I keep seeing this on my phone:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/airbnb-ceo-says-company-is-going-to-need-millions-more-hosts-to-meet...
I can honestly say I would not recommend that others home host on this platform. When people ask or think about becoming a host because they know I am one, I steer them to other places. Airbnb, if you need more hosts, here is what I suggest. Some of these are EASY fixes and would do wonders to attract others to your community.
1. Include a button on reservations where individuals can list pets staying with the ability to charge a pet fee. If the person booking has pets and the host does not allow pets, a pop up should appear asking the guest to look for another accommodation.
2. Include a space for guests to fill in the names and info of everyone who is coming OR require that all guests be registered with Airbnb.
3. Publish rules for being a great guest. Include things like not bringing extra people, not overstaying their reservation, etc. Include these with EVERY BOOKING MESSAGE.
4. Allow hosts to truly collect a security deposit. As in, put funds on hold until after a reservation is done just like hotels take a credit card number for incidentals.
5. Publish protocols for a mismatch reservation-- this is the situation where the guest shows up with extra people or pets or in some way is just not a fit for the host based on posted rules (and vice versa). So often I see people saying "well they arrived with 10 people and the reservation was for 2 and I couldn't get ABB on the phone so I let them in." This is SUCH an awkward but sadly common occurrence, it would not be difficult to come up with some protocol for handling it that made sense.
6. Give superhosts 3 cancellations a year without penalty.
7. Rethink ratings. They are absurd and pretty much meaningless. When guests are parsing a 4.98 vs a 4.91 or a 4.8 to determine which is the best place to say you know your system is broken and measuring nothing.
8. Redefine your "infant" category. If a host is childfree, again, a pop-up should be enabled so that a guest who wants to book with an infant has to look elsewhere.
What else can you think of?