Covid-19 has happened and if anything else it has presented all of us with a rare opportunity to slow down and think and do things in a better way in the future. Since we have hosting in common, what I wish for Airbnb are as follow >
1. Drop the $1m Host Guarantee, go $1m Host Liability route like VRBO if you wish. The HG program is a death knell, it shifts the responsibility from host to Airbnb oftentimes for poor decisions by hosts; it surely must be the source of 1/2 Airbnb's problems and hassles.
2. Offer an easy way for guests to link to travel insurance and property insurance companies, meaning be also an information conduit, but stay focus on lodging, and do it well.
3. Put on notice all existing hosts that already have a listing that are a potential 'landmine'; i.e. unclean, or absentee owners to the point that disasters occur because no one is there or watching. Example, any listings that are pandering to high numbers to get booked by charging say $200, but allowing 20 people to stay, should have raised a red flag from the outset. The outcome for such places is usually the same - party occurs eventually, then damages are claimed, then the crazy HG nightmare begins. The other day I read once again - "Shooting at Airbnb Rental party ... "
4. Appeal to a better clientele by emphasis on behavior, stop pandering to the dregs of society because you are so afraid of what they may post on social media, its like a hostage situation. Besides, when hustlers post nowadays and try to act like the victim (the standard ploy which most people are now wise to), subconsciously the sane readers look favorably to those that held the hustler responsible.
5. Drop the incessant 'charge-the-lowest-price' campaigns, it brings a worse clientele to Airbnb & hosts, not a better one.
6. Empower hosts to make wiser decisions by allowing them to be able to receive more information about the applicant.
7. Rethink the review system, it is a great idea, but not so when it is obviously abused by a guest leaving a 'bombshell' review because the host made a claim via the security deposit (or HG in the past). Not allowing a review altogether because a claim has been made by the host is also subject to abuse - by the host; if he suspects a bad review, he files a claim. I have no answer to this one.
8. Allow a true damage deposit, but a conservative one, not to spook new potential clients. It will also keep hosts honest by reminding them there is a ceiling to their taking their eyes off their place.
9. Remake the brand by making booking with an Airbnb host almost a guarantee of staying in a well-kept place, welcoming hosts and consistent in manner. Trying to be all things to all people always cheapens the brand and rarely works, the spectrum of humanity is too wide.
10. And lastly, give some thought to your college socialist/capitalist combo mentality that your whole generation (and somewhat even the previous one) seems to adhere to - everyone is beautiful & the same, we are a business but also on a social crusade, etc, etc. Wonderful, but you are in business whose health others are dependent on, run it in an honest fashion and give a good example and that in itself is a major contribution to society.
That is my dream, what's yours?
