At Airbnb, we believe that heritage tourism has a central role to play in achieving the goals of the EU Tourism Transition Pathway and the overall twin transition of the European economy. 

Our approach to heritage travel is a great example of how technology can drive high-quality and diversified tourism in Europe. By creating a distinct category for heritage properties on our site, Airbnb is encouraging and enabling travellers to support cultural preservation and greater sustainability as part of their travel choices. 

Airbnb also supports heritage Hosts to ensure they have the skills they need to fulfil their role as custodians of Europe’s cultural heritage, contributing to the preservation and renovation of the built environment. Airbnb also helps to drive revenue which can be used for such work: our EMEA Historical Home Hosts have collectively earned over EUR320 million since the category launched, with typical earnings of ca. EUR5,700 per Host. 

Bringing these threads together, it is clear that heritage tourism can deliver immense benefits for visitors and residents alike (Topic 26 under the Tourism Transition Pathway). 

The following examples illustrate how Airbnb has made the promotion of heritage properties and sustainable tourism a top priority across the EU:

- Airbnb has launched a new Historical Homes category on the platform to make it easier for guests to discover heritage homes across the EU. As of June 2023, there were over 50,000 listings in the historical homes category, with just 3% of Airbnb Historical Homes located in high-density urban areas, helping to disperse the benefits of tourism to rural and less-visited destinations. 
- We have launched several new partnerships with national heritage associations to promote and boost heritage tourism in Europe, including La Fondation du Patrimoine in France, the Casas Históricas association in Spain, Schlösser & Gärten in Germany, ADSI in Italy, and the Association Royale des Demeures Historiques & Jardins de Belgique/ Koninklijke Vereniging der Historische Woonsteden en Tuinen van België in Belgium, Casas Antigas and Aldeias Historicas in Portugal, The Danish Club in Denmark, and the Austrian Historic Houses Association. Overall, Airbnb has donated almost ten million Euros to heritage organisations in Europe to help boost demand for heritage-related travel, including by funding the renovation of almost 300 historic homes. 
- We have unveiled new initiatives to grow heritage travel in Europe, including funding a new education programme in collaboration with European Historic Houses, focusing on heritage preservation and promotion using digital tools such as AI.
- We have also launched our “Heritage Host Academy” in a number of EU Member States, with dedicated toolkits and points of contact for heritage Hosts, thereby offering bespoke trainings and advice on how to become a Historical Homes Host.

Looking forward, we want to continue to drive heritage tourism throughout the European Union, with the aim to help create a more inclusive, skills-based and resilient tourism sector for Europe, and an improved heritage tourism experience for Europeans. With this in mind, we are committing to:

- Driving increased heritage travel: by the end of 2023, we will roll out and promote our “Historical Homes” category in all 27 EU Member States, including through our collaboration with European Historic Houses. We will also continue to use marketing materials and digital tools to promote heritage choices among our guests and to support and encourage access to heritage properties throughout the EU. 
- Supporting EU heritage Hosts: by the end of 2024 we plan to hold four seminars available to ca. 50,000 European heritage Hosts to facilitate the exchange of best practices and to provide bespoke trainings/advice on how to preserve and promote their heritage homes. 
- Broadening heritage travel: through 2024, we will actively engage with other European associations and networks dedicated to culture and heritage, with a view to emulating the success of existing collaborations.