It has been a week since Brian's big deal announcement about airbnb+. During that salespitch, he repeatedly emphasized how important Hosts are to airbnb, even closing with a sentence about how "Hosts create this magical world." Along with the "infinite timeline horizon" (???), his spiel promised - but did not define - a "Host-Led World." I've thought about it for a week, now, and I'm still wondering what that means, especially in the context of airbnb's actual actions (as opposed to their words.)
So here's the beginning of a list, feel free to add to it or expand upon any of the items!
Dear Airbnb,
By "Host Led World," do you mean...
-Instant Book? (ie, the policy by which you force Hosts to turn on IB, even when we prefer not to, and even if we have very valid reasons for not wanting to.)
-Price Tips? (ie, encouraging Hosts to set prices that will earn us LESS money than we can earn using an accurate demand based pricing tool.)
-Host Guarantee and Host Protection Insurance? (ie, providing insurance for Hosts, but then repeatedly refusing to pay out claims on that insurance.)
-Airbnb+? (ie, the world-changing new product that will move our listing down in search results and earn us less money unless we pay $149 to give airbnb control of our listing's design and feel, all so we can attract the kind of guests we actually don't want, those who'll expect every little thing to be absolutely perfect... just like in a hotel.)
Any other Hosts out there feel like the only thing Hosts will get from a "Host-Led World" is led astray?
Feel free to add to the list!
(Who knows, if they hear enough of our voices, maybe airbnb will let Hosts lead for once...? As if.)