Airbnb Bookings Are Rising; Hotel Industry Lags Behind

By Mary Anne R. Sep 09 2020, 05:05 AM EDT

Airbnb bookings are seeing an increase as the hotel industry continues to struggle amid the pandemic.

According to a report, the home rental platform service has seen a rise in demand for its bookings amid the pandemic, with an average of 32 percent week-over-week growth since Apr. 27 until the start of June.

Airbnb bookings dramatically declined during the pandemic, like hotels Marriot and Hilton. However, bookings on Airbnb dropped the smallest percentage at 56 percent compared to Marriot at 75 percent.

Airbnb also experienced the fastest bounce back. Its recent data not only outperformed other vacation options, such as hotels and other home rental platforms, but it is also up year-over-year, hitting new highs.

The report said that Airbnb spending in July was up 22 percent over the previous July, and spending the week of Aug. 17 was 75 higher than the equivalent week last year.

Airbnb has seen an increase in demands for long-stay rentals and "staycations," according to Ediston Trends.

The demand shows that people are using Airbnb as either as office options or taking advantage of working from home in a potentially nicer home or nicer location.

The home rental platform had an issue earlier, reportedly banning guests who weigh more than 220 pounds from booking. The two Airbnb hosts have had their listings removed after this.

The home, which was called "Bobbit's Lair" in Sandwich, Kent in the U.K., advertised itself as a two-floor medieval space. It can be rented for $265 a night.

However, the cottage listed by hosts Zsu and Marcus had a rule for possible guests. Included in the restrictions were the usual no smoking, no loud music after 10 p.m., and no non-guests allowed.

The controversial rule that they include was the no persons with eating disorders may book as they have a maximum weight of 100 kilograms per person.

Social media user and self-titled "fat activist," Lindsay McGlone, unveiled the listing and shared it to her social media account.

"They should be held accountable. @airbnb do you not regulate your site? How is the acceptable. Please find the link in my stories or bio to report this herrendous listing," she said. McGlone's post gained attention.

The hosts edited their rules and removed the mention of an eating disorder. However, they retained the weight restriction. The hosts claimed that they made these rules to protect the home.

In a statement, they said that people must understand that the pictures are only wide-angle, and "bigger than average people are NOT ALLOWED TO STAY!" However, the post has been completely removed after being initially suspended by Airbnb.

An Airbnb spokesperson confirmed the incident via a statement. The spokesperson said that Airbnb's mission is to create a world where everyone can belong anywhere.

The spokesperson added that discrimination and bias have no place in their community, saying that they suspended the listing and addressed the matter raised.

"We enforce a strict non-discrimination policy and under our Open Doors initiative, if a guest feels they have been discriminated against, we will provide personalized support to ensure they find a place to stay," the spokesperson said in a report.