously features The Campbeltown Pipe Band, made up of seven pipers and seven drummers, most of whom remain in Kintyre today. McCartney and his first wife were so devoted to the area that a memorial garden for Linda stands in Campbeltown's centre today, featuring a statue of Linda holding a lamb. Eunice Crook, a trustee at Campbeltown Heritage Centre, is an expert on the town's history - having been born there - and recently moved back after years away ever since attending university. Mrs Crook said she was not surprised to see Campbeltown offered the greatest value for money on properties and described it as a 'great place to live'. 'My husband and I were living in Glasgow [...], we spent a lot of time overseas, and then after Covid we decided that we needed to get out of Glasgow. 'We were looking around and Campbeltown was one of the places on our list, and it turned out that the right house came up here and we absolutely love it; we haven't regretted at all coming back.' Mrs Crook added: 'It's a nice community, it's a nice place to live. Although it's 140 miles from Glasgow, because it's the largest town for miles around, you've got the health centre, the leisure centre, we've got good connections. We've got everything you need. 'Given our age we wanted to be able to walk to a shop basically. We bought the house. Because I'm essentially local, and my sisters still lived here, I knew you could get good value for money in Campbeltown. And there are a lot of very nice properties.' Kenny McMillan, a 70-year-old mechanic who has lived in Campbeltown his whole life, said the cheap property prices are a reflection of the low wages offered to workers in the area. 'We've lost a lot of people as they go to university, colleges, and their jobs are not here to come back to,' he said. '[Property prices] are reflected in the wages. It's an attraction for people to come here and retire.' He added: 'I like the remoteness because I go to Glasgow a lot. We don't have the same problems you have in the cities.' Meanwhile, others were not born in Campbeltown and flocked to the area more recently for its offer of a quieter life. Ali Nash, 32, who runs a barber shop in the town centre, made the move from Liverpool to Campbeltown last year, and said he has bought his own house. 'It's a quiet town so a safe town,' he said. 'Liverpool is a busy town; it's better for the young but here is a quieter town, for safety.' Recent research by Lloyds found that Rothesay, on Bute, was the second least expensive seaside town in Scotland to buy a property, with an average of £111,764, followed by Millport, in Cumbrae, where the average cost was £114,008 and the Bute village of Port Bannatyne close behind with £115,421.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PGA Championship bringing financial boom to Charlotte
Tens of thousands of golf fans are in town for this week's PGA Championship in south Charlotte and they were out in full force for the first round on Thursday. Channel 9's Joe Bruno spoke to fans who are enjoying the world-class golf at Quail Hollow Golf Club. 'Oh, it's fantastic, all the different cultures, different people; it is wonderful,' fan Nat Gorham said. RELATED: PGA Championship brings business, spotlight to local suppliers Fans are also praising the course's conditions. 'The course is immaculate. It's great it drains well. The rain doesn't really affect it much,' Reece Dorton said. 'You can't ask for a better golf course to play on.' The large crowds are also bringing in tons of extra cash for local businesses. Back in 2017, the event brought in 100 million dollars of economic impact, according to the CRVA. Tournament officials are hoping to surpass that as the world descends on Charlotte to watch the top golfers at Quail Hollow. Charlotte is counting on those out-of-towners to spend big while here. In 2017, hotel demand was up 50 percent compared to the same period the year before. And AirBnb said at the time, the Friday of the tournament was the biggest night ever in the city for guest arrivals It's a hard ticket to get. Passes will run you a couple of hundred dollars if you don't already have one. But at least, unlike the last PGA Championship, all food and non-alcoholic drinks are included. The PGA Championship follows the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow in 2022. The 200 thousand attendees that year brought in more than 130 million to our economy. Fans hope the Queen City keeps landing big golf events 'It brings more attention,' Dorton said. 'I've been here all my life and I think this brings great attention and economy to the city." Nearly half of the attendees of the Presidents Cup stayed at some point overnight, with more than 145-thousand hotel rooms sold during that 6-day event. Charlotte's figures for the PGA Championship will be released in a couple of months. (WATCH BELOW: Fans, golfers take on PGA Championship practice rounds after Monday's washout)
Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Brooklyn Beckham given sweet backing by important family member amid 'feud'
