What Hosts need to know about Airbnb’s announcement

From a new hosting homepage to a faster inbox, we’ve introduced 100+ changes.
By Airbnb on May 24, 2021
26 min video
Updated May 25, 2021

Highlights

  • We believe we’re on the verge of big changes in travel and we want to help you prepare

  • We announced a comprehensive upgrade of our app, website, policies, and more

  • The changes include improved Community Support, better messaging tools, and an automated guest Arrival Guide

As many places around the world start reopening, we're anticipating the biggest travel rebound in a century. To help you prepare, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky unveiled a new report about the trends that will shape the future of travel.

He also revealed more than 100 new tools, features, and upgrades to Airbnb that will help Hosts around the world take advantage of this unique opportunity. Check out the video above for Brian’s announcement with more details.

The consistent theme across all of these changes is making things easier:

  • Easier for guests to get inspired, find that perfect listing, and book quickly with new features like flexible destinations and flexible dates
  • Easier for new Hosts to get started in a few simple steps through improved support and helpful resources
  • And most importantly, after a year when hosting was harder than ever, easier for Hosts to manage their day-to-day tasks, delight every guest, and thrive on Airbnb

Understanding some of the most important changes

As many Hosts prepare for an increased demand in travel, we wanted to make our tools and features more powerful, more intuitive, and easier to use. Here are a few of the exciting improvements we’ve made:

A more intuitive and consistent app and website
We’ve made some important changes to the main navigation buttons on the Airbnb app and website to make it easier to find what you need. After receiving lots of feedback from Hosts on this topic, we’ve also made the user experience on our app and website the same so that you see the same buttons and tabs, regardless of which device you’re using.

Find out what’s changed

The Today tab: your new hosting homepage
As part of this update, we’ve also added a brand new home base for Hosts called the Today tab. The Today tab surfaces the most important tasks, alerts, and updates all in one place, helping you manage your day-to-day tasks as a Host from a single screen.

In the past, Hosts have told us that it took too long to find what they needed. With the Today tab, there’s one screen—available from any device—that you can check quickly and easily to stay on top of your reservations, requests, inquiries, news, and alerts.

Learn about your new home base

A better, faster inbox
Every good Host knows that a 5-star stay begins with great communication with guests. Your inbox is a critical part of your hosting toolbox, and we’ve introduced some key updates to make it better.

The new inbox is up to 10 times faster and includes key features like search and filter so you can find important messages quickly. We’ve also added time-saving tools like scheduled messages and quick replies to help you automate and simplify your hosting routine.

Discover more about these updates

New, automated guest Arrival Guides
Check-in can be a make-or-break moment for every reservation. We’ve received feedback from Hosts that managing check-ins can be tedious and time-consuming.

This month, we’re launching a new tool that automatically positions the most critical check-in information for each reservation at the top of your guests’ Trips tab 48 hours before check-in.

Check out the new Arrival Guide and get yours ready

Improved Community Support services
Our Community Support tools and Airbnb Support Ambassadors are the backbone of our relationship with Hosts. Based on your feedback, we’re overhauling the support experience to better serve you.

This includes more than doubling the number of Support Ambassadors since this time last year, prioritizing empathy across our Help Centre communications, and making our policies more transparent and consistent. We’re also working to offer Dedicated Superhost Support, starting in North America on September 30, 2021, and rolling out globally throughout 2021.

Find out more about our up-levelled Community Support

These changes are just a handful of the more than 100 improvements that we’re unveiling this month. We encourage you to check out the full list of upgrades, try out the new tools and features, and give us feedback on how we can continue to improve.
Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.

Highlights

  • We believe we’re on the verge of big changes in travel and we want to help you prepare

  • We announced a comprehensive upgrade of our app, website, policies, and more

  • The changes include improved Community Support, better messaging tools, and an automated guest Arrival Guide

Airbnb
May 24, 2021
Was this helpful?