Airbnb has suspended all operations in Russia and Belarus, and also stopped users of the home rental site from both countries from making any bookings, in the company’s latest response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The home rental firm, which has almost 100,000 short-term rentals available across both countries according to the market research firm AirDNA, has been vocal in its support of Ukraine.
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and chief executive of Airbnb, who has added the Ukrainian flag to his Twitter profile, tweeted the suspension in a one-line post.
Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus
— Brian Chesky 🇺🇦 (@bchesky) March 4, 2022
The company elaborated on Chesky’s tweet, adding that the ban would extend to Airbnb members of those countries trying to make any bookings on the site.
“This means that we will block calendars from accepting new bookings in both countries until further notice,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We will also restrict users in Belarus and Russia from making new reservations as guests. We certainly hope that as we look to the future, a path to peace is forged.”
Russia has more than 93,000 listings on Airbnb, and Belarus almost 4,000, according to AirDNA.
On Thursday, Airbnb waived fees for hosts and those booking rentals in Ukraine. It took the decision after members of the public began making bookings in Ukraine with no intention of travelling as a way of providing financial support to residents facing hardship during the invasion.
Ukraine has more than 17,000 active short-term rental listings.
On Monday, Airbnb pledged to offer free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. The company has said it has received “overwhelming support” for the initiative, with more than 260,000 visitors so far to a dedicated web page where it is possible to sign up to be a host or to donate.
Earlier this week, Chesky said the company was assessing its options regarding its Russian operation. “We don’t have a large business in Russia,” he told CNN. “It is not one of our major markets. [But] we are absolutely revisiting our relationship [about whether] to do business in Russia.”
Last year, Airbnb took bookings for 300m nights across 4 million hosts globally, worth a total of $46.8bn (£35.3bn). The company, which was founded in 2008, was floated in 2020, soaring to a market value of about $100bn.
Airbnb joins a rapidly increasing and extensive list of companies that are severing ties or pausing operations in Russia, including Ikea, the global recruitment company Hays, Apple, Netflix and all the major Hollywood studios, the retailers H&M, Marks & Spencer, Burberry and Boohoo, and car manufacturers including Ford, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
