Airbnb Hires Former Booking.com Hotel Boss

Airbnb Just Poached Its Rival’s Hotel Boss

Airbnb gave up on being just about spare bedrooms and treehouses a long time ago. Now, it's making a deliberate push into boutique hotels—and it brought in serious muscle to pull it off. Pepijn Rijvers, former head of hotels at Booking.com and a veteran Tripadvisor executive, has taken over as chief business officer.

If you're wondering why Airbnb raided its biggest competitor's roster, look straight at CEO Brian Chesky’s roadmap. Pitching boutique properties requires deep supply relationships, industry credibility, and a real knack for persuading hotel owners who'd usually stick to legacy OTAs. Rijvers brings all three.

The Man Behind Booking’s Hotel Juggernaut

He isn't a tech executive learning hospitality on the fly. At Booking.com, Rijvers ran the hotel division during a massive inventory expansion that built the platform into an absolute monster. Later, he led marketing and managed tours and activities over at Viator. That specific combination—scaling room supply while driving experiences—is precisely what Airbnb wants next.

Travelers don't strictly separate boutique stays from private rentals anymore, so platforms across the board are fighting for veteran operators. It’s part of a broader executive scramble, echoing moves like Choice Hotels Names Insider CEO to Battle Rivals as legacy hospitality brands and digital disruptors reshuffle their top ranks to defend turf.

What This Means Next Time You Book

What does an executive C-suite move actually change when you open the app? Better inventory, mostly. Airbnb has struggled at times to match the reliable service standards and consistency that traditional boutique hotels deliver. Hiring a veteran who spent years constructing global hotel networks signals an aggressive push to smooth out those rough edges.

Expect a far heavier push into curated, design-focused boutique stays—places sitting right in the sweet spot between a corporate chain and someone’s spare room. If Rijvers replicates his Booking.com trajectory inside Airbnb, your next city break might mean checking into a hotel through the app you used to use for cabin rentals.