UNESCO, Airbnb and Mexico City partner to promote the city as a remote working hub

Airbnb announced partnerships with the Mexico City Government and UNESCO to promote the city as a global hub for remote workers and develop and showcase cultural and creative stays and experiences on Airbnb that enhance Mexico City’s reputation as the Capital of Creative Tourism. 

Mexico’s vibrant capital city is a popular destination for travelers and remote workers alike. The partnerships will support Mexico City’s ambition to become a global hub for remote workers and the Capital of Creative Tourism. Guests come to Airbnb to look for unique and special experiences Hosts provide and these partnerships will help ensure there is an abundance of uniquely Mexican experiences on offer.

“Airbnb is proud to partner with UNESCO and the Mexico City Government to cultivate the next generation of cultural entrepreneurs and creative experiences,” said Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb Co-Founder during his first visit to Mexico City. “With the rise of remote working around the world, destinations must consider how to ensure that the benefits of remote work are felt by the wider community. The best approach is one that not only attracts remote workers, but also integrates them into communities so that all residents can benefit from this rising trend.”

“Remote workers have a lot to contribute to Mexico City and that is why this alliance is so important. With Airbnb we will improve the options that the city offers. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that Mexico City adapts and innovates in the face of adverse scenarios, such as the pandemic.”

Diana Alarcón, General Coordinator of Advisors and International Affairs of Mexico City

“Creativity is the source from which culture emanates. Therefore, it must be a source of universal growth that we support and strengthen. Mexico City is synonymous with creative tourism. It has more museums than any other global city, other than London. It’s linguistic diversity encompasses at least 55 of the 68 indigenous languages, and it is the entity in Mexico that has the most UNESCO declarations, among which include the UNESCO city networks such as the Creative City of Design, City of Learning and Inclusive City,” said the UNESCO Representative in Mexico, Frédéric Vacheron.

The partnerships

Airbnb’s partnership with UNESCO builds upon its “Mexico by Land” sustainable tourism initiative and will promote Mexico’s cultural and natural heritage. Through a dedicated online site, Airbnb will  showcase unique cultural and creative destinations and experiences.

As part of its partnership with Airbnb, the Mexico City Government invited its network of tourism entrepreneurs to participate in a series of UNESCO-led training sessions. The program will help entrepreneurs develop authentic cultural experiences that represent Mexico City’s unique, cultural and creative traditions across many diverse neighborhoods. 

To launch the campaign, Airbnb created a dedicated website for remote workers interested in living and working in Mexico City.  The Mexico City: Capital of Creative tourism site showcases the first new experiences to be developed through the partnerships with the Mexico City Government and UNESCO: 

• Discover the heart and soul of Mexico in Xochimilco with a six generation cook and cultural ambassador with Host Miroslava, where you will learn about local and ancient traditions while you cook a local delicacy in a traditional boat in the idyllic Xochimilco canals.

• Explore and create modern murals with an international artist in Central de Abastos & Mercado de Jamaica, hosted by Remix, a street artist that will take you to explore contemporary street art murals in one the world´s largest markets.

• Be part of a short film where you are the performer while discovering CDMX best kept secret: Tlalpan, hosted by Jorge, where guests will travel back in time through ancient streets, visit iconic Architectural buildings, all while being filmed as in a movie.

Live & Work Anywhere on Airbnb

Since the start of the pandemic, remote work has surged around the world and the trend is also evident on Airbnb’s platform, with many guests choosing to live and work in locations for extended periods of time. 

Long-term stays (28+ days) continue to be Airbnb’s fastest growing category by trip length compared to 2019. Long-term stays increased nearly 25 percent from a year ago and by almost 90 percent from Q2 2019. This trend is also present in Mexico City where long-term stays grew more than 30 percent in Q2 2022 vs. the same period in 2019¹.

Based on this trend, last May the platform announced their “Live and Work Anywhere” program that will focus on working with 20 destinations around the world to make it easier for travelers to live and work while complying with local regulation, focusing on re-distributing tourism and developing new economic opportunities. 

Mexico has two destinations on the list: Mexico City and Baja California Sur, where Airbnb has partnered with the state on a program to bring travelers with a solid framework of ecotourism and sustainability. 

Through Airbnb’s partnerships with Mexico City and UNESCO, the platform wants to help re-distribute tourism in the City by empowering and promoting cultural and creative Experiences that will drive economic opportunities for more Mexicans.