Introducing new COVID-19 safety requirements, updated guest standards, and more in the latest Host Update

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In the latest Host Update, Catherine Powell discusses quality hosting, updates to guest standards, and new COVID-19 safety requirements for members of the Airbnb community. 

Last year, in an effort to hold guests accountable for their actions during a stay, we announced new guest reliability standards. Since then, roughly 100,000 guest accounts that violated these policies and standards have been suspended or removed. In response to ongoing host feedback, we’re adding five new criteria to our guest reliability standards to address late checkouts, unauthorized pets, removal of approved security devices, and other issues. 

Between now and the end of the year, we’ll be investing in improvements to our systems and processes. These efforts will help us in making progress to ensure consistent enforcement, quicker response times, and higher overall accountability with guests.

As the heart of the Airbnb community, we know you work incredibly hard to provide the highest level of hospitality for your guests. When travelers have a bad experience with a host on Airbnb, it affects hosts’ reputations in their local communities and governments—and hurts our community as a whole. We’ve noticed recently that a group of listings didn’t live up to our expectations for quality. So just as we are removing guests to help protect the Airbnb community, we’ve decided to suspend or remove listings that have a consistent pattern of serious issues or that have regularly received low review ratings and failed to meet guest expectations.

In most cases, hosts with affected listings have already been notified and there is an appeals process in place to help address concerns. To learn more about these updates and how they may impact you as a host, watch the full Host Update. 

To help keep our community safe and trusted, starting October 12, hosts of stays will be asked to commit to a five-step enhanced cleaning process. Hosts will be required to attest to the protocol by November 20. If you’ve already attested, you’ll simply need to follow a quick prompt to agree to wear a mask and practice social distancing. New hosts will also need to commit to the safety practices. According to internal Airbnb data, listings enrolled in the Enhanced Cleaning Protocol are some of the most popular listings and have three times more bookings on average than listings that were not enrolled in the protocol.

We know health and safety has been top of mind for both hosts and guests alike, and we will continue to try and ensure standards are being met. As always, thank you for sharing the topics that matter to you. Please let us know what you’d like us to cover in future Host Updates with Catherine. 

To read a full overview of the video, visit this Resource Center article.

[Xavier-Neszvecsko0]

Completely agree with what you just said. What they are asking is complete nonsense indeed. On the top of that, wear a mask in our own house, are you kidding me?

[Candee0]

I agree. No way I am washing the walls inside and out on the front porch. I HOPE my guests will NOT BE LICKING THE WALLS. IF they do its their problem.

[Cassandra191]

Apparently the answer is yes or you can have your calendar blocked or be removed and this apply s regardless of local restrictions. So in New Zealand where we have worked hard at the beginnings of the pandemic to eliminate Covid from our country and hence we have no community spread and we are able to live our lives and socialise as normal we now need to insist that our guests use a mask when we meet them, which might I say no one will have one as we haven’t needed masks at all in NZ so we will have to source some and it will be really embarrassing having to insist on this. I can see our reviews now , “these hosts were totally over the top, paranoid and unrealistic about Covid” and if we opt not to avoid this shame and do contactless we will get low scores for staff as we didn’t bother to meet and great when we are obviously next door. Also why would we spend hundreds on PPE and deep cleaning when there is no virus in our country and nor is anyone going to introduce it with no international visitors and our borders shut. Guests will very soon decide to book with motels and hotels with this over kill. Tried to discuss this with them but got no where.

[Rachel367]

We do not have any mask wearing rules here in Finland. It is recommended but not forced. Thus, will this new point in the protocol to wear masks also apply to cooutries who do not implement it. Does it also apply to the guests. Do guests also have to wear masks? Very confusing

[Savannah5]

This rule needs to be modified.  I interact with my guests on my property/farm with lots of open air and do not wear a mask to do chores.  The requirement for all guests and all hosts to wear masks does not fit all circumstances.  

[Cyndi31]

Ditto!  Guests come to our big ranch to get away from the mask requirements in crowded cities. Guests stay at vacation homes because they are like homes -- where you don't have to wear a mask. We offer plenty of social distancing and safe interactions with >6' distance in the outdoors -- we have a completely separate guest house which we clean and do 24 hr air-out. We will NOT be requiring guests (nor us) to wear masks. If Airbnb believes there is a need for disclosure about masks, then can add a field where owner specifies whether masks are required vs safe social distancing. I bet they'll see a huge decrease in bookings of properties where masks are required.

[LaNetta0]

@Savannah5 @Cyndi31 I agree.  Have you seen this.... "All hosts and guests are required to follow the COVID-19 safety practices outlined above, as applicable. If you're a guest, you will not be eligible for a refund if your host cancels your reservation because you did not comply with these practices. Similarly, if you're a host, you will not be eligible for a payout if a guest cancels their stay because you did not comply with these practices."  I found this in the footnotes of my listing(s)...!  This is going to open up a whole lot more problems.  There's going to be some he said, she said situations and people taking advantage of this statement.  I'm already having problems with frustrated guests because I've requested a change in my check-in, check-out times to get my listing(s) cleaned on time.  I was hoping they'd come to their senses and change this mandate before Nov 20, but they don't seem to be listening to us.

[Cyndi31]

@LaNetta0  Wow, I had missed that so thanks for highlighting. It makes me even more convinced that we should remove our listing until Airbnb becomes more reasonable. If enough people stop using Airbnb (as hosts and guests), it might cause them to rethink. I'm glad I've never relied on Airbnb for most of my bookings.

[Marcie-and-Peter0]

@LaNetta0Nice catch!  I hadn't seen this one yet.

[Josephine31]

I also find that the wearing of masks should depend on the legislation of the local area. Here in Queensland, Australia there is no community transmission of covid at all. There is  also no legal commitment  to wearing a mask. Some people do wear a mask if they have compromised health, but it is unusual that these folk would ever stay in an ABB.

I am happy to wear a mask should a guest ask for that during any interaction, but I am

sure I do not want  to force a guest to wear a mask if they don’t want to.
Social distancing is fine, but masks?!?

[Marg11]

We are in the same situation with no community transmission and closed borders so our guests are West Aussies or FiFO as we have decided not to host quarantine guests.

Wearing masks is not required here and the social distancing is 1.5 metres. Any more and we would not be able to show guests around our flat. We have been hand washing correctly all our lives, always deep cleaned, aired our flat,  washed linen at 40 degrees plus sanitised horizontal surface and touch spots since March. Guests are asked to wash dishes in hot water and detergent.

[Jane2772]

We are in a similar situation here in New Zealand.  Our community transmission is back down to zero and it is not compulsory to wear a mask (nor even recommended now). Also our borders are closed to overseas visitors. 

The cleaning protocols would appear to be inappropriate given the situation in this country. We clean thoroughly between guests and have been extra careful since March 2020 however these expectations are excessive and unrealistic. 

[Rob-And-Gen0]

Masks stop you from giving Covid to someone else. It is common courtesy during an epidemic, and makes medical sense. Stop whining and get on with it. 

[Marcie-and-Peter0]

@Josephine31Same in our area (British Columbia).  No mask mandates by the government.In fact, Airbnb's masking mandate goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights.  We will be taking them to task on this!

[Deb3137]

@Catherine-Powellthis is my question too, we don't have to wear masks here as we have no community transmissionand I work in the retirement living industry where there is also no requirement to wear masks.