APEC and Airbnb: Supporting economic opportunity through travel dispersal
Airbnb plans to invest nearly $5 million to help new communities across the APEC member economies reap the benefits of tourism.
WEBWIRE – Friday, November 17, 2023
To mark the opening of the APEC Summit in San Francisco, Airbnb today released a report highlighting how Airbnb is contributing to APECs goals to promote cross-border travel in its member economies and expand economic opportunity to more people in more destinations.
In 2023 and 2024, Airbnb plans to invest nearly $5 million to help new communities across the APEC member economies reap the benefits of tourism by partnering with organizations committed to heritage preservation, growing our Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy to make it easier for more people to participate in the tourism economy, and supporting organizations that economically empower local communities. These investments include a new MOU in the Philippines to promote womens entrepreneurship in tourism, and growing our tourism economic empowerment initiatives for women across APEC member economies, including capacity building and training in Mexico.
As global tourism recovers from the pandemic, these programs will help open economic opportunities to more communities that have not traditionally benefited from tourism.
The economic benefits of more dispersed, sustainable travel
The pandemic spurred changes in travel habits domestic travel and extended rural stays helped disperse the economic benefits of tourism to communities that traditionally have not benefited from this activity. Many of these travel trends have endured in the first nine months of 2023 more than 1,100 cities in APEC member economies welcomed their first guest via Airbnb.
Travel on Airbnb continues to be an key economic pathway for communities in APEC member economies. In 2022 alone:
- Hosts welcomed nearly 150 million Airbnb guest arrivals
- Hosts earned nearly $30 billion in supplemental income
- More than 450,000 people started hosting their home on Airbnb
In Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand, the number of nights booked on Airbnb doubled year-over-year in 2023. This activity has helped generate more than $125 billion in economic activity in 17 APEC member economiesincluding $70+ billion in labor incomeand helped support an estimated 2 million jobs.
Investments to promote more sustainable, dispersed travel
Within the Asia-Pacific region non-urban tourism spending on Airbnb in 2022* grew approximately 88 percent from 2019 according to a report compiled by Oxford Economics, enabling a valuable economic contribution to rural and regional areas. To help more communities benefit from changing travel trends, Airbnb will continue to invest in partnerships and innovations to Airbnbs products to help encourage travel to more rural areas and highlight local heritage.
These new commitments build on existing work. In 2022, we launched our Historical Homes Category which now includes listings in more than 30 countries and regions, and categories such as Ryokan, Hanok, Kominka and Minsu. In addition, weve developed partnerships with UNESCO and other heritage organizations in Australia, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere to help disperse the benefits of tourism to rural areas. This year, we also expanded the Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy to introduce more individuals from diverse and underrepresented communities to hosting on the Airbnb platform in coordination with local organizations.
We look forward to continuing our efforts to help more communities benefit from travel to help foster connection, boost sustainable travel, and promote economic growth.
About AirbnbAirbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed over 1.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.
– Airbnb New Years Eve crackdown will see ban on some guests making one-night NYE bookings in 11 countries.
– It is estimated that defenses contributed to 56% drop in NYE party incident rates, as 340,000 people encountered these defenses last year. WEBWIRE – Friday, December 9, 2022
Today, were announcing heightened rules and technologies aimed at helping to stop unauthorized parties over New Years Eve in 11 countries, following a successful trial last year. We know the overwhelming majority of guests are respectful neighbors and travelers, and that the vast majority of Hosts share their homes responsibly. Equally, we are committed to reducing instances of unauthorized parties and helping Hosts protect against neighborhood disruption, and certain times of year, like New Years Eve, can attract a higher risk of unauthorized or disruptive parties. To that end, we are introducing restrictions on certain types of bookings over New Years Eve. These restrictions will see a ban on one-night bookings of entire home listings for guests without a positive account history or no previous bookings at all on the platform. Were also introducing tighter restrictions for those same guests who try to book two- and three-night reservations, with an emphasis on attempts to book locally. The restrictions will be in effect over the New Years Eve weekend in 11 countries, including the US (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain, the UK, and new for 2022 Ireland, Portugal and the Netherlands. Naba Banerjee, Director of Trust Product and Operations at Airbnb, said, Stays take place across the world each night on Airbnb, with the overwhelming majority of guests and Hosts being respectful of neighbors and delivering benefits to their local community. These proactive defenses will help to promote responsible travel and help to prevent rare instances of unwelcome behavior, and enable Hosts, guests and communities to enjoy their end of year celebrations with added reassurance. This wider roll out follows the successful trial of these automated defenses in eight countries over NYE last year as part of our efforts to help enforce our global ban on parties, which we codified earlier this summer. We estimate that the measures have contributed to a year-over-year global drop in rates of party incidents over NYE of roughly 56 percent, since the defenses were first piloted in 2020. Last year, approximately 340,000 guests globally were blocked or redirected from attempting to book on Airbnb over NYE, including more than 120,000 guests in the US, over 34,500 guests in the UK, and almost 13,000 guests in Australia1. Since piloting these restrictions for the first time for NYE 2020, theyve become a cornerstone of our commitment to tackle disruptive parties and neighborhood nuisance, and have been well-received by our Host community. Were continuously exploring further opportunities around the world to introduce these types of initiatives, and build on our existing measures and resources to promote responsible travel on Airbnb and enforce our anti-party stance. These measures include: About Airbnb Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.
WEBWIRE – Monday, June 20, 2022 To date, the Airbnb.org team has connected more than 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers to temporary housing, including more than 50,000 people who have fled the conflict in Ukraine.
As we mark World Refugee Day today, Airbnb.org is proud to work with Hosts on Airbnb and nonprofit organizations to provide temporary housing to refugees and asylum seekers around the world.
