Redefining hosting for the holidays, share your home on Airbnb this season

For many, this holiday season will provide the first opportunity to connect with extended family and friends in quite some time. The pent-up desire to reconnect with our loved ones – and to travel in general – is fueling the resurgence of the holiday travel season. For Thanksgiving this week, we’ve seen demand outpace that of 2019 levels: As of the end of September, we had over 40 percent more nights booked for Thanksgiving week in the US than at the same time in 2019¹.

In line with how travel is changing writ large, holiday travel will also look different this year, as the trend of living on Airbnb bleeds into the festive season. Nights booked for long-term stays during the holidays are up nearly 20 percent globally and nearly 70 percent in the US, compared to the same time in 2019². And we’re likely to see this trend extend past New Year’s into 2022, as long-term stays are our fastest-growing trip length and family trips are our fastest growing trip type based on bookings for 2022 as of September 30, 2021³.

For the millions of travelers who will be hitting the road and taking to the skies beginning this coming weekend, there is a big opportunity to earn some extra cash while they’re away – redefining how to host for the holidays. Since the pandemic began, new Hosts on Airbnb have made more than $6 billion on Airbnb, and in Q3 all Hosts earned a record $12.8 billion in income from Airbnb – up 27 percent from Q3 2019. 

In fact, some have already taken advantage of this opportunity, as more than 1,100 new Hosts in the US expect to welcome their first Airbnb guests this Thanksgiving. 

To illustrate the potential earnings for those considering hosting, we’ve identified some of the top cities for expected Host income over Thanksgiving weekend, including a number of destinations where locals can meet the demand for family travel: 

• Kissimmee, FL
• San Diego, CA
• Sevierville, TN
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York City, NY
• Austin, TX

For those interested in becoming an Airbnb Host, we’ve made it easier than ever. Earlier this year, we rolled out a new onboarding process that is just 10 steps. We also recently expanded our popular Ask a Superhost Tool, which matches anyone interested in hosting with one of our most experienced Hosts for one-on-one advice. The tool has been expanded to over 30 languages in 196 countries, and prospective Hosts can now be paired with Superhosts based on their location, language and listing. In addition, we have introduced AirCover, which provides top-to-bottom protection for free to every Airbnb Host with $1 million in damage protection and $1 million in liability coverage, along with income loss protection, pet damage protection, deep cleaning protection, and more.

Those interested in hosting can visit: Airbnb.com/Host