More Than 200,000 New Hosts Welcomed Their First Guests During the Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as shutdowns have resulted in isolation and economic hardship for so many people around the world, more than 200,000 new hosts have opened their homes to their first guests on Airbnb.

These new hosts live on every continent except Antarctica, across over 200 countries and regions, and we estimate that 57 percent of them are women. And because the ease of listing makes it possible for Airbnb to offer accommodations in places where hotels can’t afford to have them, many of these new hosts are in smaller cities, towns and more remote areas, in position to benefit economically from local tourism as people get out of the house and take a break. Collectively, new hosts in the following destinations have earned:

All figures in USD

Portland, Maine: over $900,000 

Jersey Shore, New Jersey: over $3.3 million 

Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada: over $800,000

Penticton, British Columbia: over $540,000 

Calvados, France: over $2.6 million

Salento, Italy: nearly $2 million

Costa Blanca, Spain: over $3.6 million

Hamburg, Germany: nearly $400,000

Rotterdam, Netherlands: over $800,000

These new hosts are joining existing local hosts who are helping guests take a break and connect to their local community. From March 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020, average annual earnings per host in these same communities were:

Portland, Maine: $11,600

Jersey Shore, New Jersey:  $5,300

Blue Mountain, Ontario, Canada: $7,200

Penticton, British Columbia: $5,100 

Calvados, France: $3,100

Salento, Italy: $720

Costa Blanca, Spain: $2,000

Hamburg, Germany: $1,400

Rotterdam, Netherlands: $1,500

Summer recap

Although our business has not recovered, we have seen encouraging signs among our host and guest community over these summer months: 

Hosts of Online Experiences, our fastest-growing product launched only in April, are earning $100,000 per month. About 80 percent of Online Experience guests are based outside the host’s home country, helping our hosts build global followings.

In June 2020, hosts in rural areas of the US earned over $200 million, an increase of more than 25 percent over what hosts in these areas earned in June 2019. 

On July 8, guests booked more than 1 million nights’ worth of future stays at Airbnb listings around the world. It was the first day in more than four months, since March 3, that the 1 million nights threshold was reached. Guests booking on July 8 did so in over 175 different countries and regions, including destinations in Togo, Angola, Bahrain, Svalbard and Kyrgyzstan. Nights booked skewed toward domestic travel and travel within 500 miles. 

We recently announced that from the day the pandemic was declared through early August, new guests hailing from more than 200 countries around the world have booked their first stays on Airbnb. Roughly two thirds of these guests booked nearby—to destinations within 300 miles. 

And, working from home is increasingly becoming popular on Airbnb for guests fortunate enough to be able to work from anywhere. Interest in longer-term stays has grown, and the volume of reviews by US guests mentioning remote working has nearly tripled from last year.

There continues to be tremendous uncertainty as the pandemic moves and shifts across the globe. But we believe that people’s desire to safely connect has only grown stronger while we’ve been apart, and we’re optimistic that we will emerge from this crisis in a strong position.

If you too have a unique place to stay and are interested in becoming an Airbnb host, learn more here.