Brooklyn Beckham is said to have had a falling out with parents, David and Victoria Beckham, which caused him to miss his dad's 50th birthday celebrations earlier in the month Brooklyn Beckham has received online support from a family member after an apparent feud saw him miss his dad's birthday celebrations. Brooklyn, 26, and his wife Nicola Peltz, 30, failed to turn up to any of former footballer David Beckham's 50th birthday celebrations earlier in the month, leading to intense speculation their was a family divide. While David and Victoria have continued to stay silent on the allegations, it appears his nan Sandra is supporting her grandson. Brooklyn previously took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of his nan hugging into him. Sandra is seen patting Brooklyn's belly as his wife flanks him on his other side. Nicola was wearing a lemon low-cut dress for the occasion as they all smiled at the camera. But it's his latest post following his link-up with Air Bnb that had Sandra sharing support. Brooklyn took to his platform and wrote: "Big thanks to @airbnb for having me at their Summer Release. They're rolling out some amazing new experiences and you can book mine on May 15th! "We'll be mixing cocktails, plating perfection, and experiencing the heat of my @cloud23 hot sauce." Brooklyn's paternal grandmother Sandra shared a comment on the post of an emoji showing two raised hands emojis. There was also a heart emoji. Picking up on the comment, another follower wrote: "I love that Brooklyn's grandma always supports him. Everyone needs a grandma like Sandra." However, others pleaded with Brooklyn to end any family feud he may have with his parents. "Go and speak to your family!!!" one user penned. "Your Mum and Dad will always be there for you xxx." Another added: "You guys are cute, but more so next to David… it's very sad." While they seems to be a rift between Brooklyn and his parents, reports suggest he sees his wife's family as his sanctuary "where he can hide away". Since reports of their rift, Brooklyn has reportedly found a "second mum" in the Peltz clan. It's said he feels he can "hide away" with "less pressure". Sources have claimed Nicola's mother Claudia, 70, and billionaire father Nelson, 82, have become a "sanctuary" to Brooklyn. One insider told The Sun: "Claudia is like a second mother to him and, although they are billionaires, Nicola and her brothers had more of a 'normal' upbringing because they didn't have the media intrusion, which Brooklyn has always found so hard. "He sees them as a kind of sanctuary where he can hide away if he wants to, but that is almost impossible in the Beckham family, they always seem to be on show. There is less pressure on him in a way."
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Brooklyn passionately kisses Nicola and makes clear stand despite family feud
Brooklyn Beckham passionately kissed his actress wife, Nicola Peltz, as they put on a united front at a party amid their reported family feud. The duo, who matched in all-black outfits as they attended an AirBnb party this week, looked hopelessly in love as they embraced and kissed while posing for many photos. "Big thanks to @airbnb for having me at their Summer Release," Nicola captioned her post for her 3.1million followers. "They're rolling out some amazing new experiences and you can book mine on May 15th! We'll be mixing cocktails, plating perfection, and experiencing the heat of my @cloud23 hot sauce." She shared a slew of loving snaps, including one of her sitting on Brooklyn's lap as he wrapped his hands around her waist. There was also a picture of aspiring chef Brooklyn planting a kiss on her forehead as she beamed for the camera. Brooklyn also took to his Instagram page to share a carousel of similar photos as he used the caption to promote Airbnb. The former aspiring photographer, 26, and billionaire heiress Nicola, 30, have kept their distance from the Beckham clan both online and in the real world over recent works, with the pair even snubbing David Beckham's 50th birthday earlier this month. The family issues with Brooklyn and Nicola reportedly started from Romeo Beckham, 22, finding love with Kim Turnbull, 24, who is thought to be one of Brooklyn's exes. Things got so bad in the family that Brooklyn had been ignoring his parents attempts to chat. It comes after the married couple, who are locked in a bitter feud with Brooklyn's parents and siblings, recently enjoyed a star-studded night out with Nicola's brother and pals. Amid the family rift, David seemingly tried to make things better by reaching out as he shared a united post on American Mother's Day - which is almost two months after the annual holiday was observed in the UK. Despite being British, David took advantage of the symbolic day to post a photo of wife Victoria with all four of their offspring. The iconic footballer posted a throwback snap of his wife Victoria, cradling their daughter Harper Seven as a baby on her chest, sided by their sons Brooklyn, Romeo, and Cruz hugging the singer-turned-fashion designer. With the sweet photo, he penned: "Happy Mother's Day to the best mommy. To all our friends in the U.S. Happy Mother's Day." Intriguingly, he made it a point to tag his sons, including Brooklyn. Fans are speculating whether this could be the footballer's way of reaching out to his son through the Mother's Day tribute.