AirBNB - A reinvention that exemplifies the essence of Experience-Driven Growth Model

Airbnb’s reinvention aligns with the three-layer structure of the Experience-Driven Growth Model

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, few companies faced a more dramatic existential crisis than Airbnb. As global travel came to a halt in early 2020, the company saw its revenue collapse by nearly 80 percent within a matter of weeks. Guests canceled bookings en masse, hosts deactivated listings, and public confidence in shared accommodations plummeted. The company, long heralded as a Silicon Valley success story, suddenly found itself fighting for survival. What followed, however, was not simply a recovery, it was a reinvention, and one that exemplifies the essence of Experience-Driven Growth Model as outlined in The Elastic Future of CX (Burggraaf, 2025).

Rather than defaulting to price cuts, aggressive marketing, or product-line expansion, Airbnb’s leadership made a strategic decision to center its rebound on one fundamental principle: experience is the business. CEO Brian Chesky articulated this shift in a defining moment when he said, “We’re not just about rooms. We’re about belonging.” This seemingly abstract ideal became the cornerstone of a very tangible, structured transformation, one that offers a model for how companies can grow not just by improving service, but by embedding customer experience into the architecture of their strategy, operations, and identity.

Airbnb’s reinvention aligns with the three-layer structure of the Experience-Driven Growth Model. The first layer, which focuses on CX levers, includes the specific experience design elements that shape customer behavior. During its post-pandemic transformation, Airbnb redesigned these levers with precision and intentionality. For instance, it introduced “AirCover,” a trust assurance program for guests and hosts that clearly outlined refund policies, safety protocols, and support escalation processes.

Equally strategic was the redesign of Airbnb’s search interface. The traditional logic of location-based search was replaced with thematic “Categories”, such as design-forward spaces, historic homes, or off-the-grid cabins. This shift reoriented user interaction away from transactional booking and toward experiential aspiration. Rather than merely fulfilling a need, Airbnb began activating desire, a move consistent with the value activation lever in the Experience-Driven Growth Model. By appealing to emotional and identity-based motives “Where do I want to feel something?” rather than “Where am I going?” Airbnb improved not only engagement metrics but also booking value and trip duration.

These experience levers had a measurable impact on the second layer of the model: business outcomes. Airbnb’s focus on effort reduction and expectation clarity led to reduced host churn during the most volatile months of 2020. Internally tracked behavioral data showed that the introduction of flexible search options, such as the “I’m Flexible” feature, significantly increased exploratory browsing and ultimately converted more off-season and off-path bookings. This capability helped Airbnb generate bookings in lower-density areas and expanding geographic coverage without needing to invest in new supply. It was a textbook example of elasticity in action: a relatively simple experience intervention yielded a disproportionate increase in revenue resilience and platform liquidity.

Moreover, Airbnb’s emphasis on emotional trust and identity resonance influenced key financial metrics such as customer lifetime value (CLV) and net revenue retention (NRR). As behavioral science has shown, trust functions as a form of long-term psychological capital (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Airbnb’s proactive moves to support hosts during the pandemic including fee reductions and financial relief, built loyalty in a moment of shared vulnerability. These trust-reinforcing experiences translated into host retention, new listing creation, and greater host willingness to expand offerings, which in turn strengthened the supply side of the platform and reinforced the growth flywheel.

What makes Airbnb’s transformation particularly aligned with The Elastic Future of CX is its commitment to the third and outermost layer of the model: transformation outcomes. Airbnb did not merely recover volume or stabilize revenue. It redefined the logic of travel and hospitality. The company emerged from crisis not as a place to book a bed, but as a platform for personal transformation. Through its UX, branding, and platform storytelling, Airbnb began helping customers frame their travel as a vehicle for creativity, renewal, and identity-making. The emphasis was no longer on the transaction, it was on the narrative of becoming.

This orientation is what Pine and Gilmore (2020) call the experience-to-transformation shift, where companies move beyond delivering services and begin facilitating personal growth. Airbnb’s “Live Anywhere” campaign, which encouraged remote workers to book long-term stays in unique global locations, was not about vacation - it was about life design. Users became digital nomads, creative retreaters, or family reconveners. They weren’t just staying somewhere - they were reimagining who they were. Airbnb facilitated these transformations not through discounts or ads, but through design, trust, and story.

