Today, Airbnb has launched the Edinburgh Community Fund, a new grant to ensure the city benefits directly from tourism this summer, as Edinburgh rebuilds from the pandemic.
Around the world Airbnb supports the collection and remittance of tourist taxes as a way to ensure tourism gives back to communities and believes it should be up to each local community to determine if a tourist tax is right for them.
In Edinburgh, which does not have a tourist tax mechanism in place, Airbnb is committed to ensuring that locals benefit from each individual stay this summer – much like how a tourism tax would operate.
Airbnb will donate £5 from each stay that takes place in Edinburgh during the month of August, which includes the summer festival period. The money raised will go towards a fund managed by Hosts from Edinburgh and community organisations, and will back local projects in the city.