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘India is a long game; over time, it will become one of the biggest markets for us,' says Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Brian, you mentioned that 2025 marks the beginning of Airbnb's next chapter. What will be fundamentally different in this new phase—and what core aspects of Airbnb will remain unchanged? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Could we see Airbnb become a super-app for travel—accommodations, experiences, payments, insurance, and an AI-driven concierge all in one? Perhaps a platform not just for travellers and hosts, but also for local creators and entrepreneurs offering different services? With Airbnb's latest expansion of services, do you feel the company is starting to resemble the very hotel industry it once set out to disrupt? Amid escalating geopolitical tensions and disruption by Trump tariffs, have you observed significant shifts in global travel patterns or traveler sentiment on Airbnb's platform? Is volatile geopolitics the new normal for global businesses like Airbnb? Is AirBnb diversified and derisked enough to tackle these issues? With about 70% of Airbnb's gross booking value coming from five core markets—the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Australia—where does India currently stand, and how has the business performed in recent years? Ceos of most top hospitality companies have visited India in last two months … Is Airbnb India profitable on a standalone basis? Has the Indo-Pak conflict hit bookings on Airbnb India? How do you see AI reshaping the future of hospitality? You're integrating AI into customer service and product experiences—but is AI just a feature enhancement for Airbnb, or do you see it becoming foundational to Airbnb's moat in the next few years? If you were starting from scratch today—with no brand, no funding, just your skills and instincts—what kind of startup would you build in 2025? Airbnb is playing the long game in India, betting on a rapidly growing Gen Z and millennial population to turn one of its fastest growing markets into one of its biggest, and projecting the potential global spending by Indian travellers to reach $29 billion by 2029.'We are still in an investment mode in India, and we will be investing very heavily in the coming years,' says cofounder and chief executive Brian years after its launch, Airbnb is diversifying, which he says will make the San Francisco-based company 'a true tech platform, a real-world global community', from just a travel an interview with ET's Vinod Mahanta, Chesky talks about Airbnb's new avatar, doing business in a volatile global geopolitical environment and how artificial intelligence would impact hospitality and the me start with what's not changing, and then I'll get into what you want to book a home on Airbnb—say, starting May 13—you can still do that just like before. No changes there. We've got nearly 4 million people staying with us every night, and most of them love the experience. That core product remains the what we stand for isn't changing either. We've always been about travel, about connection, about helping people have real, authentic experiences when they're away from home. That's still what drives beyond that, we're making some pretty big are three major ones, and probably the biggest is what we're calling Airbnb Services . Honestly, I'm really excited about this. Back when we first started, people used to ask, 'What else can you Airbnb?' Some assumed the next big thing would be cars or something like that. But over time, we realised the most valuable thing people have isn't their home or their car—it's their time, their skills, their we asked ourselves: what if you could Airbnb more than just a place to stay?Airbnb has become both a noun and a verb. It means somewhere to stay. But we saw a chance for it to mean more. So we did the research, talked to a lot of guests, and what we found was clear. There are a bunch of services travellers want that don't currently exist in a simple, trusted told us they'd love to have a meal prepped and ready in the fridge. Some wanted a chef to come over and cook. Others were traveling for weddings and needed makeup or hair styling. A lot wanted a photographer to capture memories. Some were just looking to stay active, not in a hotel gym, but with a real personal trainer. All of it made while we were building Airbnb Services, we started thinking about Airbnb Experiences, which we launched back in 2016. People really liked them—but they never quite broke we stepped back and asked, what if we rebuilt experiences from scratch, based on everything we've learned from homes and services over the past few years? What if we found the most interesting people in the world and helped them share what they love?That's how Airbnb Originals came about. These are experiences designed to be unforgettable. They're personal, they're creative, and they're completely then we realised something else—our app wasn't built for any of this. It was designed for one thing: booking a home. We couldn't just tack on new features. So we rebuilt the entire app, from the underlying tech to the probably the biggest redesign we've ever done. And