In terms of CX elasticity, Airbnb demonstrated the strategic insight to understand that not all experience levers behave equally under pressure. Rather than overinvesting in superficial features or chasing churn through incentives, the company identified where elasticity was highest: trust, empowerment, simplicity, and emotional resonance. These were the domains where small design changes produced nonlinear returns, both in financial terms and in customer loyalty.

The Airbnb case reinforces the importance of executive conviction. Unlike many companies that treat experience as a functional area or post-sale concern, Airbnb placed experience design at the center of its strategy, operations, and brand promise. Cross-functional teams were aligned not around business units, but around experience goals. CX designers worked hand-in-hand with finance teams to model behavioral ROI. Support, trust and safety, and product teams co-owned journey performance. This holistic approach to experience governance enabled Airbnb to move beyond recovery and into an entirely new phase of growth.

How they did it

Airbnb placed Customer Experience (CX) at the forefront of its post-COVID strategy. While Airbnb has not always framed it explicitly in “CX terminology” like academic models do, its executive actions, product strategy, public communications, and financial results all demonstrate that experience design, trust-building, and user empowerment became central to its recovery and growth.

In multiple interviews and letters during and after the pandemic, CEO Brian Chesky emphasized that Airbnb’s recovery would not be driven by marketing or sales tactics—but by rebuilding trust and delivering meaningful, emotionally resonant experiences.

“Travel is going to become more intimate, more meaningful. People aren’t just looking for a place to stay. They’re looking for connection and belonging.” Brian Chesky, May 2020 (Airbnb Open Letter)

In a December 2020 interview with NPR, Chesky described how Airbnb had become “more focused than ever” on serving the core experience of staying in someone’s home, cutting non-core initiatives like Airbnb Studios and Hotels.

Product Redesigns Focused Entirely on Experience

Between 2021 and 2023, Airbnb launched dozens of product changes specifically aimed at improving guest and host experience:

“I’m Flexible” (2021) allowed users to search without specifying exact dates or locations—supporting experiential discovery rather than transactional search. “Airbnb Categories” (2022) restructured the homepage to surface unique, emotionally charged properties—e.g., Arctic, Creative Spaces, Historical Homes. This redefined how customers engaged with the platform and directly increased average booking value and trip duration.

“AirCover” for guests and hosts (2021–2022) introduced transparent protection, cancellation, and dispute resolution systems—explicitly designed to rebuild trust after COVID-related disruptions.

According to the company’s 2022 shareholder letter, 90% of redesigns released that year were focused on improving the core user experience and reducing customer support interactions.

Business Outcomes That Reflect CX-Led Growth

Airbnb’s CX-focused strategy correlated with measurable growth in experience-sensitive metrics:

Long-term stays (28+ days) became the fastest-growing booking category post-pandemic, making up over 20% of nights booked in 2022. This indicates increased trust, emotional connection, and perceived value—hallmarks of transformation outcomes in your model.

Airbnb reduced support tickets per booking by over 30% between 2020 and 2022, as noted in their earnings reports, showing that effort reduction and expectation clarity were being systematically addressed. In Q1 2023, Airbnb reported an all-time high net promoter score (NPS) and a continued shift toward direct bookings, suggesting rising brand loyalty and reduced reliance on paid acquisition.

Strategic Reorganization Around CX Principles In 2020–2021, Airbnb cut many non-core business units—including Hotels, Flights, and Luxury—choosing instead to double down on core host-guest experiences. The company also realigned product and support teams to work cross-functionally on end-to-end journey improvements.

Chesky also announced in May 2021 that Airbnb would act more like a design-led consumer company, placing user needs and simplicity above feature bloat. This reframing aligns closely with the operational integration and transformation outcomes in your Experience-Driven Growth model.

References

Burggraaf, P. (2025). The Elastic Future of CX: Rethinking Growth Through Experiences [Conceptual Paper].

Gilmore, J. H., & Pine, B. J. (2020). The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money (Updated ed.). Harvard Business Review Press.

Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20–38.

Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1999). The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. Harvard Business Press.