Tips & Education for Airbnb Hosts
Airbnb clearly lays out the specific requirements needed to be ahost and offer short-term rental opportunities to guests. You needto have a property, be responsible, take reservations, avoidcancellations, and keep your guest rating high. These are some ofthe same requirements needed to host Airbnb Adventures, except youdon’t need a property to list.
How does Airbnb Adventures work?
Airbnb Adventures is a collection of activities, many of whichinclude multi-day experiences, hosted by experts in specific localareas. They take small groups to off-the-beaten-path locations toimmerse them in the culture and communities of an area. Adventuresare a way to really experience an area and “do it like a local”instead of sticking to the usual tourist activities. The program isan expansion of Airbnb Experiences and ups the ante to include, asthe name suggests, more adventurous activities.
Adventures include a wide variety of exciting activities thatexpose you to natural wonders, relatively unknown destinations, andfun activities you’ll be talking about for the rest of your life.When the program originally launched, Airbnb offered a limitednumber of winners a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take an80-day around the world trip that spanned six continents, 18countries, and eight different modes of transportation, including ahot air balloon.
Airbnb Adventures is similar to the Airbnb Experiences programbut offers an opportunity to push participants out of their comfortzones. There are currently more than 200 Adventures spreadthroughout the globe that are hosted by local experts withinteresting stories. Adventure groups are small (no more than adozen people or so) and people can make personal connections duringtheir experiences.
The program is intended to take advantage of the growingadventure travel market and Airbnb is hoping to offer moreattainable experiences designed to incorporate the naturalsurroundings of a destination.
At the moment Airbnb Adventures include:
- Tracking lions
- Trekking into the Amazon Jungle
- Experiencing cowboy life in the American west
- Trekking from Dana to Petra
- Touring paranormal points of interest in the US Southwest
- Camping on the side of a cliff in Colorado
- Kayaking through the Swedish Islands and having a culinaryexperience
- Musical camping in the desert of California
- 7-day adventure visit to Rapa Nui
- Hiking in the World’s Most Silent Place
- Trekking through mystical Oman
- Farming in Indiana Amish country
- Searching for Sasquatch in Washington State
Prices range depending on the adventure. They average about $600for three days but there are adventures available for a little as$80 for one night and as much as $5000 for 10-day treks.
What’s Required of Airbnb Adventures Hosts?
Hosts who choose to offer Airbnb Adventure experiences arrangethe details of the events and control all aspects of the adventure.They choose when and where, set up accommodations if there are any,decide what services they want to offer, and determine the cost ofthe adventure. Airfare is not included in the adventure, with theexception of the around-the-world 80-day itinerary.
To be an Airbnb Adventures host, you do not need to offer aroom, apartment, or home. You also don’t need to travel far fromyour own hometown if you don’t want to do so. Most Adventurehosts offer their services right where they live because those arethe areas they are more familiar with.
Just about anyone is eligible to host an Adventure as long asyou have the knowledge and experience to share the adventure withpeople. That said, you need to be sure your adventure meets anylegal requirements set forth by your local governments.
Airbnb offers guidelines for what it believes would be greatAdventures, the same as it does for accommodations and AirbnbExperiences. (It should be noted Experiences and Adventures are notthe same thing, though there are similarities to how the programsare run.) Those who sign up to be Adventure hosts with the platformcreate special Adventure pages that include descriptions and photosof what they’re offering. Airbnb reviews this information (itserves as your application) and approves your offering if it thinksit will be something people want to do. Then the listing goeslive.
When it comes to Experiences, Airbnb wants things thatdemonstrate your expertise, offer a unique perspective, provideaccess to a special place or community, and offer somethingimmersive and hands-on to guests. The same is true for Adventuresbut the experiences must be adventurous and more along the lines ofa once-in-a-lifetime event. Experiences and Adventures should notbe large or impersonal tours of an area. There must be a clearfocus and it cannot be something guests could find on theirown.
Hosts of Experiences decide whether they need a business licenseor insurance and laws regarding these things vary from state tostate. It’s far more likely that Adventure hosts have invested inthese things because of the risk level associated with Adventures.Keep in mind, Airbnb takes a hands-off approach to insurancematters and allows the hosts to run their own show when it comes toissues like insurance and local regulations. This is, in part,because these events take place in so many different locations andAirbnb would need to keep tabs on the local requirements all overthe world, which occasionally change or are updated.
If you think you want to be an Airbnb Adventure host, it’simportant to do a lot of research and make sure you have theprotection you need to host such an event. In most cases, Adventurehosts have already worked professionally in the field they aredesigning their Adventure around.
The program is a chance for you to create your own travel andtour business in a niche you love and that you have experience inand share it with potential guests from around the world. AirbnbAdventures gives you access to a market you might otherwise not beable to reach.
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