Introducing a set of hosting tools inspired by your feedback

[Airbnb]

Over the past few months, we’ve spent a lot of time listening to and learning from our hosts, trying to understand the things you need from us to weather this global crisis. In many of these conversations, the same two themes keep coming up over and over:  transparency and control.

We’ve heard you say you want information about travel trends and guest preferences—and tips on how to adapt. But you’re not just interested in recommendations without context. You want to host on your own terms, with the info and insights you need to be successful.

Based on your feedback, we’re rolling out a new set of easy-to-use tools that will empower hosts like you to do exactly that. These include:

• The new Opportunities tab, which offers exclusive booking insights in your area and actionable tips designed to help you adapt to guest preferences quickly
• An insights email series featuring more competitive intelligence, as well as booking and pricing trends, delivered to your inbox regularly
• The Resource Center, our global platform that launched earlier this year with articles and videos showcasing the best tips, insights, guidance, and updates for hosts

We’ll be revealing more about the insights email series in a new post on the Resource Center in the coming weeks. In the meantime, head here to learn more about Opportunities.

Learn more

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Airbnb Lovely to hear from you. Now please could you advise when you will be dealing with feedback that has been given with respect to the removal of the feature showing how many times the property has been viewed going forward?

Perhaps you could replace it and make hosts happy?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Airbnb I've just looked at my actionable insights

1) Give discount to encourage guests to stay for a month - no mention of the fact that in many jurisdictions this will give tenants rights to the guest

2) Switch to flexible cancellation policy - Err no thanks I would like some commitment when people book.

3) welcome guests for short stays by allowing 1 night stays - Somewhat contradicts 1) above but who is looking to be logical.

Interestingly all the above do make Airbnb more money as they keep their fees with a flexible cancellation policy.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Just on your points, If a guest wants or needs to stay for a month, then no amount of discount will be an incentive as the demand is already present. In that case, the host loses out. Flexible cancellation - host loses out. Short stays - I don't think Airbnb realise that unless you only share a room in your house, then preparing an whole home accommodation for multiple guests can take a day for a couple of cleaners and the economic viability of charging that cleaning fee on top of one day booking would just be suicidal. Factor in any Covid buffering on top of that which you might want to include, then a one day booking suddenly takes up five. That sounds like an 80% nightly discount by my reckoning.

I don't know which hosts they are inspired by, but they all must be masochists.

And the irony... "You want to host on your own terms," Then, do give us control of our own terms recent and obvious example - an elephant in the room - and do give us control of our own booking deposits.

[Sammy35]

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@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 wrote:

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Just on your points, If a guest wants or needs to stay for a month, then no amount of discount will be an incentive as the demand is already present. In that case, the host loses out. Flexible cancellation - host loses out. Short stays - I don't think Airbnb realise that unless you only share a room in your house, then preparing an whole home accommodation for multiple guests can take a day for a couple of cleaners and the economic viability of charging that cleaning fee on top of one day booking would just be suicidal. Factor in any Covid buffering on top of that which you might want to include, then a one day booking suddenly takes up five. That sounds like an 80% nightly discount by my reckoning.

I don't know which hosts they are inspired by, but they all must be masochists.

And the irony... "You want to host on your own terms," Then, do give us control of our own terms recent and obvious example - an elephant in the room - and do give us control of our own booking deposits.

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where do i even start....

🙌🙌👏👏😆🙄😲

please please i almost fell off my chair, i drank so much water today please don't make me peepants lol

"I don't know which hosts they are inspired by, but they all must be masochists."

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Mine are the same as yours except for 1) as I have always offered long-term discounts, although annoyingly, this suggestion still keeps popping up when I go to my calendar.

Seeing as I specifically choose to host long-term guests, the suggestions are completely irrelevant to me. I don't want short stays, especially in these times, and the cancellation policy is therefore automatically the long-term one. Would I switch to the flexible policy for stays of less than a month (my minimum is currently three weeks)? No way! Why would I let someone block my calendar for 21-27 days, often months in advance, with no guarantee I would get paid anything should they cancel when it's too late to rebook these rooms?

