BENGALURU - Airbnb on Tuesday forecast current quarter revenue above market estimates on resilient travel demand, despite recession fears that have sparked concerns about consumer spending.

The home rental company said it expects to maintain 2022’s margin of 35 per cent, the highest since it went public in 2020, and keep a tight lid on costs to protect margins, sending its shares 10 per cent higher in extended trading.

It said domestic and short-distance travel continued to be strong, boosting occupancy rates at popular urban destinations, and noted improvement in long-distance and cross-border travel during the reported quarter, helped by a stronger US dollar and border reopening.

“We are excited to see the continued strong demand in (the first quarter of 2023),” Airbnb said in a letter to investors.

“We’re particularly encouraged by European guests booking their summer travel earlier this year and the market share gains we are seeing in Latin America, as well as the continued recovery within Asia-Pacific.”

Airbnb made a profit of US$319 million (S$423.8 million) in the final quarter of 2022 on revenue of nearly US$2 billion.

It finished 2022 with net income of US$1.9 billion compared with a loss of US$352 million the prior year, the San Francisco-based company reported.

People are getting back to crossing international borders and visiting cities in forms of travel that were “Airbnb’s bread and butter before the pandemic”, company chief executive Brian Chesky said on an earnings call.

Airbnb in mid-2020 slashed one fourth of its workforce – roughly 1,900 people – as the Covid-19 pandemic crushed the travel industry.

Airbnb ended 2022 with 6.6 million active listings of lodgings for rent, an all-time high, as home owners seek to make extra money in tough economic conditions, according to the letter to shareholders.

In late 2022, Airbnb made it easier for people to offer their homes for rent on its platform. REUTERS, AFP