As the Philippines begins to relax domestic travel restrictions, Airbnb continues to steadily navigate the Covid-19 pandemic with hundreds of new local Hosts joining the platform in the first six months of 2021.

The company announced today that Filipino Gen Zs and millennials are the driving force behind Airbnb’s growing community of Hosts in the Philippines, with over 68% of new Airbnb Hosts in H1 2021 comprising Gen Zs and millennials aged between 18 and 40*.

Despite hosting during small windows of opportunities due to the start-stop order of travel restrictions between January to June, new Filipino Hosts have collectively earned over PHP 21 million welcoming guests on Airbnb. Metro Manila, Tagaytay, and Metro Cebu also emerged as the top cities where new Airbnb Hosts are hosting*.

Tourism is a significant contributor to the Philippine economy and employment. In 2019, research from Oxford Economics revealed that Filipino Airbnb Hosts contributed USD 1 billion to the country’s GDP and supported over 160,000 jobs. Guests on Airbnb spent over USD 930 million, representing 1.2% of the country’s total tourism spending in the same year**.

Through the pandemic, hosting has emerged as an important economic lifeline for many Filipinos to make ends meet and support their families. A Q1 2021 survey by Airbnb reveals that 57% of Filipino Hosts polled said the income they’ve earned through hosting has helped them to stay in their homes, and over half said they want to find more ways to host with Airbnb. Over a third of Filipino Hosts also said they share recommendations with guests on their favourite local restaurants and businesses within their community***.

“This year’s World Tourism Day calls for more inclusive growth that advances prosperity for more communities and drives more sustainable development. It’s a call for our tourism industry to reset and rebuild tourism in a way that benefits more people and communities than ever before. As more Filipinos turn to hosting with Airbnb to support themselves and their families during this time of need, we remain fully committed to empowering our Hosts to provide unique, family-friendly, and clean, responsible travel,” shares Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Earlier this year, Airbnb introduced more than 100 upgrades across its platform, including a new simplified 10-step process for anyone to become a Host. It also launched seven Host clubs this year across the Philippines to empower Hosts to connect, collaborate and support each other as well as their local communities, by sharing advice and best practices on hosting. During the pandemic, Airbnb launched its Airbnb Enhanced Clean protocol, an industry-first set of cleaning and sanitisation standards designed with guidance from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure peace of mind for the community.

The company continues to support and strengthen the communities its Hosts call home, amidst the unprecedented changes brought about by the pandemic. In June, Mercy in Action, Childhope Philippines Foundation, Inc., Haligi ng Bata, Inc. and Reach Out and Feed Philippines were amongst the first 150 grant recipients of the inaugural Airbnb Community Fund, which will distribute US$100 million over 10 years to organizations around the world.