Airbnb is taking themed accommodations to the next level with its new Icons category, featuring a collection of stays that offer an immersive experience centered around music, film, television, art, sports and more.
18.04.2024 - 07:35 / skift.com / Brian Chesky / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden / Jose Marmolejos
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, April 18. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky’s 10-year pay package, announced in 2021, could hit $1 billion or more if the company’s share price hits certain price targets, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.
Airbnb said recently the potential value of Cheksy’s eight remaining tranches of unearned shares at the end of 2023 was $1.3 billion. However, Schaal notes it’s far from certain that Chesky will receive the shares. Airbnb awarded Chesky a pay package with 12 million restricted stock units that the company valued at $430 million in November 2020 before Airbnb’s IPO.
The potential payout would be based on whether Airbnb’s share price hits the designated thresholds as well as the actual share price on the date an earned award settles.
Next, Europe’s largest tour operator TUI announced in February it would be offering sustainability-linked bonds. Travel Experiences Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz delves into whether those bonds are a step toward more sustainable tourism or a form of greenwashing.
TUI’s sustainability-linked bonds are tied to an overall environmental target – if it misses the target, it pays a higher interest rate. The Germany-based tour operator has linked its bonds to its airline division, which is responsible for 70% of the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
However, Chase-Lubitz notes some climate finance experts aren’t sold on the new instruments: They don’t have a long track record and there’s no standard for measuring progress. An executive at a global investment bank described sustainability-linked bonds as the Wild West.
Finally, Google is releasing new features that aim to promote greener ways of travel, writes Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes.
Dawes reports the new features will appear in its Maps, Search, Flights and Hotels products, adding some of those features are powered by generative artificial intelligence. Google Maps will also include features to help electric vehicle drivers locate charging stations. Dawes also notes Google’s Travel Impact Model is free to other tech companies that want to embed carbon emissions info into their websites or apps.
Presenter/Producer: Jose Marmolejos
Airbnb is taking themed accommodations to the next level with its new Icons category, featuring a collection of stays that offer an immersive experience centered around music, film, television, art, sports and more.
Airbnb’s Brian Chesky has entered his next innovation era. He sat down with Skift this week at a product event in Los Angeles for a wide ranging interview on AI, loyalty programs, Airbnb for corporate travelers and his billion-dollar pay package. We also talked about the company’s launch of almost a dozen immersive, experience-based homes that they’re calling ‘Icons.’
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky says a points-based loyalty program is not in the company’s future.
You may have missed the chance to spend the night in Barbie's Malibu DreamHouse or Shrek's Swamp, but don't fret, because Airbnb just took its once-in-a-lifetime stays and experiences up a notch. On May 1, Airbnb announced its latest category, Icons, a new vertical for “extraordinary experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports, and more.” Airbnb's goal is to bring some of travelers' wildest dreams to life—from witnessing the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games along the River Seine in Paris (on a terrace in the Musée d’Orsay designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of the torch and cauldron for the Paris 2024 Games), to spending the night in the Ferrari Museum in Italy (and taking a lap with Scuderia Ferrari ambassador driver Marc Gené while you're there). With overnight stays in jaw-dropping locations and experiences you won't soon forget, these listings certainly live up to their name.
The sleek mansion in the hills overlooking Las Vegas could have been featured on MTV’s “Cribs.” But the highlight of Aubrey Garza’s weekend stay there wasn’t the palatial rooms or the marble fireplace. It was meeting her Airbnb host: Christina Aguilera.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has frequently mentioned the creative ways the brand has tried to stay top of mind beyond traditional advertising. This included its Barbie House, which attracted the 250 million social media impressions last year.
Dubai is no stranger to building things and tearing them down, and one day, its global airport could meet the same fate.
If mom’s idea of a great getaway is using someone else’s kitchen to prepare lavish feasts, well, celebrate that. Especially if you’re invited on the trip! Rental properties are notorious for having dangerously dull knives, a lack of specialty kitchen equipment and often a selection of essentially much more stark than what was promised. Help mom feel prepared and pampered in any kitchen with these great gifts for cooks who love to chef it up at an Airbnb, VRBO or any rental home away from home.
Visit Florida is about to jump start tourism to its overlooked hidden gems in its northwestern region. The destination marketing organization was awarded a $10.5 million grant earlier this month to promote the eight counties in that region, said Visit Florida CEO and President Dana Young.
Earlier this week, Jefferies CEO Rich Handler sold $65 million worth of stock in the investment bank — enough to warrant a press release — partly to buy a yacht from his friend and client, hospitality billionaire and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.
Travel executive pay is a topic we’ve covered extensively at Skift. In this episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, our full-time hosts, Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and Head of Research Seth Borko discuss several issues related to those often large pay packages — including compensation for Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, whose 10-year pay package could turn into $1 billion or more.
Most commercial airplanes end their life in aircraft "graveyards," where they are disassembled and discarded or recycled.