Airbnb enlists help of “Superhosts” to add more properties to platform

Airbnb is launching a new strategy to bring more properties onto the platform. “Airbnb Setup” matches property owners with experienced, highly rated hosts - what it calls “Superhosts” - that provide live, personalized assistance throughout the listing process via text, voice or video chat.

The system matches new and existing hosts based on location and type of property. Once a stay is completed at the new host’s property, the Superhost receives a cash reward – Airbnb says the amount can vary but did not provide a range.

Airbnb Setup launches today with 1,500 Superhosts in more than 80 countries and more will be added in the future.

In an announcement regarding the new service, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky says, “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.”

Airbnb global head of operations Tara Bunch says the idea also developed out of the realization that people considering listing for the first time may assume the process is more difficult than it is.

“Their anticipation about how hard this is versus reality is very different. They believe it can be hard to do this, and this new process of pairing them with an experienced Superhost is really about demystifying it,” she says.

Host protection and reassurance

Also today Airbnb is updating protections it provides for hosts.

Identity verification will now be provided for all guests booking stays in the top 35 countries and regions on Airbnb, which the company says comprises 90% of all reservations. By the spring guest identity verification will be available worldwide.

The verification system compares proofs of identity such as a guest’s driver’s license, passport or national identity card with information provided by the guest and with a selfie for photo matching. The system may also use information such as address, date of birth, phone number and, in the U.S., social security number, to match against third-party databases.

Bunch says the company takes multiple steps to ensure disclosures and privacy are handled appropriately.

“We store this information in a way that no one else can get access to it. And then we destroy data we no longer
need,” she says.

“We have a very disciplined data management approach to this.”

Airbnb is also launching new reservation screening technology in the U.S., Canada and Australia, where it has been testing it since last year. The company says the system “evaluates hundreds of factors” about each reservation to identity those guests that show a potential to host unauthorized parties – with the goal of blocking those reservations from being made. The screening technology will rollout worldwide in the spring.

AirCover insurance coverage is expanding to include a host’s cars and boats stored on property as well as art, jewelry and valuables inside the home at their fully appraised value. Damage protection is increasing from $1 million to $3 million for the home and its contents, and Airbnb says it is simplifying the claims process.

Since AirCover launched a year ago , the company says only about .02% of trips have resulted in damage reimbursement of more than $1,000.

“Most claims are not intentional. That’s what that number tells you. This is someone accidentally knocking over a lamp or their kid knocks over a lamp. They are relatively minor in nature and actually most are worked out between the guest and the host,” Bunch says.

“Again, this is another one of those things where I think the concern that hosts have, particularly new hosts, is largely outsized relative to the reality of the situation. That’s why we can afford to do this, because we’ve gotten so much better at screening guests and hosts and holding both our guest and host community accountable for their behavior.”

Airbnb is launching a new marketing campaign to promote the new Setup and AirCover. The campaign uses short films to “speak directly to homeowners with messages around the ease and safety of hosting their primary residence, by highlighting our new product features, Setup and AirCover, that were created specifically with these considerations in mind.”

New categories

Airbnb is also adding six new categories to filter properties and hotels on its platform. Airbnb Categories launched in May with 56 types .

New ones being added include “adapted” to highlight properties that accommodate wheelchairs, with images of the property scanned and verified by Matterport to show details such as the width of doorways.

Other new categories are “new” – for homes added to the platform in the past 10 weeks – and “play” for homes with basketball courts, games rooms, etc.