Airbnb

Airbnb: global platform for vacation rentals and experiences

Airbnb is a digital platform that connects hosts offering accommodations, experiences, and services with guests from around the world. The company was founded in 2007, when two hosts welcomed three guests into their San Francisco home, and since then it has grown to more than 5.5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2.5 billion guest arrivals in nearly every country in the world.

The platform allows booking different types of accommodations, such as houses, cabins, apartments, villas, and beachfront properties, among others. According to company data, it has more than 9 million active listings in over 150,000 cities and towns, and is present in more than 220 countries and regions. Additionally, the platform includes a collection of 2 million guest-favorite homes, called Guest Favorites.

Scope and activity of the platform

Airbnb operates as an online marketplace where hosts list their spaces and guests book them. The offering includes entire homes, rooms, and vacation stays, as well as local experiences and services. The company states that hosts have earned more than $380 billion in total, and that the typical host in the United States earned $15,600 in 2025. Likewise, the company has collected and remitted more than $18 billion in taxes globally.

The platform is available in multiple languages and currencies, and offers features such as Instant Book, the AirCover program for hosts and guests, and enhanced cleaning tools. It also has a friendly apartments program for part-time hosts.

History and key milestones

Since its founding, Airbnb has expanded its activity beyond accommodations. In 2016 it launched Experiences, a selection of local activities, and in 2020 it created Airbnb.org, a non-profit organization that connects people with housing in times of crisis. That same year, the company went public.

Milestones in its history include the opening of its headquarters at 888 Brannan Street (San Francisco), the launch of its Chinese brand Aibiying in 2017, the acquisition of HotelTonight in 2019 and Gameplanner.AI in 2023, and a nine-year alliance with the International Olympic Committee announced in 2019. In 2023 it reached 1 million Superhosts in its community.

The company has launched annual product updates, such as the summer and winter releases, which have introduced accommodation categories, Split Stays, AirCover, Airbnb Rooms, Icons, and Guest Favorites, among other new features.

Founders and corporate structure

Airbnb was founded by Brian Chesky, current CEO; Nathan Blecharczyk, Chief Strategy Officer; and Joe Gebbia. The company has been publicly traded since December 2020. In the United Kingdom, the company operates through Airbnb UK Limited and Airbnb Payments UK Limited, as stated in the site's legal information.

Presence in the United Kingdom

The platform maintains a specific version for the United Kingdom, with the domain airbnb.co.uk, prices in pounds sterling, and content tailored to that market. Among the featured searches shown on the site are destinations such as Cheltenham, Bath, Tenby, Lincoln, Whitby, Harrogate, Leicester, Nottingham, Bristol, Northampton, Poole, Newcastle upon Tyne, Chester, Bowness-on-Windermere, Perth, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Scarborough, Isle of Skye, Lake District National Park, Swanage, Exeter, Coventry, Falmouth, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Inverness, Norwich, Oxford, Keswick, Margate, Birmingham, Cardiff, Gloucester, Llandudno, Cambridge, Whitstable, Hastings, Peak District National Park, Stratford-upon-Avon, Ambleside, Sheffield, Reading, Durham, Wembley, York, Plymouth, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Derby, Lyme Regis, Torquay, Anglesey, and Blackpool, among others.