New York, along with other US cities, is considering imposing legal restrictions on Airbnb. Owners will need to obtain the appropriate permits for such activities. Thus, city authorities want to curb illegal short-term rentals. Does this pose a threat to your business?
One of the most important elements of our activity is cooperation with cities. Creating reasonable regulations that protect housing and allow hosts to occasionally share their homes has been an integral part of our work with New York City officials over the past decade or so.
We know that earning extra income helps property owners overcome the high cost of living and make ends meet – for example, it’s easier to have money to keep their properties in good condition. We have concluded more than 35 partnership agreements with local authorities in Europe and 350 such agreements around the world – in Poland, for example with Warsaw and Krakow, to support and promote responsible tourism and the exchange of aggregated travel and tourism data.
New York’s current short-term rental laws are very strict and are among the most complex and restrictive regulations in the world, and certainly in the United States. We believe we can share the best practices we learn from our work with cities and other governments to develop regulations that help local residents, businesses and communities reap the social and economic benefits of tourism development.
How do you see the future of your work in this field? Fewer events in venues and more, for example, taxes paid to municipal coffers?
Building safety and trust on our platform is fundamental to Airbnb’s business model. The host must trust the guests, and the guests must feel safe. According to our regulations, hosting parties on Airbnb is strictly prohibited as a company policy as of June 2022. There are no exceptions to this. If you are a host, attend an Airbnb-listed event, or throw a party, you are violating our terms and may result in a ban. We have built an entire “anti-party system” based on artificial intelligence. Algorithms attempt to predict high-risk bookings that may result in an event occurring, i.e. violating regulations.
Our systems analyze whether the reservation was made, for example, near the user’s home, or whether it was made very quickly or on the weekend. As a result, we recorded a global decline of 55%. From year to year the number of event registrations increases. Globally, in 2022 only 0.39 percent of bookings resulted in the cost of organizing an event. This is the element that prevents the buildings on our platform from becoming a nuisance for other residents in the area.
Are there other examples of using technology to enforce regulations?
By the end of June 2023, 100 percent of guests booking homes and primary hosts who received bookings worldwide on the Airbnb platform had to go through the verification process. The calendars of all major hosts who do not complete the verification process will be blocked.
Guests who do not complete the verification process will not be able to book on Airbnb. Accounts that have passed identity verification can be identified by the “Identity Verification” badge on their profile.
The whole world is suffering from an economic slowdown. You, too?
One thing has remained constant in our business, and that’s true travel and belonging, providing a platform where more than 4 million hosts and, to date, more than 1.5 billion guests, travel with Airbnb.
During the pandemic we saw an 80% decline in business, yet we have emerged stronger and growing, with a focus on affordable stays, trust, safety and belonging as key pillars. Research shows that more than 60 percent of our users use our services to find affordable housing. And it works – the average daily price for an Airbnb stay in Poland in 2022 was €32.
It’s a really good price. It appears that affordability helps you get through these turbulent times. People still want to travel. We just had a really strong quarter – our most profitable quarter in our history, with global revenue of $2.5 billion. At the same time, we increased our revenues by 18%. Compared to the previous year.
What are your further development plans in Poland and Europe?
We are seeing strong results and want to continue to grow and provide our guests with authentic travel experiences and affordable travel. We do not usually publish detailed local data, but may benefit from data provided recently from Germany. Our results there improved by up to 63% in 2019-2022. Poland is developing very strongly. We are becoming more and more popular, especially among families and millennials – the number of Airbnb users among families has increased by 30%. in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, and among millennials by 35%.
How do you evaluate the Polish market compared to the region? What investment plans do you associate with it?
We have been present in Poland since 2010, so we know the country well and our business has developed organically. This is also the advantage of technology-driven business models like ours – if your idea is good, it will scale quickly.
To give an example of a personalized and unique donation, in Poland, on October 3, we donated $40,000 to the Domus Polonorm Association. It is a non-profit organization that aims to care for historic houses in Poland. The reason we participate in this partnership is the growing interest in historical displays both globally and in Europe.
