Airbnb Welcomes 5,000 Hosts to Paris for World's Largest Gathering on Home Sharing

Paris, France - November 12, 2015 - Airbnb, the world's leading community-driven hospitality company, today opened its annual host convention in Paris, France. Attended by 5,000 Airbnb hosts representing 110 nationalities, this year's Airbnb Open is over four times the size of last year's event which took place in San Francisco, USA.

The Airbnb Open brings together Airbnb's host community to connect and learn from each other as well as engaging with the company itself. Under the theme, 'Transform the world one guest at a time', this year's Airbnb Open will include over 100 learning sessions, with many being led by hosts, an Awards ceremony to celebrate the community and an opportunity to give back to the city of Paris through volunteering. It will also feature new product updates and presentations from Airbnb's founders.

“It's easy to look at Airbnb and only see listings. But behind these listings are some of the most generous people on Earth - our hosts,” said Brian Chesky, Airbnb's CEO. “Today, we are over one million strong and come from nearly every town and city around the world. At Airbnb Open in Paris, we will bring together hosts from over 100 countries to learn from each other, create friendships and celebrate our incredible community.”

This is the first time Airbnb Open has been held outside of the USA, with Paris representing the ideal location as the top destination in the world for home sharing on Airbnb. More people in Paris share their homes with guests from around the world than in any other city (there are 60,000 Airbnb listings in the Paris region). There are also more Parisians using Airbnb to travel than from any other city.

With 110 nationalities represented, the Airbnb Open shows that home sharing is a truly global phenomenon. Diverse countries represented include, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ethiopia, Greenland, Madagascar, Mongolia, Senegal, Uzbekistan and even the tiny South Pacific island nation, Vanuatu. The oldest host attending is 82 years old from Rome, Italy, while the hosts that have travelled farthest have come nearly 19,000km from Queenstown, New Zealand.

In the seven years since Airbnb was founded, over 60 million people have used the service, which now lists almost 2 million homes in 34,000 cities in over 190 countries worldwide.

About Airbnb

Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world – online or from a mobile phone. Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and over 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.