As peoples’ travel habits shift, Airbnb said in a company blog post Tuesday (May 17) that it has seen more bookings in rural areas.
One area that has also been growing is farm stays, which doubled in the first quarter of 2022 as opposed to the same time in 2019. That could be happening because more U.S. farmers have been looking to Airbnb as a way to earn extra money.
The report said that as of Q4 2021, over 7,000 farm stays had been booked in the U.S. that year — a 40% rise since 2019. Additionally, the typical farm stay host earned an average of roughly $10,300 in 2021.
Airbnb has been working on creating more opportunities for rural tourism and hosting, including debuting its Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy in North Carolina. That program is a “flexible and interactive” education program which aims to help communities become acclimated to hosting.
The blog noted that last year, the academy worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to design and run an Academy for those community members in North Carolina. The company plans to expand the Entrepreneurship Academy offerings to several other rural communities around the country in the coming months.
PYMNTS wrote that Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky will be working with Barack and Michelle Obama on a scholarship, the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, to help college graduates looking to get into public service.
Read more: Airbnb CEO, Obamas Debut Public Service Scholarship Fund
That will provide students with financial aid to help offset debt, while also providing travel and networking opportunities. The scholarship was funded with a personal contribution of $100 million from Chesky to the Obama Foundation, and it will support 100 students in the first year, with plans to expand.
The report said the scholarship will be available to students going into their junior year at accredited four-year schools.
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