Is it time to remove Covid cleaning message?

[Inna22]

All of my listings start with my Covid cleaning protocol (wash on hottest setting, rotate linens, disinfect, etc). As we all know guests barely read and this takes a whole paragraph out of the average two paragraph attention span**. Is this still relevant? I never had anyone ask me questions about this even when it definitely was but it was recommended to have the blurb in most blogs when Covid started

** statistic was made up by the author of this post and is probably inaccurate. If the author had to guess, reading attention span is probably on average

2-12 year old- 15 minutes (still curious)

13-18 years old- 15 minutes if in electronic format

19-24 none

25-30 - on sentence

30-50 - as much as needed but only when convenient

51-... - 15 minutes (back to being curious)

[Kate867]

@Inna22   We are still deep cleaning between guests and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  However, your cleaning details on your listing are nice and clear which guests will appreciate as many are still quite sensitive and worried about Covid.  You could perhaps remove and replace with something like ‘Deep cleaned and sanitised to Covid standards’ if you wanted to reduce text.  

By the way, I am at that upper spectrum of ‘back to being curious’ 🤣

[Helen744]

@Kate , even though we follow the Airbnb standards for cleaning we are not allowed to advertise "to covid standards' or anything that would give people the expectation of a guarantee. H

[Helen744]

@Inna22  I think guests are really obsessing about cleanliness these days . Not as much as us but they are questioning it every time. It is high on the list of things that concern them and they are uneasy about covid still. Most people cannot tell except from a dust and grime perspective if surfaces are disinfected especially in older houses. There is no going back I suspect.If the house does not say 'clean clean clean ' to a guest then they feel uncomfortable.Some hosts are getting lazy and cutting corners because they see the covid protocols as out of proportion, but as time goes on the liklihood of someone with covid being in your house is probably higher than it was and in Australia at the moment we are heading into a free for all  flu season.So its not going to get easier in a hurry. H

[Gregory87]

@Inna22 :  We are still in the midst of a pandemic.  Cases of COVID are on the rise in over 30 states according to the national news.  I attended a family gathering over Easter only to learn days later that two attendees tested positive for COVID (luckily, I was negative after repeated tests).  

We don't know the attitude(s) of possible guests much less whether they are vaccinated or not.  Some guests will be sticklers about cleanliness, masks, and trying to avoid COVID while others blow it off as a risk of life and aren't worried.  At this point, it is probably better to err on the side of being too cautious and maintaining your cleaning standards.  Those guests who aren't worried about it can disregard your messages and efforts.

In our listing, we continue to mention our cleaning protocols (briefly as @Kate867  suggested).  We also remind them of local expectations in booking messages since some places still require masks.  Additionally, we provide PPE as an option.  We haven't received any complaints from guests for our efforts to keep them safe.  😉

[Emilia42]

@Inna22 Personally, I don't think it matters. Airbnb is highlighting the ECP across everyone's listing and booking confirmation. I made no changes to my listing page at all in the last two years and only one guest has ever mentioned covid. Just keep cleaning to the highest standard and the overload of information probably isn't necessary. 

And I am "as much as needed but only when convenient." I think your statisitics are spot on 🙂

[Mark116]

@Inna22  I would say take out out.  We added that we use a UV wand in addition to standard cleaning products somewhere in the listing, but not one guest has asked us any questions about the cleaning protocol since the pandemic hit.  Most guests haven't even used the spray sanitizer that sits outside the unit so guests can spray their hands when coming or going.  

[Debra300]

@Inna22

We have always practiced deep cleanings between stays.  Initially, the ECP only added ridiculous steps (e.g., washing interior walls and the full area of a porch, including the ceiling), but omitted reasonable things like cleaning vents and registers.  Just like @Emilia42, I didn't change my listing descriptions to mention cleaning, because Airbnb was already do so at the product and platform level. During the past two years not a single guest at either of our locations has ever inquired about our cleaning process.

I say make whatever revisions to the listing description that you feel will make or maintain a positive impression on guests.