SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Airbnb, the world’s leading marketplace to list, discover and book unique accommodations, today announced a milestone of 5 million guest nights booked since the company’s founding in 2008. With over 4 million guest nights booked in the last twelve months alone, Airbnb has reached a tipping point of global adoption.
“Airbnb was founded so we could solve our own financial need at the time – making rent by sharing the extra space we had,” said Brian Chesky, CEO and co-founder of Airbnb. “Now, there are millions of people around the world using Airbnb to their benefit. Our community is demonstrating the inherent social, economic, and cultural value in the sharing economy.”
With people all over the world facing significant economic challenges, Airbnb has continued to provide much-needed income for hosts looking to monetize their extra space and has become a leading force in the sharing economy. Highlights of Airbnb’s recent momentum include the following developments:
- Over 100,000 properties in 192 countries, and over 19,000 cities worldwide, are listed on Airbnb
- Over 75% of all reservations in 2011 were international, with either the guest, host, or both located outside the United States
- The number of available listings increased 166% in 2011, and 70% of all listings are now located outside the United States
- In 2011, Airbnb expanded its customer support fleet twelvefold to include 24-hour customer support in 16 languages offering service 24-hours a day through email, live chat, and seven global toll-free phone numbers
- The company launched 40 features in 2011 to strengthen trust and safety, making Airbnb a world-leading, trusted marketplace for booking accommodations
- The Airbnb team grew dramatically, with employees located in seven time zones to support demand in global markets
- Guests have traveled over 1.2 billion miles (2 billion kilometers) through Airbnb – enough to travel round trip from the Earth to moon 2,500 times
The company’s fervent adoption by international communities demonstrates the growing power of the new sharing economy. To support this increased demand on a local level, Airbnb also announced plans to expand operations in six countries with the opening of offices in Q1 of 2012. Airbnb currently has offices in San Francisco, Hamburg, Berlin, and London. The new offices will open in the following locations:
- Barcelona, Spain
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Milan, Italy
- Moscow, Russia
- Paris, France
- São Paulo, Brazil
“The tremendous demand from our community made launching local offices in Europe and Brazil clear choices – being closer to our hosts and guests was a natural response,” said Joe Gebbia, CPO and co-founder of Airbnb. “The next chapter in our growth will be focused on spreading the culture and values of Airbnb to our widest international communities.”
About Airbnb:
Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 19,000 cities and 192 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.