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This content was created by Airbnb and is consistent with Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) technical standards for food safety.
Airbnb has created a set of guidelines to help reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 for both Hosts and guests of Airbnb Experiences involving food or drinks.
Please note that these guidelines are in addition to Airbnb’s Food safety guidelines for experiences and any national and local guidelines.
To view mandatory COVID-19 safety practices for hosts of Airbnb Experiences, please refer here.
Consumption of food and drink
- Whenever possible, guests should consume food/drinks outdoors or through take-home options to reduce risk. Consumption of food indoors is permitted only when local restaurant laws also allow and when 6 feet/2 meters of distance can be maintained.
- Avoid offering any self-serve food or drink options. Opt for individual, plated services instead of family-style dining and buffets.
- Use disposable food service items including utensils and dishes. If disposable items are not feasible, ensure that all non-disposable food service items are handled with gloves and washed with dish soap and hot water or in a dishwasher.
Physical distancing and ventilation
- Set up physically distant stations and seating for guests to maintain 6 feet/2 meters between them. This may require you to reduce the number of guests during each instance of hosting the experience, or to change the layout of your space.
- When hosting indoors, ensure that ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors.
Cleaning and disinfecting protocols
- Reinforce food hygiene principles (Food safety guidelines for experiences) to maintain a sanitary food preparation area and to eliminate or reduce the risk of food surfaces and food packaging materials becoming contaminated.
- Ensure adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene practices for guests including soap, wipes/alcohol-based hand sanitizers (or other forms of sanitization), paper towels, and tissues.
Personal hygiene
- Promote frequent and effective handwashing and sanitation at each stage of the experience and food handling.
- Gloves can be effective in reducing the spread of viruses and diseases, but only if used properly. Handwashing is a greater protective barrier to infection than wearing disposable gloves. However, the following are activities during which gloves should be worn:
- When handling trash bags.
- When using cleaners or disinfectants as required by the product instructions.
- When handling dirty linens.
- When handling items contaminated by body fluids.
- Where disposable glove use may be helpful to supplement frequent handwashing or use of hand sanitizer; for example when handling commonly touched items.
- If gloves are used, gloves must be changed frequently and hands must be washed between glove changes and when gloves are removed.
Street food tours and market tours
- Adapt your experience to take place at less crowded areas. Consider your meeting locations, venues you visit, points of sale with high attendance, transit options, etc. in order to maintain physical distance per local regulations.
- Visit food markets in small groups (2-3 people max.) and maintain 6 feet/2 meters at all times.
- Avoid contact with live animals at wet markets and avoid buying any type of live animals.
- Avoid unnecessarily touching food with hands.
- Consider choosing locations that provide basic infrastructure to promote sanitation: e.g. toilets, hand washing facilities, safe water supplies and drainage.
- Do not taste specialty raw dishes and in any case, ensure that food is cooked thoroughly, especially meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood. For all other food and drink consumption, please refer to the guidelines mentioned above.