I don't think many apps used by this many people have gone through a change this wide, all at years ago, we changed how people travel. With services and experiences, we think we're about to do it again. Because now, Airbnb is more than a home. It's a way to travel one more thing—we're launching all this in 100 cities, across 28 categories, in two brand-new businesses. That's a huge lift. But even so, it feels like just the why. You don't have to be on a trip to use these. We designed them for travellers, but the truth is, you can use them right in your own city. You could book a live show on a Friday night or schedule something fun for the weekend. These new services and experiences aren't just for vacations. They can fit right into your everyday is a big shift for Airbnb. And we're just getting I've always hoped Airbnb could become more than just an app. There really aren't many super apps in the U.S., nothing like WeChat. Now, I don't know if we've earned the title 'super app' — that's a big one — but I do think Airbnb is officially becoming something more. In a way, it's starting to feel like many apps in about it. You can now book a home, a service, or an experience — all in one place. But we also built a full travel itinerary tool. We have a messaging platform with a lot of the functionality of iMessage or WhatsApp, but tailored just for our community. There's a rich profile system that acts as a gateway to your connections. And that's just the guest side. We have a dedicated host app services and experiences? This is just the beginning. We're launching with 10 services, but honestly, there are dozens more we can imagine. I think our services offering could evolve the way Amazon did — starting with books, then moving to CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys… and before you knew it, the U.S., two out of three jobs are in services. Globally, that's where the economy is headed. So yeah, we see a huge every year, hopefully, I'll sit down with you again and share more announcements about where this is all now, I think Airbnb is probably the biggest travel brand in the world. By many measures, we're likely the second largest travel business — maybe third, but probably second. That said, I don't see us as just a travel company is the start of something bigger — a true tech platform, a real-world global when I say 'community,' I mean it. This isn't just anonymous transactions. We've got nearly 200 million verified identities on Airbnb. These are real people, building real connections. It's not like a social network where you scroll past strangers — you actually meet people in person. There's something powerful in vision is simple: we want you to be able to travel anywhere, live anywhere, and belong anywhere. That's what we're building toward. A world where Airbnb connects you to people, spaces, services, experiences, and communities — wherever you we launched today? It's just scratching the also rebuilt the entire company from the ground up. The tech platform, the app… almost everything's been overhauled. What you see now is nearly a brand-new are 10 tabs in total — five for guests, five for hosts — and pretty much every single one was rewritten or redesigned for this we didn't just do it for services and experiences. We did it with the next five years in a great question. Ideally, I want to keep everything people already love about booking an Airbnb — and add everything they love about booking a for example, people choose Airbnbs for the space, for the unique amenities, and because they want a local, authentic experience. That's not changing. But a big reason people book hotels is for the services — and now, we're bringing those services to Airbnb thing is, we're not just matching hotels. We can offer things hotels don't — like having a private chef come cook for you in your home, instead of sending you to a restaurant. Or a photographer to capture your trip. Some hotels have spas, some don't — but we'll eventually offer a whole range of services most hotels wouldn't even dream beyond services, there's something hotels fundamentally don't have: experiences. That's a space we've always leaned new offerings are also meant to bring in people who may have never tried Airbnb before — especially hotel-first travellers — but we're doing it in a way that pulls them deeper into what makes Airbnb at the end of the day, what sets us apart from hotels is people. Hotels are often built around standardisation. They try to remove the human element as much as possible. Airbnb is the opposite. Every booking is with a real person, in a real place. And with these new service experiences, every reservation comes with that human connection — you're engaging with locals, not just me, that's where the world is headed. People are at the center of Airbnb. That's always been true. And yes, we're aiming to be much more than just an app — we're building a seen a few changes but not major shifts. The main thing I'd say is, our business is incredibly robust. Even when cross-border travel slows down, people still travel within their own countries. And we have very strong domestic markets. So if one country is a little soft, another often picks up the we saw this play out