Our vision is a world in which everyone can access and benefit from the power of technology and tourism. The Airbnb Academy is a tourism development programme built by Airbnb, focused on giving underrepresented and under-resourced communities the tools and resources to participate in tourism through the Airbnb platform. The programme features an immersive training curriculum focused on what it takes to succeed on the Airbnb platform. The Academy has four phases built from Airbnb’s first-hand knowledge and insights, they include: participant recruitment, training, post training support, and community building.

The curriculum introduces tourism as a business opportunity, builds familiarity with the Airbnb online marketplace, supports participants in publishing a Home or Experience listing and builds meaningful connections between participants.

Upon completion of the Academy, participants are:

• Confident using the Airbnb app and website;
• Empowered to tell their personal story on a tech platform;
• Published on the platform, with a Home or Experience listing that stands out;
• Part of the Airbnb community and belong to a network of tourism entrepreneurs around the world.

Post COVID-19, tourism recovery is likely to be uneven. Under-resourced communities were some of the first impacted and may be the last to recover from the pandemic. However, the flexibility and accessibility of Airbnb’s platform makes it easy for people across emerging markets to become tourism entrepreneurs and now more than ever, Airbnb will be a lifeline to many hosts and communities.

Unlike mass travel that bottles up the economics of tourism and takes money out of communities, Airbnb is a healthier form of tourism where hosts keep the vast majority - up to 97% - of the money paid by guests. Hosts set their own prices, and they benefit from reviews that help them create followings among the guest community.

The Airbnb Academy first launched in 2017 in South Africa to help support training in hospitality and technology for residents from under-resourced communities and rural areas. Given its success, and as part of Airbnb’s USD $1million commitment to inclusive tourism in Africa, Airbnb expanded the programme to more underserved communities across South Africa and Kenya. More recently, the programme was expanded to include communities beyond Africa such as in Guyana and Argentina. Going forward, we are looking at ways to continue expanding the Academy to further our vision of a world in which everyone can access and benefit from the power of technology and tourism.