Laura's Letter: Superhost Week 2018 recap

[Laura_C]

February 7, 2019

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to all of you who achieved or maintained your Superhost status in the January assessment. It’s an awesome accomplishment. Thank you for continuing to set a wonderful standard for hospitality in our community.

Your commitment to excellence inspires me, and that’s why it was such a thrill to help create and launch Airbnb’s first ever Superhost Week in December. It was a chance to highlight all of you to our guests and to celebrate and recognize everything you do. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Here are a few highlights:

• Social spotlight: We filled Airbnb’s social-media channels for the week with Superhost stories and profiles, and the response was fantastic. More than 7 million people engaged with the content on Facebook, including this video of Superhosts James and In Ja, of Hollywood, California. Dan, of "Danville," Florida was featured in our most-watched video on YouTube. And on Twitter, Superhost story tweets were seen by more than a million users.
• Marketing to guests: Superhosts were featured in a banner at the top of Airbnb’s home page to give Superhosts more visibility. More than 8.8 million people saw the banner, and more than 160,000 people saw our brand new guest-facing web page. The page gives guests a better understanding of what the Superhost badge icon on your listing represents: the amazing hospitality you provide!
• Updated Superhost page: We also made changes to our Superhost page, to make it easier for you to learn about and take advantage of your rewards.
• New long-term hosting policy: We introduced new criteria to ensure that those of you who host longer stays have fair access to the program. Before, hosting 10 stays was the only way hosts could qualify for Superhost status; now, hosts can qualify if they host 10 stays or if they host 100 nights with a 3-stay minimum. These changes seemed to resonate well with hosts. I was pleased to see responses like this one, from host Gilles, of France, in the Community Center: “Thank you for taking into account the requests of long-term hosts to allow them to access Superhost status. Thanks to Airbnb for listening to the needs of the hosts and coming back with new strategies to meet their needs.”
• Community Center interaction: That brings me to my own favorite part of the week: getting to interact with hosts from around the work in our Community Center! I wrote a letter in our Community Center at the start of Superhost Week, and more than 45,000 hosts read it, and there were more than 1,400 comments. We’ve read each and every one, and during Superhost Week, I had the chance to respond and chat with many of you. Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions and ideas. We’ll be looking to you for inspiration as we continue to improve the Superhost program.

Congratulations again to those of you who are Superhosts. We appreciate all you do— and so do Airbnb guests. In fact, over one of Airbnb’s busiest nights of 2018, one out of every three Airbnb guests were staying with Superhosts! That’s a testament to how much Superhosts help power the Airbnb community. Thank you.

Happy hosting!
Laura

[Lorena21]

Hello to all the SH!

I live in Santa Clara, California, USA. I host guests in my home where I live with my dog, Max and outside pets cat, Miss California, and very friendly bunny, Oscar. 

We are especially grateful to Airbnb, as it has help me stay in my beautiful home in Californias amazing and busy Bay Area. 

Lorena

[Sandra1585]

Hi come visit Sydney Australia we are 1 hour from the City and located at the foot of the Blue Mountains,5 minuests drive from the beautiful Nepean river great rowing / white water stadium and the lakes with walking trakes ,bike hire, and so much more check us out....

[Beth13]

We host guests in our home in South Lake Tahoe CA .  we have had guests from all over the world stay with us.   Right now we have so much snow , more falling as I write.   We host lots of skiiers and snowboarders as we are close to Heavenly Valley ski resort.  

[Sylvia295]

So great to be in such wonderful company with Superhosts from all over the world. Thanks Airbnb and Laura for launching the first ever Superhost week in December, for all the hosting tips and for setting up the conversation. Cheers from Bragg Creek, Alberta  - Canada.

[Pat143]

Is anybody concerned about all the illegal postings that allow apartments and condominiums being on Airbnb and other sites??   Well I am!!  This cuts into daily prices and unfair competition that leads to a zillion other problems......We need to speak up and rid all these types of illegal residences!!    I am in Los Angeles and i have to compete with dormitory's at UCLA college........ AIRBNB  does not care who lists properties,  I DO!!  We all need to make a stand!!    This is why acoss the nation there are all these new ordinaces.........Airbnb is a BACKPAGE  for homes!!  Home Verification is what this company needs!

[Lubomira0]

Hello from Korčula Island, Croatia. I'm happy to be the part of this wonderful Superhost Community 🙂 Congratulation and greetings to all superhosts and Airbnb staff.

[Susan1204]

Thank you for your continued updates. From a hobby farm in Lakeville Minnesota USA. Close to the Mall of America and both downtowns. Horses, chickens and wildlife including fox, turkey and deer. 

[Andy458]

Hey Susan. How cool. Would be good fun to swop venues for a week or two. Imagine.

[Andy458]

Hey Laura and Super Hosts. We had a vet from Italy doing his PHD research in South Africa. Seeing we are close to the Kruger National Park. He stayed for 45 days. I need a gold watch ! We learnt so much from him re Italian customs, cooking tips and the role a vet plays in the animal industry. Fortunately I have been a Kruger Park guide for more that 20 years and we had some magic conversations. We had to close the one venue but are in the design stages for the next project, "Totally Green" Very excited. Should be completed by June 2019. Ideas of a "name" still illudes me. We have Top Deck at the coast and the one near Kruger was Room 4 U. Keep it up folks. We are a special breed of "crazy" but it is fun. Add some fresh piano tunes before dinner and after, and we have a winning concept.  Enjoy the travellers. Always a breath of fresh air ! Andy

[Laura_C]

What a lovely story, @Andy458. Thank you so much for sharing, and I'm so excited to hear about the venue — please do come and share with us when ready! Perhaps you could ask your fellow community members here for name ideas? Happy hosting and congratulations again on your Superhost status, Laura.

[Romy2]

Thanks for all the support for Superhosts - really appreciated!

Hello to everyone from the wilds of Wales, where the mountains, lakes & forever beaches welcome you, the birds serenade you and you can choose from extreme adventure or pure relaxation. Happy times wherever you are !

[Doreen29]

Hi from super host in Lanark Scotland 

[Nora173]

Bonjour to all superhosts and enjoy the Airbnb experience with lovely encounters with people from all over the world, warm greetings from Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Provence☀️

[Pepsi0]

Hi all, I am Pepsi from Johor bahru Malaysia. 

[Steve800]

Hi, I'm Steve, Superhost in Dubai. Good to see your support to Superhosts.