Just as they were being scared off...

[Elaine701]

This is interesting reading. 

No, not the part about losing 1.2billion. It's been a rough ride for everybody. Not a huge surprise there. But they're still beating the others, apparently. 

No, the other parts; particularly the part about needing hosts. Badly. Really? 

https://skift.com/2021/05/13/airbnb-posts-1-2-billion-loss-and-turns-attention-to-expected-supply-de...

[Emiel1]

@Elaine701 

Quoted from the article:

"Chesky said Airbnb will announce its largest update to its platform in 12 years on May 24, when the company will unveil improvements to the guest experience, and an easier path to becoming a host."

[Elaine701]

@Emiel1 

Yes, well  it's pretty easy to become a host now (notwithstanding any burdensome local regulations).  And frankly, it's not quality, but quantity that matters. It's just a place for people to sleep, after all. The more, the merrier. 

The guest experience is already pretty good. They can get away with nearly anything, with Airbnb as an (unwitting?) accomplice 

The host experience, however, increasingly leaves much to be desired. Particularly as the guests may increasingly engage in dubious conduct with impunity. 

[Mark116]

Welp.  Now I am filled with dread.  Whenever Airbnb unveils anything new the entire site goes to haywire.

Good luck to Airbnb finding new hosts when they've let cities and counties regulate them practically out of existence in many areas.  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

so,  if I understood it correctly, Airbnb needs more hosts because 25% of rooms switched to long-term rent, and some hosts left to other OTAs. So Airbnb plans to attract more hosts with improvements to the guest experience and with another large platform update?

Sounds like an excellent plan 🙂

[Robin4]

@Elaine701  @Emiel1  @Branka-and-Silvia0  @Mark116 

They still don't get it, do they. This is why I gave up watching Chesky's promo videos years ago....you just get your hopes up to have them dashed the first time you put his soothing words to the test.

VRBO's host base has increased by 28% over the past 12 months (21% in the last 6 months) while Airbnb's has remained static.

You can only bite the hand that feeds you for so long before that hand is not offered any more. 

We had great hopes that an new global head of hosting would see a bit more understanding for hosting issues but, from personal experience and what we are seeing here on the CC the last 15 months have seen a dramatic drop in host support as an ever increasing amount of it is outsourced, to the point where many hosts have simply given up and are looking for better options.

Things like security deposits  and cancellation policies are are being abused by the company at an ever increasing rate. What is fair for guests needs to be fair for hosts as well, but I don't think this company is ever going to see that.

Cheers.......Rob 

[Karol22]

@Robin4  I couldn't agree more. This article seems to indicate that the way forward is to improve the experience for hosts overall. But which kind of host (individual vs professional) are they going to put more of their resources behind? Currently 90% of hosts are individuals, not professional hosts. Curious, does anyone have these stats on a listing level? Like what percentage of listings are individual vs professionally hosted listings?

My bet is that if they want to increase their listings the fastest, they'll likely focus their attention on (re)winning the hearts of the professional hosts and hotels since they possess the higher concentration of listings.