during the pandemic. At one point, we lost 80% of our business in eight weeks. That was a scary moment. But the recovery? Airbnb bounced back faster than hotels. And that's an important Because people started booking places just a car ride away. They used Airbnbs to shelter in place, to get out of the city, to feel safe. We adapted quickly — and that flexibility is kind of built into our actually mentioned this in our shareholder letter too: Airbnb is resilient. Of course, we're not immune to the economy. Travel is largely discretionary, so economic slowdowns affect us. But the business is incredibly with the launch of services and experiences, I think we'll be even more insulated from shifts in travel patterns. The more diverse our offerings become, the less dependent we are on any one kind of trip or traveler. That's where we're far, there's no question — and it's not even close — Airbnb is in a totally different league. The reason is, even with just our core business, we've built something that goes far beyond what most hotels or OTAs have. A lot of them are pretty US- or Europe-centric. Sure, we're strong in the US and Europe too — but our fastest-growing markets are in Latin America and we're everywhere. We've got budget homes, we've got luxury homes. We're in big cities, but we're also in rural areas where there are no hotels at all. We attract young travellers, but a lot of older travellers love us now, with services, we're diversifying even more. Services will bring in hotel travellers — for sure — but they'll also increase stickiness. People will start using Airbnb not just when they travel, but in their own cities. And that's a huge you have experiences, which I think are going to push Airbnb more into pop culture. We're already seeing really interesting people — even celebrities — come onto the platform. Some will use it while traveling, others will use it right where they live. That opens up a whole new a way, this is what big tech platforms do. The most successful ones aren't just vertical businesses — they're wide platforms. Think about it: you can search anything on Google. You can use your iPhone for almost anything. Their aperture is wide I think that's what this moment represents for us — it's the beginning of Airbnb widening its aperture. From just vacation rentals to something much we have our first five core markets, and then eight expansion markets after that. Right now, unfortunately, India isn't in that top cohort. It's not in the top 10 by current size — but it is one of the fastest-growing markets on I really believe India is a long game. Over time, I think it will become one of the biggest markets for look at the demographics — India has a huge population of Gen Z and millennials, and this group disproportionately chooses Airbnb compared to older generations. That's a strong going to be investing significantly in India in the coming years. And I think these new services we're launching will be very relevant to the Indian you've got this situation where India is not just one of the fastest-growing economies — it's also one of the fastest-growing large tourism markets in the world. And what makes it really exciting is the age of the travel base. India has the largest population of millennials and Gen Z in any country. That's a big travellers just don't have the same attachment to hotels that older generations do. A lot of them don't even remember a time before Airbnb — so they're not asking why they should use it. For them, it's more like, why wouldn't they?Some younger folks actually think hotels are the alternative to Airbnb, not the other way around. That tells you a lot about where the market's beyond that, India is incredibly plugged in — people are dialed into social media, they're curious, open to trying new things, new services, new platforms. All of that makes India anWe don't typically break down profitability on a country-by-country basis, so I can't speak to standalone numbers for India. But what I can say is—we're definitely investing in India. The size of the opportunity is huge, and the market's growing fast. Right now, India is very much in investment mode for us.I haven't looked at it recently, but I don't think anything has been materially affected. Right now, our main focus is on the safety of our employees — we have team members in India — and also the safety of our guests and hosts in both India and Pakistan. That's really where our attention is at the moment.I think AI will absolutely change hospitality — but it'll happen more slowly than in other industries. Eventually, like every industry, it'll be completely transformed by AI. But the nature of hospitality makes it a bit more resistant, at least in the near is going to disrupt things that are digital, repeatable, and, frankly, not very human. Hospitality doesn't fall neatly into that category. It's not entirely digital, it's not easily formulaic — and by definition, hospitality is service with heart. That human touch kinds of services we offer — the interactions between hosts and guests, the real-world experiences — those aren't the things AI is replacing anytime soon. Sure, humanoid robots are coming, but they'll be lifting boxes in warehouses long before they're