In a survey released in June, lodging platform Airbnb found that hosts in the Philippines use the earnings derived from renting out their space to augment their income for daily expenses. The survey also saw that nearly 2 out of 5 respondents said they host to earn money to make ends meet.

More than half of the survey respondents said they rent out their spaces to earn extra spending money. Against the backdrop of higher prices for everyday goods, nearly 60% of hosts said they use the income earned to buy food and other necessities. Hosts also use the income to help pay for housing and home improvement needs.

Of the third surveyed who said that the income they earned through hosting has helped them stay at home in 2021, over 50% said that hosting helped them avoid foreclosure or eviction. Beyond paying their rent and mortgages, almost half indicated that they use the money earned through hosting to improve their homes.

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Hosts surveyed also indicated that they expect that income earned through hosting will become more important, with almost half saying they expect to become more reliant on Host income in the next 12 months.

According to Airbnb, globally, long-term stays were at an all-time high in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, more than doubling in size from Q1 2019, and continue to represent around 1 in every 5 nights booked. In the Philippines, more than a third of the guests surveyed said they stayed at an Airbnb listing to travel and work remotely.

In the Philippines, since March 2020, over 60 cities and towns got their first-ever Airbnb bookings.