Airbnb has rejected claims made in a viral tweet stating that revenue for property owners in certain US cities has plummeted by almost 50%. According to the tweet, cities like Sevierville, Tennessee, Phoenix, and Austin witnessed significant declines in revenue per available listing (RevPAL). However, Airbnb spokesperson Sam Randall stated that the data presented in the tweet is inconsistent with their own data, which shows a robust increase in the number of guests traveling on Airbnb. Additionally, AirDNA, another provider of short-term rental data, reported more modest single-digit declines in the same markets. While Airbnb anticipates slower year-over-year growth in the second quarter, it expects strong demand for short-term rentals overall, a sentiment echoed by AirDNA.

"RevPAR is a metric that Airbnb hosts use to measure how much their listings make. It’s the same standard the hotel industry uses to assess performance of its properties. In the context of Airbnb listings, RevPAR takes into account the rental price plus cleaning fees set by hosts, multiplied by the occupancy rate.

It offers a more accurate assessment than RevPAL because it excludes the dates on which the listing is not available for booking, Lane said. A full-year comparison would offer a fairer view than just a three-month period, as Gerli reported, due to seasonality in each market, Lane said."

Airbnb Disputes ‘Collapse’ in Host Revenue, Sees Strong Demand

Airbnb Disputes ‘Collapse’ in Host Revenue, Sees Strong Demand (Bloomberg)