Last year we also created the Historic Houses category, which allows guests from all over the world to stay in more than 52,000 historic houses in more than ten European countries, including Poland. Thanks to our services, Airbnb hosts raise funds to renovate their properties, thus preserving cultural heritage and promoting tourism in rural areas. In this way, we create an entire ecosystem that drives each other and supports our business as well.
The rest of the article is below the video:
What makes Poles who use Airbnb different from users from other countries? Do we have any different customs?
In fact, trends in Poland are similar to those known in other countries. Poles, especially families, love to travel with Airbnb to the most popular cities in the country, such as Krakow, Warsaw, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Wrocław.
Poles are increasingly choosing to travel alone. I think this is also due to the huge popularity of remote work. The number of people traveling alone in Poland has increased by 54%. In 2023 compared to 2021. It is growing especially strongly among women.
And who is the average Polish host who lists their place on Airbnb?
The vast majority of people who post their offers are private individuals who share their homes. They provide a place to live by themselves. This is how the bulk of our business works. On average, a Polish host shares their place 23 days a year. You might expect more, but in reality they sometimes work to earn extra income to cover the increasing costs of living.
with?
The annual average is about PLN 9,800.
Are you still cheaper than hotels?
Affordability is one of the reasons why Poles, as well as tourists from all over the world, willingly travel with Airbnb. In a global survey conducted by Airbnb, more than 60 percent of respondents said they choose Airbnb primarily to travel authentically and experience a place like a local, and that way they feel more connected to the local culture than when staying in a hotel.
Furthermore, Airbnb accommodation prices are completely out of our control. We do not want to specify prices, although our owners can check the cost of accommodation in their area. Our strength is not only price, but also great variety.
How have average prices on Polish Airbnb changed in recent years?
Each host makes an individual decision. Therefore, we do not have general data on the relationship between inflation and offer prices.
And could interest rate increases around the world affect the number of Airbnb listings? After all, it has a strong impact on housing markets.
To date, 4 million hosts have welcomed guests on our platform, but we don’t have permission to collect listing details. Therefore, it is difficult for us to show whether it has any effect.
In Poland, Airbnb has become a form of income for some investors who buy apartments. Can it be seen in the data?
For many people, income from Airbnb is an important component of their household budget. Nearly half of EU host countries say welcoming guests helps them adapt to higher costs of living. This number has increased as the economic crisis continues.
To be honest, multi-apartment sellers are not a dominant part of our platform. The vast majority of people are single and have one or two offers. Nearly 300,000 hosts in the EU offer single rooms on Airbnb, with the typical host earning approximately €1,500 in 2022.
In Poland, Airbnb has become a form of income for some investors who buy apartments. Can it be seen in the data?
I’m not a real estate expert, so it’s hard for me to give an accurate answer here.
How was Airbnb in Poland affected by the war in Ukraine?
It was certainly an important organizational test, because we immediately became involved in helping war refugees through our extensive network. We have decided to participate in providing temporary housing for 100,000 refugees who have fled Ukraine. To date, we have provided free, temporary and short-term accommodation to more than 130,000 refugees, with a significant participation (34,000) of Polish hosts.
Apart from Poland, the most generous hosts came from Germany, Hungary, Romania, the USA and Canada. These stays were funded by Airbnb, Inc. and other donors to Airbnb.org. This work was also made possible thanks to trusted NGO partners at Airbnb.org who helped book and coordinate stays for refugee guests.
Is this procedure ongoing?
Yes, we are also working to strengthen cooperation with the Ukrainian government. On September 26, we signed a joint agreement with the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine to support post-war tourism in Ukraine.
Of course, Airbnb.org continues to work with its global network of nonprofits to help refugees from Ukraine. The only thing that has changed fortunately is the demand for housing by refugees from Ukraine. The current interest is no longer comparable to the first months after the outbreak of the war. The number of people fleeing Ukraine requesting temporary residence has become smaller.
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