Before the pandemic, all three of my rooms were booked back to back by long-term guests for months ahead. Any short gaps in between could easily be filled with shorter bookings if I had wanted to. However, long-term guests are a minority of Airbnb users so of course, you only get a handful of bookings over the course of a year. To take these bookings on a flexible policy would be madness.

[Sammy35]

its the most ridiculous "insights" i have ever seen
it should have been called money grab lol
i had to laugh.  then shake my head, even though i wanted to cry.  and scream

i was AGHAST when i read through these lol...lets recoup covid losses that might actually put us out of business

[Amanda660]

It’s suggesting we add aircon - we live in Scotland 🤪

I’d like the ‘Key’ function back where we could send guests a check in link.  My monthly income graphs also disappeared -  they were super useful. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Amanda660 

It’s suggesting we add aircon - we live in Scotland 🤪

😂😂

Something really simple - like allowing hyperlinks in messages would be good.

How many times I've needed to find the guests' mobile number to send a link to a local attraction with their website details is numerous. Can't do that in messaging. 

[Helen350]

@Amanda660 The monthly income graphs are still there! 

TWO ways to find:

1) - Performance - Earnings

2)- Home - Under 'Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening XXX' click on 'Booked earnings for July'

[Mark116]

I don't know what hosts airbnb may have been talking to, but the result is a mishmash of granular details that obscure the big picture and even more glitches on the platform.

As an example, 24 hours after refreshing the entire listing, going into each section and changing wording, changing the title, refreshing/deleting/changing the photos the site booted me off and I had to relog in due to 'inaction'.  

I find the new opportunities tab is almost useless.  It would be great to factor in all the various options except that I can no longer really see how the listing rates for views against the competition.  The basic functionality is no longer there. 

[Colleen253]

I'm sorry, did I miss something? "transparency and control." were mentioned. I don't see anything here about Airbnb being more transparent or giving hosts more control. I expected to see something more like hosts getting an ACTUAL damage deposit, with autonomy over it (oh, and perhaps Airbnb finally being transparent about the massive payout disappearances issue, and committing in a concrete way to making sure it never happens again). Instead it's the same regurgitated urgings to give more discounts and activate the flexible cancellation policy. Once again, Airbnb isn't actually listening.

[Ann72]

@Mark116  "A mishmash of granular details" is genius.  For instance, all the data is for previous days.  In March, the dead off-season, I want to look ahead to the summer high season.  Getting data about the future is more likely to help us plan or make changes.  And "Earnings" appears way down the list.  What host doesn't look there first?  

@Colleen253  You are so spot on.  We need ACTUAL tools.  How many returning guests have we had?  Can we send out special offers to a select group of guests who have opted in for news from us?  Can we see tools based on successful hosting strategies that are not solely about number of nights booked in a year at the cheapest possible rate?  If they can be as granular as Mark notes, surely they can look at data sets in different ways.

[Helen427]

@AirbnbPlease ask Susan Wheeldon, New Zeaand/ Australia region rep, to ensure the removal of what appears to be a 24 hr buffer from our listings here in New Zealand relating to Enhanced cleaning for Covid19.

It appears as if what I / we thought was an IT glitch that keeps showing up, AFTER the FACT on our calendars/ views & not getting bookings like we used to is there in advance so potential guests are unable to book.

 It's a right Pain as any potential guests wanting to book for those dates, or as you keep encouraging us, longer term monthly etc guests obstructs any booking on those dates you are blocking.

Incidentally there's  NO community transmission of Covid19  in New Zealand, we have generally a relatively good standard of health & those coming here to live are supposed to be vaccinated & disclose any medical matters prior to stepping on an international carriage service or as soon as practical to crew before landing.

So please help ensure we regain the sanity in society we once had Pre Covid.

Thanks in advance 

[Yadira22]

@Airbnb 

Honestly, who are these mysterious hosts you talk to?