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Airbnb is already known for helping millions of people across the world travel in style. However, now, it’s taking its rentals to even more of an iconic level. On May 1, 2024, for its 2024 Summer Release , Airbnb unveiled “Icons,” a new category that transports travelers to exclusive experiences across the world that they haven’t had access to before, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. During the Summer Release presentation in Los Angeles, CA, Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky shared that the offering has been about a decade in the making from the inception of the innovative idea to its release. Previously, Airbnb has been behind experiences such as allowing guests to lodge in the last Blockbuster store, located in Bend, OR — the only Blockbuster still open in the world — in 2020. Chesky and his team have expanded on such an inventive idea to create even more adventures and inspire people to dream. Composed of first-of-its-kind experiences that feature some of...
Airbnb has plans to transform its platform with the help of its new appointment. On Sept. 11, Airbnb announced that James Manyika, Google’s s enior vice president of research, technology, and society, has joined its board of directors, according to a press release. Additionally, he is set to chair the board’s Stakeholder Committee.
If you have ever planned a group trip, you know the hassle of ensuring everyone in the group chat is on board. If the trip idea leaves the group chat, then flights and lodging must be confirmed. Regardless of airline preferences, housing options typically boil down to traditional hotels or short-term housing rentals. And when it comes to big groups, renting a house has become the go-to for most vacations. One of the most popular short-term housing rental organizations is Airbnb. Outside of providing an alternative to hotel stays, the company has also become a source of investment and revenue for entrepreneurs. Twenty-year-old Inayah McMillan has fully tapped in, raking in over six figures in revenue in 2022 as an Airbnb host.
As the descendant of Black farmers by way of southern Virginia, this Airbnb experience was a reminder that there’s truly no place like home. Thanks to the company’s new Southwest Georgia Agri-Tourism initiative , Black people have the opportunity to connect to their roots in a way like never before. The first stop on the tour for me was the “Taste of The South” Experience at the Vicks Estate, Farm, and Fishery. Upon arriving, the home had a familiarity about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on — that was until Clinton Vicks met me with a warm greeting as if he was a distant cousin prior to taking me to a backyard oasis that was way too beautiful to put into words. This is not your average tasting experience. Together, Clinton and I picked fresh food from the garden to prepare our meal as we learned our connection to the land lies within our family’s farming experiences. “I grew up doing this with my grandma,” said Clinton when asked when he discovered he had a passion for...
Following her being a temporary Airbnb host through Valentine’s Day weekend, according to our sister site Travel Noire, Issa Rae has joined the company for a new initiative to support South LA. According to a press release, the Inglewood native has partnered with Airbnb, along with Nasdaq, to announce a $100,000 donation to LeadersUp, a nonprofit organization that works to help create an inclusive, antiracist economy — per its website. The press release shares that the new donation will go toward creating an impact fund for South LA residents to be provided access to educational, mental health and wellness, and technological resources. The collaborative effort to support underrepresented communities is also financially assisting LA-based organizations Central Neighborhood Health Foundation and Brotherhood Crusade.
It could all be so simple, but racism makes it hard. When it comes to renting homes through Airbnb, minorities, specifically Black people, seem to always be up against refusal of service on the platform. The company has decided to finally somewhat take a stance with an experiment that they hope will resolve the issue. According to NPR, studies have shown that there are some Airbnb hosts who discriminate against customers based on both profile images and “African American sounding names.” In an effort to fix the issue, the company is starting with a test in the way that Oregon-based guests book their stays.
As countries begin to vaccinate their populations, businesses will begin to reopen. With those re-openings, and the jobs that will be restored in their wake, the economy will gradually begin to make up lost ground. As workers are rehired and incomes begin to grow, so too will consumer confidence. And both mass vaccinations and rising consumer confidence will also allow us to begin to venture out again and be social once again, which ill provided ballast to the ailing hospitality, outdoor recreation, travel, and restaurant sectors. Some businesses are better positioned to take advantage of these expected developments than others. If you’re looking to invest in stocks sure to surge when the economy reopens, look no further than these five stocks. Expedia The biggest company in travel-related search and bookings, Expedia’s stock should grow nicely as consumers begin to travel more frequently. The company owns large players in the online booking space like Orbitz, Travelocity, and...
