Split Company Into Two Divisions: Corporate & Home Based

[Rebecca160]

I submitted this question to the Global Q&A and would really enjoy hearing some feedback on it:

Why doesn't the company split into two distinct divisions: one for the original home based hosts (with hosts on advisory board) and the other with the hotels and corporate rentals? Separate web platforms, logins, money handling, etc.

It seems to me that the company has veered from from its original mission. If it had a separate division, or even another company, to encompass all of the new (boutique & corparate hotels , etc) and completely separated from the home based hosts, then I feel we would all be much happier.  There really is just no way to have the same rules, logic, payment systems and support for corporate and home based hosts.

[Rebecca160]

Why doesn't the company split into two distinct divisions: one for the original home based hosts (with hosts on advisory board) and the other with the hotels and corporate rentals? Separate web platforms, logins, money handling, etc.

It seems to me that the company has veered from from its original mission. If it had a separate division, or even another company, to encompass all of the new (boutique & corparate hotels , etc) and completely separated from the home based hosts, then I feel we would all be much happier.  There really is just no way to have the same rules, logic, payment systems and support for corporate and home based hosts.

[Linda108]

Rebecca, I hope this question will be addressed as I agree with you from the perspective of a host.  I am not as clear if I would want separate search functions as a traveler.  

[Ute42]

.

Hi Rebecca,

good idea, but they will never do this.

First of all, setting up  a second platform is extremely expensive.

And then, these hotel and corporate people don't want to be

seperated, they want to be where we all are and take our business.

[Rebecca181]

I agree with Ute. It would seem that, per the new guidelines effective next month, any host who 'consistently' performs below 4.7 is at risk of being delisted. This will decrease the inventory. There will need to be new inventory to make up for this. How convenient that property managers and multi-property owners are now encouraged and enticed by Airbnb to list their hostless properties via at least 16 special policies / terms that are very favorable to the commercial or multi-property lister and which we 'traditional' hosts do not have access to! 

Example: Of the 107 properties listed in my area, only a handful are 'shared home' properties with hosts on site. Last month alone, 22 new hostless vacation rental properties managed by commercial firms were added, while 20 non-property managed listings appeared to vanish into thin air. I imagine Airbnb would see no reason to have a 2nd platform - Because it is working brilliantly for them to just replace hosted properties with hostless ones, allowing them to be increasingly competitive with VRBO, Homeaway, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, etc. 

This is why a few months ago I wrote a post entitled 'Are Traditional Hosts Still Valued By Airbnb?' GIven what is happening in my neighborhood, I think I have my answer. 

[Ute42]

.

Hi Rebecca in Florence, OR, USA

not: Rebecca in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

(tagging would be easier)

You are a 100% correct in what You say.

[Suzanne302]

If ABB loses it's shared home hosts, then it's no different from any other booking site. Sorry, they may each have their plus and minuses, but from a traveler's perspective (at least mine) they're all the same. And to be honest, if I were looking for a hotel or similar, I wouldn't even consider looking on ABB because it's too difficult to sort through.

I use ABB as a traveler to get a unique experience at a cheaper cost than a hotel.

I love the original idea of ABB and I hope they don't abandon it. A split would be a good idea IMO.

[Rebecca160]

Exactly, @Suzanne0 ! I joined Airbnb as a host, as I had been one on Couch Surfing for years and needed to make money. It was an easy switch, at first, as the concepts were similar to make the world a more friendly, more welcoming place.  

I really feel if the company does not separate their two very differing business models, then they will either completely fold, or purge the home based hosts, as @Rebecca0 in OR suggests. Of course, this would be an incredible time for a new start up to take over where Airbnb dropped out...

[Pete28]

The whole benefit of Airbnb in both cases is demand generation - lots of eye balls looking. Split it up and you fragment that.

i think the bigger challenge is the noose of legislation in major markets slowly killing off big chunks of the business - Japan etc.

[Jess78]

Right . And from a localities' perspective, if a company like Airbnb is going to have a lot of non-host friendly policies and safety issues to boot, they're going to get people on city councils attention more and more and we'll see more communities banning it. It's a shame.

