Airbnb Growing With Senior Retirees

As Airbnb, the short-term apartment rental company grows, it is finding itself with more and more senior retiree hosts. Hosts aged 60 and older are the fastest growing demographic, and it seems that they also get all the highest ratings with guests. This older crowd represents a major departure from Airbnb's origins as a makeshift bed and breakfast run by a couple of millenials in 2008. 

Airbnb Retirement Plan

Toronto resident Ruth Donsky, 68 started renting out her children's bedrooms after they moved out. "I thought, I'm a little old lady with a house and a garden and two kids' bedrooms with no one in them. I should be renting them out," she said. After signing up with Airbnb, Ms. Donsky was able to bring in some much needed income to supplement her retirement savings. She rents out rooms for $68 to $90 a night depending on the season. Initially she didn't have many guests, but this past summer she had more in one month than in all other years combined. "It's a wonderful thing to do in retirement," Ms. Donsky says, "You get to work from home."

Supplemental Income

According to survey's done for the company, Airbnb hosts in Canada make an average annual revenue of $6,500. And while hosts from the general population are growing at a rate of 85 percent, among seniors, they are growing at a rate of 100 percent. There are more than 5,600 senior hosts in Canada alone and another million-plus worldwide, noted Aaron Zifkin, Airbnb's Canada country manager.

Seniors might come to Airbnb to earn a little extra cash for expenses, but there is a whole level of social inclusion that comes with being a host. For this demographic, travel was about meeting new people and making friends and hosting an Airbnb is definitely a callback to that time.