Airbnb announced an additional 50+ upgrades to its Airbnb 2021 Release launched in May providing 100+ upgrades to improve every aspect of the Airbnb service and support travelers’ changing needs.
From March 2020 to September 2021,* new Airbnb Hosts in the Philippines who started hosting post-pandemic collectively earned more than PHP207.5 million from welcoming guests on Airbnb. The world is undergoing a revolution in how we live and work. Technologies like Zoom make it possible to work from home, and Airbnb makes it possible to work from any home.
This newfound flexibility is bringing about a revolution in how Filipinos travel. In a new YouGov poll commissioned by Airbnb,** more than 70 percent of Filipinos polled said that staying in home-sharing type accommodation provides them with amenities that make it easier to integrate living with travel and allows them to experience more unique, one-of-a-kind travel in local communities.
The survey also revealed:
- Nine out of 10 Filipino respondents would like to work, live or travel differently if they had more flexibility at work.
- A third of Filipino respondents see travel as a way of life and want to integrate it into their lifestyle.
- Seventy-seven percent of Filipino respondents view post-pandemic ‘business travel’ as a way to combine leisure travel and remote work.
- Forty-five percent of Filipino respondents would rent out their homes and travel.
Airbnb is constantly improving its service to meet these new travel trends, and the new waves of guests they will bring. Airbnb has introduced:
- I’m (even more) Flexible — Search for more unique homes up to 12 months in advance.
- Verified Wifi — This new speed test tool verifies the speed of the WiFi in a listing.
- Translation Engine — The most-advanced translation technology ever offered to the Airbnb community.
- Accessibility Review — Every accessibility feature is reviewed for 100 percent accuracy.
- Smarter Trips Tab — A redesigned Trips tab with all of the traveler’s must-have travel details.
- AirCover — Top-to-bottom protection. Free for every Host. Only on Airbnb.
- Ask a Superhost Expansion — Connects new Hosts to a Superhost in their area for 1:1 help.
… and 46 more upgrades.
“For Airbnb, 2021 has been a year of relentless innovation to refine our core service,” said Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb. “This year, we’ve delivered more than 150 upgrades and innovations. Our design-driven approach means that we’re constantly improving our service to adapt to this changing world. For the first time ever, millions of people can now travel anytime, anywhere, for any length, and even live anywhere on Airbnb. This is a travel revolution.”
Making travel even more flexible
Flexibility is one of the most important considerations for Filipinos when it comes to travel planning. Based on Airbnb’s YouGov polling, more than a third of all Filipinos polled want to have flexibility in when, how and where they go as travel rebounds.
More are opting to go on flexible trips, including long weekend trips, off-peak travel and vacations closer to home. Notably, the most appealing destinations for respondents’ first trips are 1) a local beach destination within the Philippines, followed by 2) a destination within Asia and 3) a local city destination.
Earlier this year, Airbnb introduced I’m Flexible, a whole new way to search on Airbnb when guests are flexible about where or when they are traveling. Since then, guests have used I’m Flexible more than 500 million times. With the popularity of this feature, Airbnb is making it even more flexible by expanding the date range guests can search to 12 months out (from six).
With workations on the rise, fast and reliable WiFi has also been more critical than ever before. In fact, this year guests on Airbnb have used the WiFi filter more than 288 million times. Hosts can now test their listing’s internet connection from the Airbnb app and have their WiFi speed verified. With this upgrade, guests can be confident that they won’t miss a Zoom or a favorite streaming show from their Airbnbs.
Improved translations across 60 languages
Globally, Airbnb has seen cross-border travel increasing steadily through the year, from 20 percent of gross nights booked in the first quarter to 27 percent in the second and 33 percent in the third.*** As cross-border travel returns, Airbnb’s new Translation Engine will provide a seamless experience for Hosts and guests in more than 60 languages.
Translation Engine removes the need for click-to-translate buttons by automatically translating listing descriptions and reviews. Based on results from a study across our top 10 languages we commissioned by a top machine translation evaluation company, Translation Engine improves the quality of more than 99 percent of Airbnb listings.
Supporting more accessible and organized travel
With Accessibility Review, Airbnb has developed an industry-leading approach to review the accuracy of features that make Airbnb homes more accessible for the disability community. Hosts simply submit photos of their accessibility features, which are then manually reviewed by a specialized team of Airbnb agents. To date, Airbnb agents have reviewed and confirmed the accuracy of 100,000 accessibility features in 25,000 homes around the world.
Airbnb has also redesigned the Trips tab to house all must-have travel info in one convenient place. The smarter, more intuitive tab now features a handy countdown to a guest’s arrival, check-in details, current and upcoming reservations, and personalized Experiences suggestions.
Empowering Hosts more than ever
More guests than ever before are choosing to stay in an Airbnb, which is leading to more people wanting to host to take advantage of this growing opportunity. To offer even more reassurance to our existing 4 million Hosts and make it even easier for new Hosts to take that first big step, Airbnb introduced the AirCover.
Only Airbnb gives Hosts AirCover, which provides top-to-bottom protection for every Airbnb Host with US$1 million in damage protection and US$1 million in liability coverage. AirCover also includes income loss protection, pet damage protection, deep cleaning protection and more.
For prospective Hosts, Airbnb’s Ask a Superhost matches anyone interested in hosting with one of the most experienced Hosts for one-on-one help. Since launch, more than 60,000 prospective Hosts have used Ask a Superhost.
Airbnb is expanding Ask a Superhost to more than 30 languages in 196 countries, including the Philippines. Prospective Hosts can now be paired with Superhosts based on their location, language and listing. As an added benefit, Superhosts can provide tips for completing a listing page and are there through a Host’s first booking.
AirCover, Accessibility Review, Verified Wifi, I’m (even more) Flexible and Ask a Superhost Expansion are now available to everyone. Translation Engine and Smarter Trips Tab will launch before the end of this year.
- *Airbnb internal data from March 12, 2020 to September 30, 2021
- **Findings from a YouGov survey of APAC Travel Trends surveying 1038 Filipinos, commissioned by Airbnb, from October 14 to 18, 2021.
- ***Airbnb internal data as of September 30, 2021.
- All data in this release is for Q3 2021, and all comparisons are to Q3 2019, unless otherwise specified.
