It's been a while since we looked at how apps that were hit the hardest by covid lockdowns are faring. I'm happy to share some good news.
Airbnb was one of the apps that got hurt by covid lockdowns the most. It was doing so well in 2019, but then lockdowns made growth very hard, and downloads got cut by as much as 80%.
Airbnb spent most of 2021 rebuilding that growth, and as of this week, hit a single-day downloads higher than any day going back pre-pandemic.
Our estimates show that in 2018, daily downloads averaged around 80,000. That grew to about 100,000 in 2019, but hit a low of under 30,000 in the early days of the pandemic. It averaged 60,000 in 2020 and in 2021 climbed back to around 80,0000 daily downloads.
2022 has been Airbnb's greatest rally!
Daily downloads have been growing steadily, and this Tuesday, crossed 158,000, according to our estimates. That's higher than any single day going back as far as 2017. The previous high was set in January of 2020, pre-pandemic.
I can't guarantee this crazy growth will continue forever, but having looked at many other apps that suffered, I don't think it'll stop any time soon. The demand for IRL is back, and it's strong.
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