Airbnb Introduces Flexible Search a New Kind of Travel Post-COVID with Flexible Search

Since going public, most of the news out of Airbnb has been around policy. Today, the organization has an announcement that is about the product.

As the pandemic evolves the way we do everything, and we collectively realize that quite a bit of that new behavior will be permanent, tech companies are looking to evolve alongside us.

Airbnb is today introducing Flexible Search, which will allow users to forgo putting in exact dates when they look to book lodging on the platform. Instead, users can search for a weekend getaway, week-long vacation, month-long vacation or months-long vacation without setting specific dates.

Not only does this give guests more options to browse, but it should also increase exposure for hosts.

“It’s no surprise COVID-19 continues to change the way we travel, and in addition to redesigning our platform last year to make nearby and longer-term stays easier to find and book, our new Flexible Dates feature aligns with a broader shift in how people will travel in the future. The traditional travel industry was built around fixed destinations with fixed dates in mind, but that model no longer meets the needs of today’s travelers.”