Officially introducing the members of Airbnb’s Host Advisory Board

[Airbnb]

*Posted live: December 16th

Today, we’re excited to share a video officially introducing the members of Airbnb’s Host Advisory Board.

As we recently announced, Airbnb is launching a formal program to give hosts a seat at the table. The Host Advisory Board is a group of selected hosts that will not only keep the community informed, but share your feedback directly with Airbnb leadership.  The board will also help inform how  the Airbnb Host Endowment is invested in the community, and influence policies, programs, and new products.

These 17 selected hosts were chosen for their passion, their contributions to the hosting community, and their desire to create a better future for all hosts—among other criteria. Together, they’ve hosted more than 15,000 guests with a combined total of 86 years of hosting experience and an average star rating of 4.9!

*To add or change subtitles to the video, hover over the video and click on the little 'Settings' wheel in the bottom right corner. Then click 'Subtitle/CC' and select your language. 

Watch the video above to meet the community members serving on the board and learn about their individual passions and experience. To find out more about how the board will work together to advocate for the community, check out the latest Host Update article featuring our Head of Hosting, Catherine Powell.

Do keep your eyes peeled here in the Community Center as we will be introducing the board members in the new year. There will be regular opportunities for our new board members to respond to your questions and address important topics.

[Ann72]

@Airbnb  This is nice!  I look forward to hearing from the hosts after they've had their first meeting in January.  I'm interested in learning best practices about reaching out to other hosts in a community.  It's difficult to use the "Contact Host" function because of the necessity of putting in dates and sending a booking inquiry.  If that's the only way, I'm willing to do it, but if any hosts on the Advisory Board have come up with better ways of approaching other hosts, I'd love to hear from them.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Ann72 🙂

Great to see your lovely comment about the board members. 

In terms of speaking with the Advisory Board members, we will be doing a proper introduction to the here in the Community Center in January, which will mean you won't have to contact them via their Airbnb profile (as you say that can get complicated with the booking nature of that feature). You will also be able to spot them in the Community Center as you will see 'Host Advisory Board Member' under their CC username on their posts and also in their CC profile. So via the Community Center will be a great way to interact with the board. 

I'll keep you posted in January about this and how you can share you ideas with them. 

Thank you,

Lizzie 

(P.S - so lovely to see you in the meetup earlier). 

[Ann72]

Thanks @Lizzie - it was great to see you too this morning!

I look forward to hearing from the hosts on the advisory board and to interacting with them to get new ideas for working with other hosts on the ground in my local community.  This looks like it will be fun!

[Alexandra516]

Many thanks Lizzie,

@Catherine-Powell 

@Lizzie 

Hi, good afternoon I am Alexandra super host in Trieste, Italy, and a certified Expert Community. It is a pleasure to have the possibility to have a direct contact with the members of Airbnb’s Host Advisory Board.

Every day we are facing matters raising "behind the curtains" as we - experts on the front line hearing voices at customer service - can see the double aspect about questions from hosts but also guests. I'll be very happy to join and follow meetings to share informations and expectations by the host's side but also the guests' side.

This year has been like a "war" due to the Pandemia where cancelations happened every day, as well as postponements and refunds.

There are many things to share, to pay attention, having a keen eye to the expectations of our guests. Making our best, we can override the Pandemia, opening our home, and welcoming the rest of the world, in a great brilliant future.

Be always the best,

I am proud to be part of this Community!

Enjoy Holidays !

Alexandra 

[Mark37]

When will you be sharing how we communicate with the new Host Board?

[Katie]

Hey @Mark37, thanks for your question. The Board members will be participating in the Community Center regularly, and we'll also be sharing some more info on how you can put ideas to them soon 😊 

[Keshav7]

So happy to see Pooja from India in the list! Truly a global advisory board! All the best & thankyou for thinking of us hosts always 🙂

[Bonnie-And-Nilda0]

I would like to be able to require government ID, driver’s license etc even if I do not use Instant Book. I would like to know about perspective guests prior to the booking. I feel it is difficult to call and say you don’t feel comfortable with a guest after they flew to your destination and are at your door. I do not like Instant Book as I believe it is better to know who is coming than not to know. This is important in Condominiums and vertical properties with shared common elements. It is better not to become a nuisance to your neighbors and is certainly more considerate, if you know and look into who is going to reside in your apt. It also prevents legal problems and is better for the Airbnb image. Please consider. I do not do short stays and have been happy with my experience but feel I am being forced to use Instant Book which I do not wish to do. Thanks for your consideration in this matter.

[Lizzie]

Thanks so much @Bonnie-And-Nilda0  for your feedback here. It's great to hear you have ideas already and I know this has been discussed a little bit in the Community Center between hosts before. 

From January onwards when the board members start to meet, we will also share the best ways for you to share your ideas with the board. As you can imagine, we want to make sure we can make it as easy for the board members to gather all the great ideas and feedback from the community (which includes across multiple languages).

We'll keep you and other hosts updated on this from the new year. 

Thanks again for sharing this and here's to 2021. 🙂

Lizzie

[Barbara-and-Joe0]

I am thrilled with the new global advisory board and looking forward to educational communications. I agree with knowing more about prospective guests prior to booking. For safety reasons I do not do instant bookings and glad this option is available. I had a guest come in with 3 adults and one child when my rental specified  2 adults only with one queen bed. 

Thank You AIRBNB for this new advisory board.

All the best to all in the New Year2021.

[Anne1005]

Last minute bookings should have special dispensations to allow the host to cancel with NO punitive action from Airbnb on ANY account.

Free of  reviews Free of  reduction in payment  Free of all Punitive ACTIONS 

NO punitive action on any account for cancelling any time of the DURATION of the stay.

Because a dialogue has not been set up to establish just who the host is preparing the scene for.

Who the Host is preparing the home for is one of the most important parts of our Hosting business. 

 We hosts NEED to know when we prepare the scene just Who and where they come from hot or cold ,How they arrive Are they legal are they isolating do they have a disease .These things can all be sussed out by  great hosts. I have hosted for 30 years it is a great skill to glean information tactfully but amazing how much can be got is a short time but last minute bookings can hide all of these questions if they are  going to be difficult customers .

I have just had a booking I had 10 seconds from the booking until a phone call came demanding the address the heating status where she could eat. but she lied about where she was travelling from and more lies. then silence until she was on the doorstep. she asked for a refund. Broke a bed etc it was a 30-hour saga for me and a member of staff and a member of Airbnb staff. that was a big waste of time and that equates to money in any business we got nothing but a terrible 30 hours. she left at night after I threatened the police . That frightened her so what was she up to 

[Mary996]

@Anne1005

I believe it is the case that we can cancel Instant Book guests without penalty. Or is there a proposal to change this? I'm not aware of any proposal to force us to accept IB's.

[Kimberly-B0]

This is because they are trying to make hosts safe but also make sure people are not discriminating against each other.  I always require on line ID.  Not only for my safety but for the safety of other guests.

[Pauline422]

I also prefer not to use instant book and have always felt it would be far better to know who our guests are! They are staying in our home, after all. Just knowing they are from England, etc. is not good enough and the pandemic has highlighted this issue. What about track and trace as this is not possible at the moment?  Changes do need to be made by Airbnb please.