Airbnb, longer family stay and popular countryside destination in 2021

ROME, May 24 (Adnkronos / Labitalia) – Rural tourism has recorded steady growth on Airbnb over the past five years: it has gone from 10% of nights booked in rural areas in 2015 to 22% in 2021. In Italy, it has gone from 21 % Bookings in 2019 refer to rural areas to 37% this year. This is one of the data that emerges from an analysis conducted by Airbnb based on reservations and research conducted on the platform that also inspired many of the updates provided today. With 4 million hosts in more than 220 countries and territories, and more than 900 million arrivals, Airbnb has already managed to see from the inside how the pandemic has changed the world of travel.

Speaking more specifically about summer bookings, historically it was the most popular type of summer trip on Airbnb for one or two travelers to major cities, while in the summer of 2021 we’re seeing a big change: The most booked types of flights on Airbnb today see family in the center, moving in. From a big city to a smaller destination. So it is no coincidence that accommodation reservations that can accommodate five or more people have increased globally from 35% in the summer of 2019 to 54% for the year 2021, which is also a noticeable increase for Italy, which starts from 33% to 53%.

Moreover, people today can count on greater flexibility: they can travel anywhere and at any time, but the real key to reconciling travel and everyday life seems to lie in long-term stays. In the reservations made on the platform, we can see how flights have become longer overall, and how the demand for stays of at least 28 days has increased: In fact, the percentage of long-term stays (at least 28 nights) on Airbnb nearly doubled from 2019. (14% of nights booked in the first four months) to 2021 (24%, which goes up to 28% for Italy).