Ref. Ares(2020)7909005 - 23/12/2020
Margrethe Vestager
Executive Vice-President
European Commission
Rue de la Loi 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
23 July 2020
Dear Executive Vice-President,
I hope this letter finds you well.
As Europe looks tentatively to its summer holidays this year, I wanted to provide an update on how
we have worked to support our stakeholders in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb provides an online marketplace offering over seven million places to stay
and more than 50,000 local experiences in more than 220 countries and regions. The activity gener-
ated through our platform created an estimated direct economic impact of more than €36 billion in
EU Member States in 2018. On average, two million people per night were staying in Airbnb listings
prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.
In the face of drastic changes to the travel and tourism landscape over the past few months, our
first priority has been the health of those that use our platform. In this vein, we have worked relent-
lessly to support our Guests, Hosts and the communities in which we operate.
Our global frontline stays programme, which provided free or subsidised housing to over 200,000
medical professionals around the world, as well as our approach to cancellations and refunds, which
ensured that Guests could make travel decisions that prioritised their safety under an extended ex-
tenuating circumstances policy, are examples of this. And, as befits our role as a double-sided plat-
form, we launched a €226 million investment fund to support the cost of COVID-19 cancellations,
paying Hosts 25% of what they would have received under their regular cancellation policy.
Airbnb understands the responsibility that comes with being an important player in the digital travel
space. And we understand that the ongoing health crisis has exacerbated pre-existing concerns
about online safety and the role of platforms in ensuring and overseeing content.
This is why we fully support your work on the Digital Services Act.
888 Brannan Street
Third Floor
San Francisco, California 94103
United States
1
In particular, as an online business which facilitates offline interactions across Europe, our main prior-
ity is to support a new legal framework which allows for a more consistent and effective implemen-
tation of EU law throughout the Single Market, to address the highly fragmented regulatory land-
scape for short-term rental platforms such as ours. We believe an EU regulator could play an essen-
tial role in addressing this fragmentation.
I would be honoured if you could find the time for a video call in September, to allow me to introduce
myself and Airbnb in more detail, to exchange views on the Commission’s digital priorities, and to
discuss how Airbnb can best contribute to your work.
Yours sincerely,
Airbnb
888 Brannan Street
Third Floor
San Francisco, California 94103
United States
2