Millions of new hosts needed.....

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Millions of new hosts needed.....

The CEO of Airbnb says the company needs millions of new hosts as many Americans make plans to travel domestically this season.

Video: https://abcn.ws/3aY8sev

12 Replies 12
Pat271
Level 10
Greenville, SC

Well, let’s hope their level of host support grows to match their recruitment desires.

Robin925
Level 5
Albuquerque, NM

Maybe to accommodate the need since so many loyal and good hosts have delisted their properties due to excessively biased review policies, excessive demands from guests who are under stress during pandemic with new travel needs...possibly the off-shoring of the customer service where we can't get anyone who knows the culture and customs of our local. I can't get anyone on the line when I need to deal with issues....guests act like they own the home they stay in for only a few days, demand all the standards of hotel listings, and want a shoulder to cry on...

It would be interesting to know how many hosts left Airbnb during the Pandemic ... either because of unstable/unsafe hosting situations or because of the horrible decision-making/custom service. I would love to see those numbers.   

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Emiel1 He's not likely to admit that he needs new hosts to replace all the hosts who have pulled their listings due to abyssmal customer support, refunds given out like Santa giving out candy at Xmas, or because hosts are missing thousands of dollars in booking fees Airbnb hasn't sent, is he?

Angelica-Y-Jorge0
Level 10
Mazatlán, Mexico

There are a lot of cities banning STR's or limiting them. I can see this making it hard for Airbnb to maintain hosts. The good news is this should drive prices up and that is great news for hosts.

Jorge
Flori7
Level 9
Casablanca, Morocco

@Emiel1 

Airbnb should listen to actual hosts  before recruiting more and more, to disappoint them too.

As big as Airbnb gets, as bad as its customer service to host becomes.

This is my own experience after few  years there.

@Flori7  Well of course they should. It's a rare company that doesn't see the value in keeping their current customers satisfied.

Airbnb seems to have the opposite attitude, for some unfathomable reason.

 

They seem to think that replacing disgrunted users with new, unsuspecting, starry-eyed ones is a good business model. 

 

My theory is that it is similar to the use of a phrase online given by millennials ( which is the demographic of Airbnb's big shots) to opinions put forth by those over a certain age, which is so disrespectful, arrogant and dismissive- "Okay, boomer."

 

There is an arrogance that they have nothing to learn from anyone older or more experienced than them, (nor their users), that they are going to reinvent the wheel with much better results.

 

 

@Sarah977 

yet one of their promises to travelers is to offer reliable hosts. Airbnb risks losing both sides in the long run if the best hosts leave the platform and only stay with inexperienced hosts in the face of travelers whose behavior has changed a lot and who are notably much more than demanding than before.

Those new hosts will also be disapointed quite fast and then value company  is lost.

One of the biggest Airbnb asset is its host community goodwill. Some seems to forget it.

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

It's becoming a bit silly now.

 

First, it was the "ambassador" programme, recruiting existing, successful hosts to "assist new hosts" in getting started. As it turns out, it's a somewhat high pressure programme to recruit new hosts. And you *could* get 100 bucks for your efforts. We were "chosen", signed up, and were accepted. But then it turned out to be nothing more than a high pressure recruiting programme, so I "resigned " stating my objections.

 

Yet they still keep sending me recruiting tips and, special offers such as "set up 6 new hosts in the next 14 days, and receive a 25€ bonus"..  25€ buys me a basic dinner for 2. I'm not inclined to cold call for 8 hours a day and bullpooop whoever is on the other end of the line because I might get a 25€ bonus on top of a base commission less than half of a self employed shoe salesperson. 

 

And now, the airwaves are full of adverts recruiting hosts, "if you host on Airbnb, you can make additional income" (which is true, but not unique to Airbnb). And it's not the content that irritates me as much as the frequency. There seems to be an Airbnb hosting advert at least 1 per hour nowadays on certain stations, even more often on others.

 

And it all strikes me as a bit desperate.

@Elaine701  I love your posts.

It's not the 25 Euros, dear, that's just a little sweetener- it's the prestige of being called an Airbnb Ambassador. 🙂

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Emiel1 I've also heard that there is a high natural attrition, and most people don't host on Airbnb that many times before giving it up (I read a few years ago that it was seven times, but I can't find the article). It would be interesting to know that. I bet that a lot of people, particularly home hosts, don't last long. Airbnb doesn't publish much in the way of stats, so we probably won't find out either. 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Alexandra316 

Alex, the latest data suggests that in the US, average host nightly occupancy is 48%....that is up from 17% in 2018. 

It's my take on this that, this in fact has more to do with the hosts that Airbnb have pis*ed off over the past few years than an increase in the number of guests! 😡

 

Cheers.......Rob