My city had an Uber/Lyft ban until last month. If you want to keep Airbnbs from being removed all together, Airbnb's going to have to make their hosts much more satisfied and willing to stand up for the company than they seem to be currently. Hosts who feel taken advantage of and neighbors who feel their communities are put at risk due to airbnb won't lobby on their behalf in front of the decision makers who have the power to dismantle these things.

And if Airbnb frankly doesn't take care of some of their safety issues like not always doing background checks, cities would be dumb for not taking a long hard look at whether to ban it, in my opinion.

[Ann10]

What do you mean about Japan? I used to have a long term rental in Osaka and I was thinking of doing short term but most likely w VRBO, Wimdu, and other sites that haven’t thrown me under the bus. 

[Colleen47]

I agree Airbnb is doing quite a bit to change and minimize original host market, I understand why but this certainly goes against original mission. Even worse now is the local governments, who don't realize that Airbnb is restricting hosts in their own way. I'm from Colorado, Breckenridge alone brought in over 65million in short term rentals last year. Woah. That's great for economy, and honestly fits our tourism market perfectly. Now I hear the county would like to limit what a host is allowed to do. Limits on how many rentals and who can rent. Again I understand why. But it is the marketing of the destination and platform of Airbnb that started this in the first place. You created this monster. 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Rebecca160,

It's great to see you have submitted a question for the Host Q&A. It is an interesting question you have asked.

I wonder without creating two seperate websites, do you think anything else could be put in place to make it easier for guests to know more about what kind of home/listing they are staying in? 

[Sarah977]

Lizzie (we still can't tag- is this actually being worked on, or has the feature been eliminated?) It doesn't have to be 2 separate websites. Right now when a guest goes to theairbnb site, they get categories they can click on- Plus, Experiences, Family, Business, etc.

It would not be at all difficult to have On Site Private Host as a category

[Ann10]

Hi Lizzie,

I believe they  already know by using the filters. I switched to traveling the other day and the only thing I saw was Airbnb Super Plus Homes which is great. However, not great for the non Plus host. NYC doesn’t have Super Plus and I understand why.  It seems ABB is intentionally filtering certain hosts out. Why not let the market decide. This is the 1st rule of economics.

I was promised premium placement as a SH and I’m not getting it because I refuse IB. I can’t do it in an apartment that I live alone in and have a spare room. It’s not safe. I don’t feel safe doing it in my other apartment either because I’ve had too many criminals rent from me. ABB knows this and they are still on the site. I was booked all the time w/o IB, however now ABB has decided that I will be mostly booked on other sites, not the market.

[Rebecca160]

@Lizzie

We, as home based hosts, accept guests into our homes. We share our neighborhoods; our ways of life; and our communities as we all try to make bridges across this big world and become more compassionate, nurturing and understanding of one another.

Hotels offer a comfortable level of sameness throughout the industry. Hotels do not bridge cultures and bring people together. Their aim is to make money and keep people fairly well separated for an utterly impersonal feeling. Hotel travelers prefer the predictability of a hotel, its attractions or crave the anonymity that hotels provide.

It is possible that some travelers would want to set up their itinerary to include stays in hotels and BNBs, depending upon where and how they are traveling. Not sure how common this would be, as hotel pricing tends to be significantly higher than BNBs. Budget travelers want to get the most for their dollar. Why choose a hotel in a foreign country for say, a week, when one could traipse all over the countryside for a month in BNBs?

It seems that if you had just one website, you would need to ask a question upfront: BNBs, hotels or combo? The way it is set up now, hotels and remote managed properties are heavily favored.

Even if there were just one website, there would still need to be two distinct customer service divisions. Problems home based have are not the same as hotel based properties. Just look at all of the issues on the forums, often involving some errant guest, safety issue, guest damages or host/guest incompatibilities. Hotels have their security and cleaning crews at the ready and most certainly collect on any security deposits for damages.

And those star ratings? Most home based hosts will never be what one would consider a 5-star hotel rating. Our homes are where we live and are not some luxurious accommodations, unless we are uber rich, and we would not be doing Airbnb. To have a listing on a website for industry rated 5 star hotel, appearing next to a 5 star rated home is laughable. There is flat out no way to compare the two and they should not be compared, as they are totally different. Seriously, if hotels and homes are going to appear together, you will need to dispense with the star ratings completely and come up with something new.