Its Airbnb500 travel grant programme, introduced during the Tokyo 2020 Games, gives $500 (£372/€444) to every Olympian and Paralympian which can be used on its website to book accommodation and experiences.

More than 7,000 athletes received the grant following Tokyo 2020.

One of those was Canadian gymnast Samantha Smith, who spent time in Malta after the Games.

"The last five hard years of training for Tokyo were intense, with travel restricted and no time off," said the 2019 Pan-American Games gold medallist.

"I was able to use my grant to take time off in Malta to unwind following a competition, and booked a ski get-together with family and friends. 

"It's so meaningful to get to spend this time with my biggest supporters after having to be apart for so long."

Airbnb also launched the Airbnb Athlete Travel Grant in April 2021, a nine-year programme that offers up to 500 athletes a year an Airbnb travel grant of $2,000 (£1,500/€1,800) to use for training, qualification and other travel accommodation.

Applications can be accessed through the Athlete365 website.

Airbnb has come under pressure from the Congressional Executive Commission on China in the United States along with other United States-based sponsors through The Olympic Partner programme to change its plans for the Games, requesting it to push more on human rights violations in the country.

The Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to take place from February 4 to 20 and March 4 to 13, respectively.