Airbnb Announces Innovations and Upgrades

Airbnb is responding to a changing travel landscape with upgrades and innovations for its guests and hosts.

Travelers have a lot more flexibility in 2021. More Americans are working from home and are no longer tethered to the office, and rather than stay put, they want to travel.

Airbnb is seeing longer stays and that travelers are branching out.

“Our active listings in non-urban areas has increased 30 percent over the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2021,” said Airbnb’s Global Head of Hosting, Catherine Powell.

With people heading everywhere, Airbnb is making it easier to book anywhere and to find the exact property that a guest wants, adding new ways to search and explore with the introduction of “I’m Flexible.”

This new search functionality gives guests a way to see even more listings when they plug in certain filters and includes flexible dates, matching and destinations.

The Flexible Dates feature began rolling out in February, so some users may already be familiar with the feature. Rather than fixed dates, travelers can search for a weekend getaway, a weeklong stay or an even longer vacation.

With Flexible Matching, Airbnb has created a way to give guests options for stays that are just a little outside search parameters. For example, someone searching for a property under $250 a night will also see some options that are slightly above that price.

Airbnb’s new Flexible Destinations feature allows guests to find unique places in multiple locations, such as ryokans, castles, islands and more.

Airbnb also made a number of upgrades to the hosting side of its services, making it even easier to become a host, create an eye-catching listing and learn the ins and outs of the Airbnb experience.

The company has also boosted its support staff with more agents and by providing service in more languages.

Guests will notice a new, faster checkout process, arrival guides, updated reviews that provide a fuller perspective and refreshed cancellation policies.

These changes all stem from a traveling public that is less tethered with more options for where they can work and how they can travel.

“Travel is way more distributed this year,” said Powell. “The trends that we are seeing is that travel is family and is rural and off-the-beaten-track, less to iconic tourist destinations.”

Powell noted that families are looking for houses that sleep at least five people and that people are also looking for something unique.

“We are seeing rural and remote destinations, and we are seeing really unique stays,” said Powell. “We have treehouse and cabins and a-frames in our most wish-listed homes.”

Travelers, at least for 2021, are traveling domestically, according to Airbnb’s data. Powell noted that in 2020, 50 percent of nights booked on Airbnb were domestic and that number has climbed to 80 percent so far in 2021. People are also still traveling close to home. Forty-five percent of nights booked are nearby home, up approximately 15 percent from 2020.

As borders open and travel corridors are created, Airbnb has seen surges in searches for accommodations in those areas.

Travelers aren’t just searching for unique stays or specific destinations, but also specific amenities.

“WiFi is the most important amenity,” said Powell, adding that a place to work is also important in a new, untethered society. People were also traveling with their pets and staying longer.

“Twenty-four percent of our bookings are now long-term stays,” she said. “We are seeing our hosts adapt to these changing travel patterns.”

Airbnb believes that the way people travel has been transformed by the pandemic and that old norms have gone.

“We believe that travel, as it returns, has changed driven by the newfound flexibility,” said Powell. “This means that travel is much more a way of life because people are more flexible. This is at the heart of the changes that we announced today.”