Airbnb has introduced a new safety feature for solo travellers. The feature is available in two languages: English and Hindi. When a solo guest books a private or shared room reservation on Airbnb, a specialised in-app experience is activated. The ability for the solo traveller to easily share their reservation itinerary with family and friends with a single click is a key component of this new feature. This will be useful in the event of an emergency. The itinerary includes the following information: address, reservation code, and check in and out dates. The new feature will also offer expert advice on how to stay safe when travelling alone.
This product feature comes amidst the solo travel trend that’s surging in the country. As per Airbnb data, there has been a growth of 120 per cent in the number of solo travelers in Q2 2022, when compared to Q2 2019. According to the data, approximately 30 per cent of domestic and international bookings between Q2 2021 to Q2 2022 were by solo travellers from India.
Once the reservation is confirmed in the message thread with the host, the traveller will see automated prompts from Airbnb suggesting questions to ask the host about the listing and its surroundings. These suggested questions are based on interviews with experienced solo travellers who shared information about the types of local insights that helped them stay safe while travelling alone.
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This feature is initially being rolled out for English and Hindi-speaking guests. Airbnb plans to expand it to additional languages as it assesses the results from the Hindi expansion. While currently the focus is on bookings by solo travellers for private rooms or shared spaces, it will soon expand to entire home listings. Airbnb will also introduce it in other languages in the coming year.
This new feature complements other longstanding 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.
Airbnb also makes its local emergency services in-app feature available to all users 24/7, regardless of whether or not they are in the middle of a reservation. With one-touch, this feature quickly connects the user to local emergency services — which could be particularly helpful for solo travellers who are traveling abroad in countries where they do not know the phone number off-hand for local police.
All users also have the option of adding one emergency contact to their profile.
