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Did Airbnb feel safer than hotels during the pandemic?

airbnb logo on a smartphone held around a living space

This study’s findings demonstrate that Americans were concerned about the prospect of staying in both hotels and Airbnbs during the pandemic, and it was not until vaccines were readily available that this concern abated to neutral levels. Moreover, Americans generally viewed hotels and Airbnbs as similarly risky throughout the first sixteen months of the pandemic. 

The concerns Americans expressed towards staying in both hotels and Airbnbs during the pandemic presumably are reflective of the increased attention tourists placed on hygiene during the pandemic. These concerns, therefore, justify the efforts lodging companies made to intensify their cleaning activities and publicize these efforts, and the concerns underscore the high levels of perceived tourism risk that defined the pandemic. 

These findings that increased fear towards the virus was associated with greater comparative concern towards hotels aligns with the notion that Airbnb may have benefited from hygiene concerns which lead to its recovery faster than the hotel industry. To learn more, see the full article:

Guttentag DA, Litvin SW, & Smith WW. (2023). To Airbnb or not to Airbnb: Does Airbnb feel safer than hotels during a pandemic? (external link)  Int J Hosp Manag. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103550.