School may be virtual for the little ones but that does not mean that field trips can’t happen. Teen activist, #1000BlackGirlBooks founder, and executive producer of Netflix’s “Bookmarks,” Marley Dias, is set to host online experiences with Airbnb this Fall to allow children to still experience field trips despite the circumstances of COVID-19. The 15-year-old is joining forces with TV science teacher Bill Nye, and actor and director Olivia Wilde to headline the vacation rental company’s new collection of Online Experiences. The virtual field trips have been designed to help parents broaden their kids’ horizons with the help of passionate, expert hosts. We’re talking Japanese samurais, dinosaur fossil adventures, and more out of this world experiences for both children and parents to engage in. According to Airbnb , a new study of parents shows that extracurricular activities for their children are down 30 percent for those who typically take part in one structured activity during...
The Coronavirus has caused many companies and major organizations to cancel events and shut down operations in efforts to contain the outbreak. As many decide to self-quarantine and avoid travel, Airbnb and its hosts are feeling the effects in the form of decreased booking. According to CNN , the short-term booking company is now expanding its extenuating circumstances policy and offering customers a penalty-free cancellation option for those who choose to cancel their stay. The penalty-free cancelation policy guarantees a refund on canceled bookings. Airbnb gives its hosts the ability to choose one of six cancellation policies. However, the company holds veto power via its extenuating circumstances policy, which now includes COVID-19 related cancellations. Under these new guidelines, customers may cancel their booking and request a refund within 14 days of the cancellation. Hosts and guests have the option to cancel without facing a penalty for bookings made before March 14 that...
Airbnb is now making it even easier for its members to open their homes to guests all over the United States. Last week, the short-term rental company announced its plans to partner with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) to create more jobs for union members and leverage its impact. As one of North America’s largest building trade unions serving more than 500,000 members, UBC boasts a cadre of talented construction experts who are skilled in carpentry, interior systems, flooring, millwork, and more. Under the agreement, Airbnb investment in real estate development projects will allow for the hiring of UBC contractors to perform the labor associated with those projects. The Airbnb partnership will enable union workers to use their expertise to assist Airbnb hosts with vital repairs and upgrades that facilitate home readiness for short-term rental. Airbnb Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk praised the company’s first domestic union...
In response to a data leak that revealed the identities and messaging history of white supremacists, Airbnb has decided to ban such users from its site. Airbnb’s security systems recently identified 60-plus account holders from Iron March , a far-right, white supremacist site. Their accounts were deleted in accordance with Airbnb’s zero-tolerance policy. A spokesperson for the short-term rental giant labeled the step a “no-brainer,” reiterating Airbnb’s commitment to “ continuously seeking to proactively identify those who could put our hosts and guests at risk .” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has previously stood in staunch opposition to white supremacy. “The violence, racism and hatred demonstrated by neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and white supremacists should have no place in this world,” Chesky said in a statement according to The Verge in 2017. Airbnb’s Community Commitment — a nondiscrimination policy that promotes for inclusiveness — was updated in 2016 to ensure fairness to all users.
Since arriving on the scene, Airbnb has become a household name. From retirees to millennials, individuals have been offering and booking their spare bedrooms, basements, and converted garages. Now, it seems as though the site’s flexibility comes with the cost of controversy that is almost inherent in most highly disruptive startups. For Airbnb, these quarrels have ranged from its hand in perhaps an unintended consequence of increasing housing prices to skirting local rental and lodging laws. Now, contractors are now being paid to essentially dox Airbnb addresses, according to a Motherboard report , to the extent that it has become sort of a sub-industry of its own. Airbnb offers its hosts privacy by not giving people an address until a property has been booked. By using readily available sources like Google Maps, Zillow, White Pages, and Facebook, contractors are finding and revealing the exact addresses of Airbnb listings. Then, they’re sharing that information with local...
Airbnb recently announced that it has hired industry veteran Melissa C. Thomas-Hunt as its Head of Global Diversity and Belonging. Thomas-Hunt spent years in higher education at Vanderbilt University and the U niversity of Virginia, helping both institution build out diversity programs. She served as the Chief Diversity Officer at UVA’s Darden School of Business and served a s the Vice Provost of Inclusive Excellence at Vanderbilt where she led diversity initiatives and helped to advance equity, diversity and inclusion throughout the university. The tech scene may be new territory for Thomas-Hunt, but the scope of solving the company’s diversity issue is one she knows how to tackle well. She will oversee internal diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging programs for Airbnb’s 5000 employees. Airbnb’s latest diversity report shows that the company has had slight increases in the number of women working at the company. Airbnb’s U.S. workforce was comprised of 44 percent women in...