Combined with even more AirCover for Hosts, now is the perfect time to put your place on Airbnb
by Suman Gupta
In May, we introduced Airbnb Categories so that millions of people could discover homes they never knew existed. Today, we’re introducing Airbnb Setup to make it easy for millions of people to Airbnb their home. We’re also providing even more AirCover for Hosts and adding six new Airbnb Categories.
- Introducing Airbnb Setup – The all-new, super easy way to Airbnb your home, with free one-to-one guidance from a Superhost.
- Even more AirCover for Hosts – Now featuring even more top-to-bottom protection, with guest identity verification, reservation screening, and $3M damage protection, including coverage for cars, boats, art and valuables.
- New Airbnb Categories – We’re adding six new categories of homes, as well as improving the way Airbnb Categories are displayed.
“Airbnb was born during a recession. Joe and I couldn’t afford to pay our rent, so we inflated three air mattresses and created an AirBed & Breakfast. Soon, people all around the world joined us,” said Brian Chesky, CEO and Co-Founder of Airbnb. “Today, just like during the Great Recession in 2008, people are especially interested in earning extra income through hosting. That’s why we’re introducing an easy way for millions of people to Airbnb their homes. With Airbnb Setup, every new Host can get free, one-to-one guidance from a Superhost from their first question through their first reservation. And with even more AirCover for Hosts, now is the perfect time to put your place on Airbnb.”
New homes on Airbnb are getting booked almost immediately. Half of listings that were activated and booked in Q3 2022 received their first reservation within three days. We’ve also seen strong growth rates of new Hosts, especially in certain countries with high inflation rates.
Introducing Airbnb Setup
Over the past year, more than 30 million people have visited Airbnb to learn about hosting. Today, we’re making it easier for millions of people to get started. Introducing Airbnb Setup, the all-new, super easy way to Airbnb your home. Airbnb Setup includes:
- One-to-one guidance from a Superhost – When you begin Airbnb Setup, we’ll match you with a Superhost for free one-to-one guidance from your first question through your first guest. You can chat with your Superhost over audio, video, or messaging. We’re launching with 1,500 Superhosts in over 80 countries who are dedicated to helping new Hosts get started.
- An experienced guest for your first booking – For your first booking, you can choose to welcome an experienced guest who has at least three stays and a good track record on Airbnb.
- Specialized support from Airbnb – As a new Host, you get one-tap access to a specially-trained team of Community Support agents. They can help with everything from account issues to getting paid and are available via phone, messaging, or email in over 42 languages.
Even more AirCover for Hosts
Last November, we introduced AirCover to provide unmatched, top-to-bottom protection for every Host on Airbnb. Today, we’re making major upgrades to AirCover for Hosts:
- Guest identity verification – We are expanding identity verification to all booking guests traveling to the top 35 countries and regions on Airbnb—representing 90% of all reservations. We will expand guest identity verification worldwide in Spring 2023.
- Reservation screening technology – We are launching our proprietary reservation screening technology in the US and Canada, which helps reduce the chance of disruptive parties. We will expand our reservation screening technology worldwide in Spring 2023.
- $3M damage protection – We are tripling damage protection from $1 million to $3 million – covering both your home and its contents.
- Auto & boat protection – We now provide damage protection for cars, boats, and other watercraft that you park or store at your property.
- Art & valuables protection – A wider range of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles will now be repaired or replaced at appraised value.
- Easier to file a claim – You can now file a claim for damage protection in a few simple steps and easily track its progress from submission through payout.
New Airbnb Categories
In May, we introduced a new way to search designed around Airbnb Categories. Today, we’re introducing six new categories:
- New – Homes added to Airbnb within the past 10 weeks.
- Top of the world – Homes around 10,000 feet above sea level, often with stunning views.
- Trending – Highly-rated homes that received more listing views compared to the previous week.
- Adapted – Homes adapted for wheelchair access, with verified step-free paths into the home, bedroom and bathroom.
- Play – Homes with basketball courts, game rooms, miniature golf, water slides and more.
- Hanoks – Traditional Korean homes constructed of natural materials.
We’re also improving what categories we show you. For example, when you launch the app, you’ll find the Vineyards category if you recently searched for homes in Napa. In addition, more details will be presented in search results when viewing categories. For example, homes with amazing views will list the type of view, and homes near national parks will show the distance to the park entrance.
Worldwide rollout starting today
Airbnb Setup, upgrades to AirCover for Hosts, and new Airbnb Categories will begin rolling out worldwide this week.
