In December 2020, Airbnb led the U.S. biggest IPO of the year. The lodging and tourism experience platform shares soared in their stock market debut, valuing the home rental firm at $101.6 billion, capping a bumper year that saw investors flock to tech darlings.
A month earlier, Airbnb’s paperwork showed a slowdown in its core business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Airbnb reported revenue of $2.52 billion for the nine months ended Sept. 30 compared with $3.7 billion a year earlier, according to its S-1 filing. Net losses widened to $697 million, from $323 million a year earlier.
To cope with the pandemic challenges, Airbnb implemented a series of innovations. One of them was the online experiences. In August 2020, these experiences included Mexico’s destinations: Airbnb and the Conservatory of Mexican Gastronomic Culture (CCGM) partnered up to offer a series of online experiences taught by chefs and local producers. The alliance is was a joint strategy to promote the country’s culinary tradition, as well as to encourage tourism and the recovery of Mexico’s travel destinations.
