Airbnb has released significant figures around its Homes business, reporting more than half a billion guests have stayed at Airbnb listings around the globe.
That volume amounts to three guests checking into Airbnb listings across 81,000 cities in 191 countries every half-second, the company says.
The home-share giant is also claiming hosts have earned more than $65 billion through the platform, which now boasts six million places to stay - inching Airbnb just ahead of Booking.com’s reported 5.7 million listings.
Airbnb says now more than 75 cities - including Auckland, New Zealand; Mexico City; Cape Town, South Africa; and Havana, Cuba - have hosted at least one million guest arrivals.
The geographic distribution of guest arrivals has also grown: In 2009, 86% of all guest arrivals were at listings in the company’s 10 biggest markets; today, more than 900 cities have at least 1,000 Airbnb listings each.
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Diversity has spread to its host community, as well, with women accounting for 56% of all hosts. More than one million hosts are over the age of 50, Airbnb says, and seniors (aged 60-plus) represent the fastest-growing demographic of hosts in the United States.
The majority of Airbnb bookings, at 70%, have been made by guests under the age of 40, and millennials have spent more than $31 billion through Airbnb since the company was founded in 2008.
In addition to Homes, Airbnb says in 2018 it saw a 152% increase in the number of rooms available in boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts and hostels and resorts. It remains to be seen how its acquisition of HotelTonight earlier this month will impact its business.
Airbnb also says its Experiences unit now boasts more than 25,000 things to do in 1,000 cities, a goal the company outlined a year ago.