Airbnb has unveiled an important digital aid to safeguard the wellbeing of solo travellers. In 2021, 26 percent of all nights booked on Airbnb were by singles, and more than 50 percent of nights booked for long-term stays during the first quarter of 2022 were for solo travellers.
The platform has now announced its new Solo Traveller in-app experience, specifically designed to better support safe solo travelling on Airbnb. When a solo guest books a private or shared room reservation, it activates a specialised in-app experience, starting with supplying the traveller with expert tips they may want to try to help stay safe when travelling alone.
Key component is the ability for the solo traveller to easily share, with one-touch, their reservation itinerary with trusted people for added peace of mind and in the rare event of an emergency during a stay. The itinerary includes: listing address, reservation code, and check in and out dates.
This feature is initially being rolled out for English speaking guests. At this time, it will focus on bookings by solo travellers to private rooms or shared spaces. Airbnb says it plans to introduce this feature to additional countries and languages in the coming year, as well as expand it to include entire home listings as well.
It added: "Additionally, we recognise that female solo traveller safety is top of mind for the travel community right now. As we began developing the product, it became apparent that this could benefit all solo travellers, so the in-app experience will be made accessible to guests regardless of their gender identity.
"Our hope is this new product will better equip solo travellers on Airbnb to be more informed travellers by getting their pre-trip questions answered, giving them a better understanding of their surroundings, and informing the important people in their lives about where they will be and for how long."
The new feature complements existing products and tools to promote safer travel experiences. Other in-app products like the 24-hour Safety Line are available to all travellers during active reservations. If a guest ever feels unsafe, they’ll get priority access to specially-trained safety agents, day or night.
It will also make the local Emergency Services in-app feature available to all Airbnb users 24/7. With one-touch, this feature quickly connects the user to local emergency services, such as 999, which could be particularly helpful for solo travellers who are travelling abroad in countries where they do not know the phone number for police. This feature was recently extended to 70 countries and regions, with more to come.
All Airbnb users also have the option to add one Emergency Contact to their profile. In the rare circumstance that Airbnb needs to contact someone on a client's behalf, adding this can help quicken that process. This can be found in Account Settings in the Personal Info tab towards the bottom of the page and only visible to Airbnb.
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