Disaster Response Program
Open your doors to those in need or find emergency accommodations
Active Disasters
Hosts are helping all over the world
Thousands of hosts have housed individuals, families, and relief workers during emergency situations worldwide.
47
Global Emergencies
3000 +
Activated Listings
Inspired by the community
Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012, and Airbnb hosts immediately began helping in the way they knew best–by providing a home and warm welcome for their neighbors in need.
Inspired by their generosity, Airbnb created the Disaster Response service, to make it easier for community members all over the world to provide emergency accommodations in times of crisis.
Read more about the program and the hosts that inspired us
How it works
Airbnb hosts can respond to crises in their community by offering housing to displaced neighbors and relief workers deployed to help.
During an emergency, Airbnb may email local hosts with information about how to help and how to offer their extra space to affected community members. These hosts are still covered by the Host Guarantee, and Airbnb’s fees are waived.
Learn more about how Airbnb partners with government organizations and NGOs to support communities during and after a disaster.
The details
Why are people opening their homes for free?
Since 2012, Airbnb hosts have helped thousands of people find safe, welcoming places to stay while they rebuild their lives after natural disasters, wars, conflict, and other events. Our hosts asked us to create a way for them to be seen as a resource by those in need, and we have. One way we facilitate the wishes of the community is by activating our response tool.
When disasters strike, our response tool is activated to create additional housing – in or nearby the affected area. When the tool is activated, Airbnb automatically contacts hosts in the impacted and surrounding areas asking if they have extra space to share with their displaced neighbors. Hosts who respond choose to list their spaces free of charge, and Airbnb waives all booking fees.
In addition to waiving all booking fees and providing the technology to facilitate community driven disaster support, all disaster relief guests and hosts also have access to Airbnb's 24/7 customer support and policies, including the Host Guarantee.
How does it work for hosts?
Airbnb Hosts within the affected area have the ability to opt into listing their homes for $0 by visiting pages dedicated to an event covered by our Disaster Response program. Hosts are in control of how often they wish to open their homes and how long guests stay.
Once logged in, hosts choose the event and click, “I can offer my space for free”. Active listings will appear to add them to the event. Once opted in, the listing will appear in search results to guests in the affected geographical area at $0/night.
From here, hosts may be contacted by guests in need of a safe place to stay. All offered coverages, such as the Host Guarantee, apply.
How does it work for guests?
First, guests must create a free, verified Airbnb account or log into their current account. From there, guests visit our Disaster Response page to view active events. Guests located in the affected area may view $0 listings by choosing the relevant event and clicking, “I need a place to stay”.
Please note, any reservation reported to have been made by a non-evacuee will be cancelled and guests must leave the listing immediately.
Are all stays offered by hosts free?
During unexpected events, the need is typically for $0 accommodations. This need may change over time and depends on country-to-country regulations. Hosts that would prefer to offer a discount may update their listing descriptions or titles to highlight it. From there, guests may send messages and a special offer can be created.
How is availability set?
Availability is controlled using the Calendar tool in Manage Listing. Please note, that if a listing was created directly through the airbnb.com/welcome site, any changes to availability will only be seen by partner agencies and the home will not be viewable by the general Airbnb community or evacuees.
Who may see and book homes on this platform?
Hosts may continue accepting regular bookings, as well as open their home to people in need.
If prefered, a home can be visible only to organizations who specialize in finding temporary housing for people in need. Adding a new home directly through the Open Homes Evacuees page page will default to this restricted visibility. It can be changed at any time by returning to the same page.
Have additional questions?
If you have any further questions that aren’t covered by the information above, please reach out to us at openhomes@airbnb.com. We want to hear from you.
Partnerships
Collaborating with regional disaster relief organizations in advance of an event allows us to reach a broader audience and help more people during the actual event. That is why we are pleased to partner with local government agencies and disaster relief organizations to help the Airbnb community and the cities prepare for local emergencies.