Florida becoming top Airbnb destination

Southwest Florida’s roads and restaurants are packed with visitors, and as more continue flooding into the Sunshine State, people are increasingly relying on Airbnbs for their vacation accommodations as well as for income.

Airbnb has released a list of top-trending destinations for spring: While international destinations like Portugal and Canada are high on the list, Florida was a top priority for families. They want to spend their vacations on the beach, at Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, or any of our other theme parks. Liz Fusco, an Airbnb spokeswoman, says that’s good news for the Airbnb business because they get to welcome all the new visitors and earn extra money while they’re at it.

“Certainly, that is one group that certainly can benefit from this trend,” Fusco said. “But I would say even beyond that, you know what, what we know is that when Airbnb guests come to an area, they support the local community, often because their hosts recommend local small businesses, local shops, local places for them to discover and spend their dollars. And so certainly for industries like retail and restaurants, which have been hard hit by the pandemic, this is really good news, that there are families and older adults who are headed to town and are looking to become customers.”

Florida is also a top destination for long-term stays for older adults. Many residents who don’t need to be in the office every day and have the freedom to travel make extra income by hosting Airbnbs themselves. If you’re considering it, now is the time; locals can list their homes and take advantage of the current trend that’s seeing visitors coming to Florida in waves.

Fusco says the company has made it easier than ever to get started as a host.

“Last year, we announced a new onboarding process takes only about 10 minutes now to become an Airbnb host, and then we also introduced air cover, which is our new top-to-bottom protection, free to every Airbnb host,” Fusco said. “It includes a million dollars in damage protection, a million dollars in liability insurance, and we rolled out a number of new tools, again, all designed to make it easier than ever to become a host.”

If you’re interested in hosting, you can sign up via the Airbnb website.