Airbnb Host Community

Airbnb Could Lose Significant Portion of

Host Community to Long-term Rental Sites
 April, 17 2020
 GlobalData

Airbnb hosts around the world have been losing the vast majority of their bookings in recent
months, many of them need a reliable form of income sooner rather than later. A growing
number of hosts have deleted their Airbnb listings to make way for month-to-month leasing says
GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Ralph Hollister, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Former Airbnb hosts are
now listing their properties on longer term rental platforms. In the US, hosts are using listing
services like San Francisco-based month-to-month rental service Kopa and Austin-based full-
home medium-term rental platform Homads. The worry for Airbnb is that hosts may not return
to the company when the impact of COVID-19 lessens”.

Jack Forbes – CEO of Kopa, stated that rental sites such as Airbnb have an average annual
occupancy rate of under 50%, whereas sites like Kopa aim for an occupancy rate of 95%. This
may explain the growing allure of long-term rental sites, as they offer higher levels of reliability
and security.

Hollister continues: “According to GlobalData’s survey, 51% of Americans are extremely

concerned about the COVID-19 outbreak, and 77% are expecting the situation to worsen in the
next month. This may explain why hosts in the US have been so quick to state their loyalty
elsewhere in order to boost their income.” 

Usually, when a guest cancels on Airbnb, hosts receive some compensation, but Airbnb created a
policy whereby hosts are forced to give refunds to guests cancelling due to the pandemic, leaving
many hosts feeling betrayed by Airbnb as the company left them to fend for themselves.

Hollister concludes: “Due to a significant amount of financial loss mainly due to COVID-19,
Airbnb received a US$1bn vote of confidence from major Silicon Valley investors. The new
funds included US$5m towards special relief grants to head off growing dismay among hosts.
However, this dismay may have already tipped many hosts over the edge, resulting in a
permanent loss of loyal users for the company.”
According to WTTC (World Travel and Tourism Council)analysis, 75 million jobs around the
world are at risk, with one million jobs on the line daily, significantly impacting major source
markets.

Ahead of the meeting, WTTC praised the G20 for freezing the debt of the world’s poorest
countries as a major step towards enabling them to bolster their health systems, to save lives and
combat COVID-19.

According to WTTC analysis, 75 million jobs around the world are at risk, with one million jobs
on the line daily, significantly impacting major source markets.

Ahead of the meeting, WTTC praised the G20 for freezing the debt of the world’s poorest
countries as a major step towards enabling them to bolster their health systems, to save lives and
combat COVID-19.

WTTC’s four principles to ensure swift recovery for the Travel & Tourism sector and the global
economy following the end of the COVID-19 outbreak, are:

1. A joint public-private coordinated approach across the G20 to re-establish effective

operations, remove travel barriers and reopen borders. This would ensure the efficient
resumption of flights, movement of people and widescale travel essential to re-build
confidence in Travel & Tourism.
2. Enhance the seamless traveller journey experience, combining the latest technology and
protocols to increase health standards. Consider the “new normal” for the sector with
components of health, security, hygiene and sustainability with a traveller centric
approach.
3. Work with the private sector and health experts to define global standards for the new
normal, grounded in science which can be easily adopted by businesses of every size
across all travel industries and can be implemented across the world.
4. Continue to aid and assist to the Travel & Tourism sector during the recovery phase,
throughout the entire travel eco-system. Financial support for workers, businesses and for
promotion for a prompt recovery. It is vital the domino effect is fully realised so that
businesses large and small can all recover and prosper.

https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article110352.html

Only the G20 Can Drive Forward a

Coordinated Recovery Response to the
COVID-19 Crisis
The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors
from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). ... Membership of the G20 consists of 19 individual
countries plus the European Union.

https://webunwto.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2020-
05/Barometer_May2020_full.pdf