Airbnb is targeting India’s large millennial and Gen Z population to fuel its expansion, said Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk. The online accommodation platform has rolled out new offerings like Airbnb Services and Airbnb Experiences, along with a redesigned app.
Blecharczyk expressed confidence that the Experiences feature—which lets travelers discover cities through local guides—holds strong growth potential in the Indian market.
“India is an incredibly important market for Airbnb…to state the obvious, the largest (population-wise) country in the world, and the largest population of young people, specifically millennials and Gen Z—that’s the target audience for Airbnb,” he said when asked how it is looking at the Indian market.
Blecharczyk added that these young travelers—driven by a sense of adventure and a desire to explore the world—are drawn to the idea of staying in unique homes and sharing memorable experiences with friends.
“So that’s our target audience, and we’ve seen great success with India. We’ve seen a 40 percent increase in the number of millennials and Gen Z booking on Airbnb year over year. If you look at Q4 of 2024 relative to Q4 of 2023, we’ve seen a 40 percent increase in those young people using Airbnb. That is a great growth trajectory,” he asserted.
He further said, “We see that 90 percent of our first-time guests from India are these young people. They are the ones adopting Airbnb. This is really a great sign for us that we’re tapping into this huge population. It is our target audience, and we’re seeing great traction with them.”
Stating that 90 percent of Indian travelers on Airbnb choose “their destination, having a certain idea in their mind of what they want to experience,” he said, “…they want to go to the top spots, the top destinations that are trending right now for summer international travel. It’s London, it’s Amsterdam, it’s Paris, it’s the places that they see the (Bollywood) stars going to.”
He further said, “Getting to meet a local person, getting to meet other travelers over making pasta or pastries with a Michelin-star chef or someone who’s a real expert, I think that’s going to be an exciting experience for young Indian travelers.”
As part of Airbnb Services, the company has introduced 10 distinct service categories that travelers can book. These include fully customizable in-home meals prepared by professional chefs, personalized photo sessions with experienced photographers, massages provided by certified therapists, and fitness training sessions such as yoga and strength training with personal trainers—including renowned fitness experts and world champion athletes.
Commenting on the Indian domestic market, he said it is “certainly very large in India and growing very quickly. We see great growth there as well, and we think that’s an opportunity for sure, especially even with experiences.”
Elaborating, Blecharczyk said, “When we did surveys, Indian travelers told us that 50 percent of them would be interested in doing these experiences on their own in their own city. We talked about it as a travel use case, but actually, people are looking to have interesting things to do and meet people in authentic ways.”
Asked about the impact of the India-Pakistan military conflict, he did not offer a specific comment while wishing a “swift and peaceful resolution,” but said, “Around the world, disruptions happen, and what we see is that there’s still a strong interest to travel.”
There might be a change in the travel pattern. The people decide they are not going to go to one place but to another, but they still travel, he added.
“We saw this during Covid, and we’ve seen this with other conflicts. From the Airbnb perspective, we have homes in over 190 countries, and wherever you might want to go, we have something to offer you,” Blecharczyk.
Airbnb’s latest offerings—including Airbnb Services and Experiences—highlight the company’s strategic focus on India’s millennial and Gen Z travelers. By catering to their desire for authentic, immersive, and personalized experiences, Airbnb is positioning itself not just as a stay provider but as a comprehensive travel lifestyle platform. With an expanding suite of services and a revamped app, Airbnb aims to deepen engagement, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive growth in one of its most promising emerging markets.
