‘Being a superhost made me dream big’: how women are opening up their homes to financial stability with Airbnb

Around the world, over 50 percent of Airbnb hosts are women, earning nearly $32 billion through the hospitality portal since its inception in 2008. Not just abroad, even in India, more women are opening up their homes to travellers from across the world for a local, and more aesthetic experience. In the process, they are also setting up their own enterprise and building a way to financial stability and independence.

When the going gets tough, they say, the tough get going. This cannot be truer than in case of women who have turned entrepreneurs with Airbnb, an online global homestay and alternative accommodation aggregator.

Opening up their doors to global travellers and tourists, these women are not only paving the way to financial sustainability, but also building a thriving community of female hosts on the platform. A great deal of the credit goes to the redefined meaning of tourism, made possible with the advent of technological tools and onboarding of diverse hosts from quaint, rural locations in the country.

In India alone, “Airbnb has witnessed a whopping 32.53 percent increase in women hosts between 2018 and 2019”.

With cities like Goa, Mumbai, and Bengaluru leading in terms of the number of women hosts, the San Francisco-headquartered hospitality brand predicts,“each female host in the country earns near about $1,323 (approximately Rs 93,800), leading to an estimated total income of approximately $10 million (Rs 74 crore) in 2018.”

A ticket to dream big…

Leveraging the individual and innate passion for hospitality Airbnb has made it possible for countless women to use its digital platform to support their families, meet new people and experience cultures from across the globe, even if they haven’t had the opportunity to travel overseas themselves.

Take Airbnb Superhost Soraya Postel’s journey for example. A single mother, and a proud member of the community, Soraya to provides extraordinary experiences to guests, by making each person feel at home while travelling. One can even say it is her natural flair for hosting that has made her an incredibly sought-after host.

Soraya shares her experience: “After becoming a divorcee at 47, I think Airbnb was a gift from the blue,” she says. By gift, Soraya means the financial and personal independence; a theme discussed in detail when HerStory recently caught up with her at Airbnb’s ‘She Travels, She Hosts’ panel in Mumbai.

“The financial empowerment that came with becoming an Airbnb Superhost made me a stronger human being, but it also made me dream bigger,” she adds, “I knew I could empower my life and change my lifestyle in so many ways. I was able to aesthetically change so much in my home space, give so much more to the guests, and of course invest in myself as well… I travel, and I shop when I like."

Traveling – road to independence

There is nothing more liberating than travelling. Especially, travelling solo! If modern, online services have opened up new frontiers for hosting and hospitality, it has also helped women become more independent travellers. Whether it is for business or luxury, having a safe and secure place outside their home to come to, has made it possible for women across the world to step out, be on their own, and even indulge in themselves.

“One thing that women don’t do is indulge themselves. And one way of indulging yourself is by spending time with your own thoughts,” says Masaba Gupta, Founder and Creative Director of House of Masaba. Speaking at the event about traveling and the Airbnb experience, Masaba went on to highlight the need to embrace independence, to go solo. 

"When I travel on my own, I consciously spend less time on my phone, I try to absorb as much of the culture of the city I am in as possible, I try to set out on foot and not take cabs,” she says. “It also liberates you to not be dependent.”

A thought that her fellow panel member and actor, producer, and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza also shares. Travelling is not just about discovering new places, the actress explains, it’s a time to focus and put things into perspective.

“I think it's a common misconception that solo travel isn’t fun,” she quips. “The sheer sense of empowerment it grants is beyond comparison.”