Aid workers help distribute supplies in N.Italy. Courtesy Red Cross.
Sustainable short-term rental platform FairBnB is pitching a new idea to help Italian communities ravaged by coronavirus. #TravelTomorrow gives support today in return for a holiday, tomorrow. By Jeremy Torr.
Bologna, Italy, April 2020. Sustainable and community-oriented short term rental platform Fairbnb.coop is promoting a new approach to help towns and cities economically devastated by the Covid 19 outbreak. The proceeds of future trips will be immediately used to support doctors, nurses and health personnel on the front line against Covid 19 in the active communities in Italy.
The majority of web-based holiday-let platforms have recorded a massive collapse in bookings made for coming months, perhaps years. This has hit all hosts, be they greedy multiple-site opportunists or simple homeshare letters. As the coronavirus pandemic has spread, discretionary travel has halted, hitting airlines and major commercial Airbnb landlords alike, and all have as a result laid off staff.
Locals are confined to their apartments - and with no letting allowed. Courtesy TL Win.
“This has been a serious blow especially for the hosts that we consider sustainable,” says FairBnB. “For those who host in their home or have at most one home on the tourist market: families who integrate their income without damaging the social fabric of their city, this virus has been a catastrophe.”
But instead of pulling in their horns, many of the group’s hosts have demonstrated praiseworthy civic sense, making their otherwise empty apartments available for accommodation to Italian healthcare staff, or opening them up so cases can remain isolated and reduce the risk of possible infection transfer.
FairBnB has come up with a simple approach to help these owners, as well as support the fight against recurring illnesses from the virus. By booking today, while staying at home, potential visitors to the region can immediately contribute otherwise absent income to the fight against coronavirus - and at the same time plan a sustainable future holiday, helping Italy to recover.
The campaign, headed up by hashtags #IStayHome & #TravelTomorrow, will see all commissions on any bookings donated to several organisations involved in the fight against coronavirus. Initially this will concentrate on the hardest hit cities in north Italy - Genoa, Bologna and Venice, but will be expanded to Amsterdam, Valencia and Barcelona in due course.
“We already have an ethical and responsible business model that allocates 50% of the commission on our bookings to local community projects with a significant social impact,” say the FairBnB management. “During the coronavirus emergency, this part of the commissions will instead go to support doctors, nurses, and operators who work on the front lines to defend everyone's health. It will also contribute to the support structures and intensive care in hospitals,” they added.
Previously teeming tourist destinations in Italy are now empty. Any help is valuable. Courtesy Manuel Silvestri.
In addition, FairBnB.coop will directly cover all transaction costs (some 25% of gross revenues) allowing the contribution for the fight against coronavirus, and the host’s funds, to arrive at their destination without any additional costs.
“For a start-up like ours, it's an extra effort at a delicate moment,” says the group in a release. “It’s a risk, however, that we willingly take in the hope that this sad period will serve to remind everyone of the importance of the common good. We will … try to involve as many potential travellers in the initiative, in the hope of providing immediate resources for the fight against the virus, as well as a (long term view) for the sustainable hosts in our cities.”
If you want to help northern Italy get back on its feet in more ways than one, then put your booking where your sympathy lies and book TODAY in time for a holiday TOMORROW in Venice, Bologna, and Genoa. This will free up space, keep you at home, and provide badly-needed income for sustainable host families.
“If you know someone who can help us reach as many people as possible with this appeal, get busy,” say the organisers.