An overview of Airbnb

Airbnb Inc. is a San Francisco, California based company, founded in 2008 by two local San Francisco designers, who created the initial concept for AirBed & Breakfast(Airbnb), i.e. rent out extra space in their SOMA loft apartment to the Industrial Design Conference attendees. Then they created a web site, airbnb.com, to allow others to rent out their extra space and showcase it to the people globally.

Airbnb is now a trusted online and global community marketplace where millions of hosts and travelers choose to create a free Airbnb account so they can list their space and book unique accommodations around the world for the duration that suits their convenience.

Hosts at Airbnb share their spaces in around 190 countries and more than 34,000 cities with world-class customer service. You only have to enter your destination and travel dates into the search bar of the website to discover distinctive places available to stay, anywhere in the world.

Currently, Airbnb has its twelve international offices located in Barcelona (Spain), Berlin (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dublin (Ireland), London (UK), Milan, (Italy), Moscow (Russia), Paris (France), San Francisco (US), São Paulo (Brazil), Singapore, and Sydney (Australia).

Airbnb provides specific features like Verified ID for the hosts and travelers to be at ease. Verified ID indicates the completion of a specific set of verifications, i.e. offline ID, online ID, profile photo, email address, and phone number.

Airbnb specifically created a secure payment system to ensure complete and safe collection of money. Airbnb collects payment from guests at the time of reservation but waits for 24 hours after their arrival to release the funds to the host. This is a good practice for the guests and hosts to feel confident knowing that Airbnb will process and deliver payments when a reservation is honored. Also, their convenient payment system supports many currencies and several types of payment and payout methods to facilitate their customers.

In addition to the Airbnb website, the company offers mobile applications for iOS and Android customers to enable hosts to communicate with guests and respond directly to guest messages. The application also allows users to find listings based on what is available using geolocation.

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