Brian Chesky, Open Letter, May 5 2020
Travel in this new world will look different, and we need to evolve Airbnb accordingly. People will want options that are closer to home, safer, and more affordable. But people will also yearn for something that feels like it’s been taken away from them — human connection. When we started Airbnb, it was about belonging and connection.This crisis has sharpened our focus to get back to our roots, back to the basics, back to what is truly special about Airbnb — everyday people who host their homes and offer experiences. .
For many homesharing and small local hosts out there, Brian Chesky's eulogising above was music to their ears.. a beacon of hope for a brighter future - a future where the wonderful, warm hospitality they provide for their guests and the invaluable, tireless work they've been doing for years - work that has been the cornerstone in building Airbnb's reputation, brand image and fortunes from the ground up - might once again be recognised, and valued, by this company to which they've devoted so much of themselves, and their lives.
Yet 5 months on, and it's a very different reality as Airbnb floods the 'Private Rooms' searches with Hotel Rooms, Boutique Hotel Rooms, Serviced Apartment Rooms, and Hostel Rooms - with the majority of the Pro and commercial offerings proudly sporting the 'No Fees To Guests!" banner, which Airbnb has assured them will boost their business dramatically and and increase their bookings by a whopping 17% - 21%. At whose expense, though?
A quick search this week of Airbnb listings for London, 2 guests, Nov 20 - 22, Private Room filter selected, returned the listings below at Numbers 1 and 2 in the search. Five of the top 10 listings shown to me were either 'Room in Boutique Hotel' or 'Hotel Room', and only one of the Top Ten listings was a private room offered by a Superhost.
Bear in mind too, that hotel listings can also be found by selecting the 'Hotel room' filter on the regular site, and additionally, are listed on the Airbnb-owned Hotel Tonight portal (which they splashed out around $450 million on. also in April of 2019) So hotel rooms are effectively getting 3 times the exposure and promotion, that regular private room listings are receiving. (The performance of existing company investments will be a very crucial component in Airbnb's IPO prospectus, of course)
The very first listing in the search returns that I was shown is an OYO listing. OYO Hotels and Homes is an extremely shady and controversial 'hospitality chain' outfit - once again, fronted by an arrogant kid in his 20's - in which Airbnb invested a reported $150 - $200 million in April of last year. They frequently have god-awful reviews - this one which Airbnb saw fit to return as the first choice in my search is a 3.67 star rating - and the company's toxic culture and shameful, exploitative business practices were exposed in the New York Times earlier this year..
At SoftBank’s Jewel in India: ‘Toxic’ Culture and Troubling Incidents at OYO
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/technology/oyo-softbank-india.html
Yet Airbnb still sees fit to blatantly promote these substandard listings over and above the private room listings of long-serving, highly-rated exemplary Superhost homesharers. Ask yourselves - if there is any truth in Airbnb's "back to our roots" claims at all, or indeed, if there is any real place for homesharing or small local independent hosts in Airbnb's future 'roadmap' - why that would possibly be?
Penelope