Airbnb owners getting exposed amid COVID-19 outbreak

Airbnb hosts across the country are coming to terms with a huge hit to their income as a result of mass cancellations due to the spread of coronavirus.

“Everything is gone. It just fell off the cliff almost overnight,” said Grace de Burca, who rents out an en suite bedroom in her Galway home.

On the Airbnb platform she is described as a super host and has bookings most weekend nights for the months ahead. “My income in March was to be €1,000 and that has been wiped out. My income for April was looking good too and would have come in at €1,200 but that is gone now too.”

She has been an Airbnb host for just over three years and told The Irish Times that the money had been going into the family pot and was spent on college fees for the kids