giving massages or greeting you at a mountain said, I do think AI will completely change how we discover travel, how we plan it, how we communicate, how we get support. The front-end — everything from trip inspiration to booking and customer service — is going to be revolutionised. But the actual experience of traveling? The way we explore the world, meet people, and connect in person? I think that stays largely the same in the near to medium honestly, I think that's part of what makes Airbnb special. What we're doing is timeless. You could imagine something like Airbnb existing 100 years ago — just without the internet. It would've been harder to build trust or scale, sure, but the core idea? Staying in someone's home, sharing a meal, having an experience with a local — all of that is deeply human. And 100 years from now, I think people will still want those same in a world where everything is changing, I think it's worth asking: what won't change? And I believe the essence of Airbnb — real people, real places, real connections — will endure. But yes, the way we navigate that world? The tools we use to find it, book it, get support? That part is already being transformed by — 100%. Honestly, I can't imagine a tech company where AI isn't at the center of everything they do over the next 10 years. It would be like a software company in the last decade having nothing to do with the internet — it just wouldn't make sense. AI is going to be embedded into there are a lot of companies pushing the frontier of AI, but I think Airbnb has a unique opportunity to excel here. We've got one of the best design teams in the world, one of the best product teams, and we've consistently built great applications. But more than that, we're a very humanistic tech company. I think we've always had a strong vision and sensibility about how technology should serve what makes us especially interesting in this space is the kind of data we have — not just online behavior, but how people move through the real world. That gives us an edge in what I'd call applied AI — using AI to enhance how people live, travel, work, and really what we're imagining for the future: Airbnb as the ultimate travel and living concierge — something that truly gets to know you. I want to build the most personal personal AI ever created. One that can match you with people, places, experiences, communities. Something that helps you move through the world with ease and a way, we want to be the infrastructure for how people live their lives — and I think there's something really powerful in that so maybe just to wrap up — I actually think Airbnb is going to move into the AI future faster than the rest of the hospitality already talked about things like our AI-powered customer service agent, but that's just the start. I think you're going to see really significant changes on Airbnb over the next two years — like, truly transformational rest of the hospitality sector will probably follow, but I think it'll take longer. OTAs might get there sooner than hotels, but traditional hotels? I honestly don't think their operations will look meaningfully different in the next five years. Maybe small changes here and there, but nothing I think the Airbnb experience will feel completely different within two years. That's where we're I don't fully know. But what I do know is that if I were starting a company today, it would absolutely be AI-first. No I started Airbnb, the internet was really taking off and the iPhone had just launched. I was riding that wave — and if I were starting something now, I'd be riding the AI of course, it's not just about chasing a trend. You want to build something you're passionate about — something the world actually needs. So the question becomes: does the world need yet another AI company just building another model that ends up getting commoditised? I'm not sure that's where I could contribute something what I find interesting: people are spending more and more of their lives on devices. In the U.S., for example, the average Gen Z user spends around four hours a day on social media. With AI becoming more powerful and personalised, that number could easily go up. There's a real risk that we end up spending even more of our lives on now people are starting to build relationships with AI. It feels personal. It knows them. For some, it'll become a friend. For others, even a kind of pseudo-romantic partner. That raises a big question: do we want to raise a generation whose closest relationships are with AIs? Or do we want a world where their friends are people — where technology helps connect humans, not replace them?So if I were to start something new, it would still be an AI company — but it would be about people. It would use AI to bring people together in the real world. To make them feel less lonely, less divided. To get them off screens and back into the world. To help them experience more of what makes life honestly, I think that's what we're already doing with Airbnb. We didn't start as an AI-first company — AI wasn't where the world was when we began — but that's where we're headed. We're using technology to bring people together. That's the throughline, and that's what I'd want to keep building.
