Airbnb Inc. has launched a brand new section of its app and website where homeowners can hire other hosts to administer their properties. This underlines the broader initiative to extend the variety of listings and attract more people to the platform.
The idea is that hosts who may not have the time or inclination to get hands-on will pay pre-approved “co-hosts” on the platform to assist them arrange or furnish their properties or manage their bookings and guests . Airbnb has already received applications from potential co-hosts, which the corporate reviews based on criteria that indicate a robust track record, reminiscent of the variety of stays they host, guest reviews and low cancellation rates.
A co-host can offer as much as 10 several types of services with different compensation options, reminiscent of charging a one-time fee to establish a list page or a percentage of a booking for every day support. The recent “co-host network” is launching in ten countries, including the US, Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain and Brazil, the corporate announced on Wednesday. There are already 10,000 co-hosts joining, with a median rating of 4.86 out of 5.
Investors are looking forward to details on recent platform features that Airbnb says will open up recent opportunities for revenue growth that has slowed after an initial post-pandemic travel boom. According to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, analysts expect moderate, single-digit growth on this figure for the third quarter.
Airbnb doesn’t receive any commission for locating hosts, the corporate said.
“It's this nice positive flywheel that benefits Airbnb overall, so there's no need to take an additional cut,” Chief Business Officer Dave Stephenson said in an interview ahead of the discharge. “We will benefit from more people staying on Airbnb because they will all have better stays.”
As a part of its product launch on Wednesday, Airbnb also unveiled listing highlights that change depending on what a traveler is in search of. The company also introduced recent personalized search filters for guests inspired by their past stays to make it easier to search out properties with their favorite amenities. It also simplified the guest checkout page and added more local payment methods in numerous countries, with the goal of doubling the variety of options to just about 40 by spring 2025. The advantages of those smaller changes can be “additive and compounding over time,” Stephenson said.
Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky previously told investors that the corporate will restart its Experiences business next yr with tours, courses and workshops with higher marketing and cheaper prices. The company has also invested more in less mature markets abroad, including by introducing limited editions inspired by local cultural icons. In addition, Stephenson has announced recent guest-related services for next yr, including personal chefs, midweek cleansing and in-home massages.
However, it can take time for Airbnb to see a return on these investments. The company expects marketing spending to grow faster than revenue within the third quarter as the corporate expands into recent regions and adds services beyond its core home rental offering, all of which is able to likely weigh on margins within the near term.
These recent initiatives “may not be the answer to revitalizing core revenue” as novel features “will take time to gain traction,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh wrote in an Aug. 9 note.
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