A day before Van Gogh’s 166th birthday, Airbnb has today announced it will donate over €25,000 ($30,000) to the Van Gogh Heritage Foundation. The donation is part of Airbnb’s Community Tourism Programme, a fund launched in 2017 to support local and innovative projects that boost communities, bring people together and preserve local heritage. The donation will mainly be used to attract more visitors by improving the educational tools in the three Van Gogh Heritage centres (Nuenen, Zundert and Etten-Leur). It represents the largest donation to the foundation ever from a tourism partner and the largest from an international actor. The Province of Brabant has in addition committed to supplement the donation, totaling the amount to over €90,000 ($105,000).
In addition to the donation, Airbnb has also worked together with the Van Gogh Heritage Foundation to create 3 new social impact experiences. Social impact experiences are a special category of Airbnb Experiences where Airbnb waives its service fees so that 100% of the earnings go directly to the nonprofit. These experiences, ranging from unique walks in the places Van Gogh painted to hearing untold stories about Vincent’s private life, will add another revenue stream for the foundation in the years to come and will enable visitors to explore beyond the museums, bringing to life the artist's works and spreading tourism across his home region.