(TAN): Airbnb and Seville City Hall are working together during the holiday season on a campaign to promote sustainable tourism that is respectful of neighborhoods and supportive of local shops and businesses.
During the holiday season, hosts and guests in Seville will receive a set of tips and recommendations developed in collaboration with Seville City Hall to help visitors reduce their environmental footprint in the city. This is part of Airbnb’s commitment to protect urban landscapes and civic spaces for local communities and to encourage visitors to enjoy their chosen destination sustainably.
These guides promote public transport, local produce, and local businesses. Hosts will also receive a series of recommendations on how to reduce their environmental footprint, including buying in bulk, using environmentally-friendly cleaning products or providing more ecological devices for their guests.
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In the guide, hosts are encouraged to offer reusable products to their guests, encourage the use of public transport and to provide clear instructions on the efficient use of appliances such as air conditioning. Additionally, hosts are invited to provide guests with information about local charity initiatives in the area.
The guides are being produced to support Seville City Hall in their work to reduce the environmental impact of tourism and to better manage recycling efforts in the city. Airbnb hosts and guests will receive information about the recycling system and the waste collection schedule in the form of a map of “Ecopoints” for trash collection provided by City Hall.
“This collaboration with Airbnb allows us to reach a wide range of visitors and to promote sustainable and quality travel in the city which is respectful of co-existence between visitors, hosts and the wider community,” said Antonio Jiménez, managing director of the Seville Tourism Consortium.
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Surveys carried out by Airbnb show that users of the platform stay longer, spend more in the destination and that they invigorate local commerce.Guests and hosts using Airbnb in 2018 generated more than 1.128 million euros in Andalusia. On average, guests who stayed through Airbnb in Andalusia in 2018 said that 44 percent of their spending took place in the neighborhoods where they were staying. Ninety one percent of Spanish hosts on the Airbnb platform recommend local restaurants and cafes to guests, and 78 percent recommend cultural activities such as museums, festivals or historical places.
Airbnb is committed to working with authorities and has reached agreements with more than 500 governments around the world. Fostering belonging, building trust and keeping the community safe are fundamental to Airbnb’s business. It has launched new features and policies to help the community stay safe, including new mechanisms to support hosts, guests and neighbors who have concerns about unauthorized parties or disturbances.
