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An update on our response to the crisis in Ukraine 

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Key Takeaways

  • We're providing an update on our progress in addressing the crisis in Ukraine

Key Takeaways

  • We're providing an update on our progress in addressing the crisis in Ukraine

Since the onset of the crisis in Ukraine, we’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and generosity from the Airbnb community as people around the world have sought to show support for the freedom of the people of Ukraine by booking Airbnb listings simply so the Hosts can receive the income. To date, these bookings have raised approximately $15 million for them. 

The idea for these bookings came from the community and speaks to how innovative and creative people can be, especially when motivated by the most powerful of motivators: human kindness. These bookings, and myriad other efforts to support the people of Ukraine, are reminders that the kindness of humans toward each other is the driver of the most powerful of networks—humanity.

Powered by this kindness of strangers, as of today, people across 156 countries joined in this community-led grassroots campaign to book Airbnb listings and Experiences in Ukraine in an effort to support local Hosts. Airbnb continues to temporarily waive our Host and guest service fees at this time.

We appreciate these acts of kindness by people all over the world in their support of the people living in Ukraine. We have systems in place to help ensure the integrity of activity on the platform, and we continue to actively review booking and listing activity in Ukraine. Once we became aware of this grassroots effort to use the platform to provide this financial support, we identified a handful of Hosts who did not support this effort in the spirit intended. In that handful of cases, we suspended the Hosts’ accounts and are redirecting payment back to the guests. Airbnb continues to temporarily waive our Host and guest service fees on Ukraine listings at this time.

We also continue to ask that our community please consider supporting Airbnb.org—an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Airbnb.org recently announced that it will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine. These stays will be funded by Airbnb, Inc., donors to Airbnb.org, and the generosity of Hosts through Airbnb.org. 

Between contributions to Airbnb.org and the separate grassroots effort to book listings directly with Hosts, approximately $37 million has been raised to support Ukrainians and others fleeing Ukraine. As of today:

  • More than 11,100 people across Europe have signed up through Airbnb.org to welcome refugees fleeing Ukraine into their homes.
  • Airbnb and its founders have contributed $17 million to Airbnb.org so far to help cover costs associated with providing stays for the refugees. 
  • More than $4.5 million in contributions have been donated to Airbnb.org online from 50,000 individual donors across 92 countries to help cover costs associated with providing stays for the refugees.
  • Airbnb.org has announced key partnerships with the International Organization for Migration and the German government that will facilitate the critical work of connecting those in need of housing to the Airbnb community. 

We encourage anyone interested in getting involved with Airbnb.org to go to airbnb.org/help-ukraine.

We cannot express enough gratitude for our community members who have signed up to welcome refugees into their homes, donated to Airbnb.org to help cover associated costs, and joined in the grassroots effort to send aid to Ukrainian Hosts.
Read more about: Ukraine

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 across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities.

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.org’s 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.

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