The Airbnb Effect: How The Pandemic Is Driving This Travel Side Hustle

The pandemic has had a profound effect on the way people travel and work. More and more people are now choosing to rent out their homes through Airbnb to fight the costs of rising inflation and make some extra money. For some, this has created the ultimate side hustle.

This is excellent news for Airbnb, as they have seen a significant increase in bookings over the past few months. However, new Airbnb hosts have been hard to come by with only 7% more active listings recorded in the fourth quarter of this year than at the same time last year, which is somewhat disappointing considering a 59% increase in overall bookings over the same period.

Huge Demand From Nomadic Workers

Remote work has been one of the rare benefits of the pandemic, and now nomadic workers are extending their stays for weeks, sometimes months at a time. According to Airbnb, the company saw an increase of 16% in stays over 28 days or longer compared to the same period in 2019.

A staggering statistic shows that one in every five nights booked on the Airbnb platform during Q3 was for a stay of 28 nights or longer.

This scenario helped Airbnb make over 55 million dollars in profit last quarter, suggesting the travel industry is finally bouncing back after two years of upheaval.

Side Hustle As An Airbnb Host

Airbnb hosts earned 12.8 billion dollars in Q3, which is an increase of 27% over 2019, and with the company struggling to add more new hosts to the platform, there is an opportunity for homeowners to make extra income by signing up to be an Airbnb Host.