Introducing Airbnb Enhanced Clean

• Developed in partnership with leading experts in hospitality and medical hygiene, Airbnb’s industry-leading enhanced cleaning protocol is now available to hosts in Australia, with New Zealand to follow shortly.
• The protocol includes a five-step cleaning process, room-by-room checklists, and more.
• Travellers, hosts, and policymakers can reference our cleaning guidelines to help support the safe reopening of communities and travel. 

Airbnb’s enhanced cleaning protocol—the first overarching standardised guidelines for cleaning and sanitisation in the home sharing industry—is now available to support hosts and governments as communities reopen for travel. Educational materials and tools are now available for hosts Australia and in the coming weeks, for hosts in New Zealand.

The standards are informed by guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States and Europe and advice from former Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy. Airbnb has also partnered with Diversey, a leading cleaning and hygiene technology company, that has endorsed the enhanced cleaning protocol and will help develop more solutions for the Airbnb community moving forward. 

Airbnb also collaborated with the World Trade & Tourism Council (WTTC), to support guidelines for the short term rental industry, and the Airbnb standards have earned the WTTC Safe Travels seal.

All hosts in these twelve countries can access the enhanced cleaning educational materials in their local languages through the Resource Center, including a Quick Start Guide and Cleaning Handbook with guidance on the use of personal protective equipment, how to clean every room in a home, what to sanitise, and what supplies to have on hand. 

In addition to cleaning guidelines, hosts should ensure they comply with guidance from governments or health authorities in their local area. 

To enrol their homes in the Airbnb Enhanced Clean program, hosts can go directly to their Airbnb accounts, where they can review the guidelines, and complete a quiz and an attestation. Hosts who commit to following the cleaning protocol will receive a special call-out on their listing in the coming days so guests know they are committed to an enhanced cleaning and sanitisation routine.

If hosts are unable to commit to our cleaning protocol, they can also choose to opt into a new feature called booking buffer, to create a longer vacancy period between stays, with no activity other than cleaning, which should follow recommended guidelines. Reservations will be automatically blocked during that time frame, currently set at 72 hours. In an effort to ensure hosts are equipped with the best practices for cleaning, we will continue to develop new education materials and features to help get them up to speed.

Supporting Communities 

The Airbnb Enhanced Clean program builds on our strong historical track record of cleanliness: 94 percent of all Airbnb reviews show that guests are satisfied with cleaning, scoring it at 4 or 5 stars after their stays.* By following this cleaning protocol, hosts are taking significant steps toward protecting themselves, their guests and the communities in which they live. 

In addition to cleaning standards for homes, Airbnb is also offering new safety and cleaning initiatives for in-person Experiences**, based on guidance from local governments and health experts. These guidelines include requiring all hosts and guests wear face coverings, limiting group size, and maintaining social distancing. For Experiences conducted in a private space hosts are required to follow an enhanced cleaning protocol.

Governments and health authorities will be able to refer to these guidelines to help inform the reopening of communities and their tourism economies. We will continue to collaborate with local governments, medical experts and other authorities to help ensure appropriate precautions are taken, support COVID-19 response efforts, and carry out any other applicable requirements.

To learn more about the Airbnb Enhanced Clean program, visit airbnb.com/cleaningresources.

*Based on Airbnb internal data referring to guest reviews on a stay’s cleanliness as of May 31, 2020; ratings out of a total of 5 stars.

**As of June 29, Experience hosts on Airbnb have the option to reinstate in-person Experiences in Australia.

About Diversey: 

Diversey’s purpose is to protect and care for people every day. Diversey has been, and always will be, a pioneer and facilitator for life. We constantly deliver revolutionary cleaning and hygiene technologies that provide total confidence to our customers across all of our global sectors, including: cleaning products, systems and services that efficiently integrate chemicals, machines and sustainability programs. This makes us unique among leading global hygiene and cleaning companies. Everything we do has our customers’ needs at its heart and is based on the belief that cleaning and hygiene are life essentials. With over 95 years of expertise, we safeguard our customers’ businesses, contributing to productivity improvements, lower total operating costs and brand protection. Diversey is headquartered in Fort Mill, SC, USA. For more information, visit www.diversey.com or follow us on social media.

About Safe Travels- World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC):

The specially designed stamp allows travelers to recognize governments and companies around the world which have adopted health and hygiene global standardized protocols – so consumers can experience ‘Safe Travels’. To learn more visit https://wttc.org/COVID-19/Safe-Travels-Global-Protocols-Stamp.