When you buy through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.
As coronavirus-related restrictions lift in phases around the country, many Americans are eyeing a return to travel after the industry had all but completely shuttered.
Airbnb is among the companies seeing a significant return to business. And that makes sense, given that doctors and experts regard renting private homes as a low-risk proposition for disease transmission, especially when compared to hotels.
In fact, Airbnb revealed new data that shows from May 17 to June 6, 2020 — yes, during the scourge of the pandemic — there were more nights booked for travel to Airbnb listings in the US than during the same time period in 2019.
The platform's so-called Superhosts have particularly benefitted from this surge, claiming 55 percent of the nights booked in the same period, representing a 10-point bounce over last year.
The data comes from a survey commissioned by Airbnb among 2,200 adults in the US, and nearly half of respondents said they will prefer to stay within a day's drive for their first trip after lockdown lifts. Indeed, since the outbreak of the pandemic, the percentage of bookings made on Airbnb within 200 miles has grown from one-third of all bookings (in February) to over half (in May), according to the report.
Consider that's a trip a traveler can make on a single tank of gas at a time when many find their budgets strapped.
The new data also shows the places where Americans are most interested in booking, as Airbnb also released the top 10 trending locations in the US right now as follows:Below, we detail these popular destinations among Airbnb users, as well as our top pick to book in each region, selected based on our own criteria that included top-rated, well-located, and well-reviewed listings offered by Superhosts, with near-perfect 5.0 ratings from reviewers.
We also identified current COVID-19 cleaning policies for each property.
Airbnb currently offers a few different options for hosts, in accordance with their new multi-tier Enhanced Cleaning Initiative. Announced in April, the new program overhauls host cleaning protocols and promises to make participating listings easily searchable and transparent for concerned travelers.
The platform expects that searchable feature to roll out this month, which will identify which listings participate in the rigorous new sanitization procedures and booking buffer windows intended to space out stays for added safety.
And this matters to prospective guests: 60 percent of US survey respondents said they are more likely than before the pandemic to choose accommodation based on confidence in cleanliness.
These are the top 10 trending destinations on Airbnb in the US right now.