European travel is showing strong signs of recovery as the EU continues to announce progress on COVID-19 travel certificates to facilitate cross-border travel.
In the 7-day period between May 18 and 24, the volume of searches on Airbnb by people in EU member states looking for cross-border stays within the bloc increased by up to 31% as compared to the same period in 2019. This included searchers from Belgium (31%), Germany (28%), France (15%), Portugal (14%), Italy (12%), Spain (12%), Austria (8%), and the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Ireland (4%).
The week ending May 22 also saw the highest total volume of searches by people from European Member States for all stays on Airbnb within the bloc since the pandemic began, including domestic and cross-border stays.
“We want the return of travel to be a success for everyone in Europe. We are preparing for what we believe will be the travel rebound of the century but travel will look different, as Europeans are visiting more places, staying longer and are more flexible on when they go,” Emmanuel Marill, Regional Director of Airbnb in Europe.
Travel has fundamentally changed as a result of the pandemic. In summer 2019, all top destinations on Airbnb were major cities. For summer 2021, our top destinations by bookings have moved beyond cities to coastal and other more rural areas:
- France: From Paris to Var
- Italy: From Rome to Sardinia
- Spain: From Barcelona to Costa Blanca
Recently, Airbnb announced the biggest top-to-bottom upgrade of its service inspired by the major shift in how people are traveling. The announcement highlighted steps that streamline and simplify the process to become a Host and will help anyone who wants to host and take advantage of the coming travel surge onboard quickly to get their first booking.
In fact, for new listings that were activated and booked in Q1 2021, 50% received a reservation request within four days of activation. For the year ending April 30, 2021, the average annual earnings per Homes Host who has welcomed at least one guest on Airbnb was about $9,600.
Earlier last month, Airbnb also launched The Great Rebalance of European Travel, a series of commitments to work with communities across the region to ensure that the return of travel is safe, sustainable and benefits everyone – spreading economic benefits to more people and preventing the return of the overtourism phenomenon, where too much tourism is concentrated in too few places.