This work supporting refugees and asylum seekers began in 2017 when Airbnb committed $4 million to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support the housing needs of people impacted by the US executive order that halted refugee admissions and temporarily barred entry to people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Since then, the work to support refugees and asylum seekers has grown and continues today under Airbnb.org. More than 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers housed
To date, Airbnb and Airbnb.org have connected more than 107,000 refugees and asylum seekers to free temporary housing. In response to recent crises, Airbnb.org has provided free stays to more than 26,000 Afghan refugees since August 2021. In addition, in just four months, Airbnb.org has connected more than 50,000 people fleeing Ukraine to temporary accommodations half of the 100,000 goal announced in late February.
Airbnb.org is grateful to the thousands of Hosts and donors around the world who have helped make this work possible. Many of these refugees and asylum seekers have been welcomed by Hosts on Airbnb, including more than 48,0001 across 160 countries who have signed up to welcome guests at no cost or at a discount through Airbnb.org. A growing global network of partners
In addition to Hosts, none of this would be possible without the collaboration and hard work of Airbnb.orgs partners. These organizations identify people in need, book and coordinate stays, provide day-to-day support, and help connect newcomers with needs like food, supplies, legal services and healthcare. Close coordination with nonprofit organizations, governments and other entities make Airbnb.orgs work possible including long standing partnerships with IRC, HIAS, and Church World Service, and the more than forty organizations supporting Airbnb.orgs response to the conflict in Ukraine.
Organizations like International Organization for Migration (IOM), Nova Ukraine and Save the Children Sweden continue to connect people fleeing from Ukraine to free, short-term housing across Europe. Most recently, Catholic Relief Services, Each One Teach One, and Lets do it! Italy joined the group of dedicated organizations working with Airbnb.org to offer stays to people in more than 80 countries.
Airbnb.org is also expanding its network of partners to organizations in North America working to resettle newcomers from Ukraine. In Canada, Airbnb.org has partnered with JIAS Toronto, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS), and the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society to offer stays to people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. As part of its coordination with the US government to serve individuals arriving in the states, Airbnb.org is working with leaders in the Ukrainian diaspora and with Community Sponsorship Hub an organization that works to offer practical support to sponsors of newcomers, connecting them with resources and guidance. Airbnb and Airbnb.org are also supporting Welcome.US, the national initiative to help people fleeing Afghanistan and Ukraine through our membership of the Welcome.US CEO Council and as co-leads of the Initial resettlement action team.
Airbnb.org is also grateful to the companies and organizations that have stepped up to support its efforts related to Ukraine, including the Utah Jazzs funding of 32,200 nights of temporary housing, Levi Strauss & Co. which mobilized employees across Europe to share their space with refugees, and Upworks $100,000 grant to connect Airbnb.org with freelance talent. Mariias story
Airbnb.org partner IOM recently shared the story of Mariia who was forced to flee Ukraine shortly after the start of the war. Mariia and her husband enjoyed their life in a quiet village on the outskirts of Cherkassy, but all that changed after the invasion of Ukraine. At first, they offered their home as a safe haven to families fleeing conflict in other parts of the country, and at one point had 17 guests and five pets living in their house.
As the conflict got closer to their village, Mariia made the difficult decision to leave the country. Pregnant and afraid, Mariia and her husbands family fled to the Moldovan border where she had to say goodbye to her husband who stayed behind to fight in the war. Her journey eventually led Mariia to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, where IOM helped connect her to a free, temporary two bedroom apartment through Airbnb.org.
Airbnb Host Martins apartment was perfect for Mariia it accommodated her pet cat and was centrally located for her doctors appointments.
Today, Mariia is full of gratitude. We are so grateful to this country and all the countries that support Ukrainians some with donations, some with food, some simply take in people. Everyone is really trying to sympathize with our situation. Airbnbs continued support of Airbnb.org
From the start, Airbnb.org has leveraged Airbnbs technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out its mission to help people in times of need. To ensure Airbnb.org continues to benefit from Airbnbs full range of resources including the team of engineers, designers, product managers and more who help power its day to day work we are proud to share that Catherine Powell, Airbnbs Head of Hosting, will begin serving as the executive sponsor of Airbnb.org. In this role, Catherine Powell will lead the Airbnb.org teams collaboration with the rest of the company to ensure Airbnb.org has the resources it needs to scale its impact in support of people in need of emergency stays. Airbnb.org will continue to be governed by its Board of Directors which has oversight and responsibility for the organizations work and priorities.
What the Airbnb.org team has accomplished over the past year in coordination with its partners and Hosts on Airbnb is truly awe inspiring. I am honored to work with Airbnb.org to help the team continue using the full resources Airbnb has to offer to support its work on behalf of people in times of crisis around the world, said Catherine Powell.
Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and one-of-a-kind activities that make it possible for guests to experience the world in a more authentic, connected way. Providing hosted travel and the ability to live anywhere on a global scale, Airbnb has become a noun and a verb and most traffic to our platform remains organic. We will continue to invest in innovations that expand the travel market and lead the way in turning travel into a way of life. About Airbnb.org
Airbnb.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating temporary stays for people in times of crisis around the world. Airbnb.org operates independently and leverages Airbnb, Inc.s technology, services, and other resources at no charge to carry out Airbnb.orgs charitable purpose. The inspiration for Airbnb.org began in 2012 with a single host named Shell who opened up her home to people impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This sparked a movement and marked the beginning of a program that allows Hosts on Airbnb to provide stays for people in times of need. Since then, the program has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of COVID-19. Since then, Hosts have offered to open up their homes and helped provide accommodations to 100,000 people in times of need. Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, Inc. Airbnb, Inc. does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.
Airbnb to crack down globally on New Year’s Eve parties
Key Takeaways
Airbnb.org’s support of refugees around the world
About Airbnb
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