Airbnb Launches New Superhost Feature
Luciana Mangas September 26, 2016
The hospitality company has introduced a new option for hosts who don’t have time to handle their listings.
Airbnb is improving their services. In an effort to professionalize its business, the company is now offering a new feature to attract more individual hosts. According to Skift, Airbnb has quietly launched a website page that allows individual hosts — including those who are just considering putting up an apartment listing — to search for superhosts in their areas, so those can manage the whole thing for the individual host.
These superhosts, who are already experienced in the Airbnb business and have multiple listings, take on the role of property manager, helping create the listing, evaluate pricing and deal with communication with guests.They can even meet guests upon check-in, among other tasks.
Obviously, these superhosts won’t work for free, so the individual host will pay them a fee, usually ranging from 10 percent to 20 percent, plus the 3 percent fee that Airbnb charges for each booking. The host and superhost negotiate the superhost-management fee.
It is a deal that theoretically works for all involved. An individual host that doesn’t have time to be there and greet guests can have everything handled by a superhost – who in turn gets a hefty commission; and Airbnb finds a way to attract even more listings and professionalize them.
The one challenge that the company faces, however, is that if a superhost is handling multiple listings, the guest might not have the local experience that usually attracts people to Airbnb in the first place.
[Photo: Airbnb]
