Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Posts Updates on Cleaning Fees, Prices and Other Features
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Airbnb’s Brian Chesky Posts Updates on Cleaning Fees, Prices and Other Features

Skift Take
Airbnb prides itself on listening to consumer feedback for product improvements. As murmurs of a softening market gets louder, Airbnb is back with upgrades.

Srividya Kalyanaraman

Airbnb’s summer releases are highly watched in the short-term rental world, and after May’s rollout, CEO Brian Chesky promised more updates to come – he posted on some of them early Wednesday.

Better search and filters: The update will refine search results to display the best options for in-demand dates. “You told us it can be hard to find homes when you search for popular dates. Now, we’ll automatically show you great homes available for similar dates,” Chesky wrote. 

The filters include listings that offer king size beds and a pet-friendly home. 

Verified Listings: A common grievance among Airbnb users is that they cannot find the apartment or the host is not responsive. “You shouldn’t have to worry that a listing is fake or isn’t where it says it is. That’s why we’ve built a new system to verify listings on Airbnb. Every verified listing will have an icon so you know it’s real,” Chesky tweeted.

Better Customer Service: The company is also promising better customer service to its users starting this fall.

“You said when you call us, wait times are long and you repeat yourself to multiple agents. We now answer 94% of calls within 2 minutes. Starting in November, we’ll match you with agents who can resolve your specific issue faster,” Chesky wrote.

Lower Prices: Responding to the popular opinion that Airbnbs are as expensive as hotel accommodations, the company has promised to make Airbnbs more affordable, starting this fall. 

“Lower prices Hotel prices are up 10% from a year ago. The average price of a 1-bedroom Airbnb is down 1%. This fall, we’re releasing updates to help make Airbnb even more affordable,” Chesky wrote. 

Lower Cleaning Fees: The verdict is still out on whether cleaning fees constitutes as “junk fees,” nevertheless, excessive cleaning fees still remain a contentious topic in short-term rentals. Chesky noted that over 200,000 listings have either lowered or removed cleaning fees since Airbnb’s total price display was launched. 

“Since we launched total price display, 260,882 listings lowered or removed cleaning fees. Now, nearly 3 million listings don’t charge a cleaning fee,” Chesky wrote. He also hinted more updates will follow in November.

Here are the updates since May1. Better search & filters2. Verified listings3. Better customer service4. Lower cleaning fees5. Lower pricesThanks everyone for the feedback! More coming in November— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) September 20, 2023

European Parliament Group Backs Short-Term Rental Transparency Moves
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European Parliament Group Backs Short-Term Rental Transparency Moves

Skift Take
It’s unclear how better transparency and host registration will add to affordable housing in dense European capitals that have long survived on income from tourism.

Srividya Kalyanaraman

European parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats has stressed the need to regulate short-term rental booking platforms, such as Airbnb and Booking.com, to make housing more affordable. The European Parliament’s committee on internal market and consumer protection has given the go-ahead to do so.

The group’s proposed regulations include host registration schemes, obliging online platforms to display host registration numbers and share host information with authorities. This move is intended to enhance transparency in the European short-term rental market.

The coalition’s position is that though these platforms have driven tourism and economic development to several underserved parts of Europe, they have also contributed to the “touristification” of cities, impacting housing affordability and livability. 

European member states have already started taking action. For instance, Greece announced this week that it plans to bolster its climate change-related natural disasters fund by increasing the hospitality tax €1 to €6 per night ($1.07 to $6.40) primarily on luxury hotel stays. 

The city council in Venice said it will charge day-trippers a fee of €6 ($5.36) to help manage the flow of tourists into the city, after the main island saw a decline in the number of permanent residents.

Florence raised its tourist tax for rentals, including on Airbnb and bed and breakfasts. The tax will be raised from €4 to €5.50 per night ($4.27 to in $ 5.8).

Earlier this year, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa proposed to end the Golden visa program, which offers residence to non-European Union nationals for investments made in the economy.  In August, the government froze issuing new licenses until 2030, except for areas classified as “low density” in municipalities and parishes. 

As for the short-term rental industry, some agree with the need for transparency but also think that the political parties are acting under pressure and not doing enough to manage destinations. 

“Everything that requires more transparency to the consumers is great news, it’s a step forward for the industry, but what I don’t see as a positive is political parties blaming an industry that’s reconstructing city centers, creating employment and economic activity,” said Carlos Pérez-Lanzac de Lorca, founding president of the Andalusian Association of Short-Term Rentals and Touristic Apartments and managing committee at European Holiday Home Association. 

 “It is unfair to blame the industry. If destinations are planned better and well, ‘touristification’ can be managed better.” 

Lanzac de Lorca pointed out that the total number of short-term rental units available in Spain is never above 2% of the total housing market. But several houses stay vacant because it can take up to 18 months to evict tenants defaulting on their rents. 

The proposed regulations will now undergo negotiations between the European Parliament, Commission, and member states, with the first trilogue expected in October.

Your Guide to Airbnb’s 2022 Winter Release
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Your Guide to Airbnb’s 2022 Winter Release

Protecting rental properties from damage is typically top of mind for all property managers/hosts. Knowing who your guests are and how they plan to use your rental is incredibly important, especially as winter party season is getting closer.  Queue Airbnb’s 2022 Winter release, which was announced last week (November 16th)! This release was well…