By Lorraine Longhi | The Republic
Ben Parks and his wife have operated an Airbnb out of their basement in Chandler for the past year, averaging between $700 and $800 a month in revenue.
In February, when customers began canceling bookings in the early days of the coronavirus health crisis, Parks said they thought it might be a fluke.
But on March 11, the World Health Organization officially designated the coronavirus threat a global pandemic, prompting Airbnb to allow its guests to cancel reservations for a full refund.
That’s when the cancellations became “no holds barred,” Parks said.