Yahoo Finance Airbnb encourages people to stay with strangers to save money on holidays
Airbnb will encourage people to stay in strangers' spare rooms in a return to its “couch-surfing” origins, amid rising concerns about the cost of holiday accommodation.
The company said its 1m single-room listings would now be shown in a dedicated section on its app. Privacy information, such as whether the door locks and if it has its own bathroom, will also be added to listings.
Hosts will also be asked to fill out detailed information about themselves, such as their job, hobbies and pets in order to make guests feel more comfortable staying at their properties.
Airbnb was founded in 2008 as a way for people to rent out spare bedrooms and sofas but the site has become increasingly dominated by whole home rentals in recent years.
The San Francisco-headquartered company is now re-promoting single-room rentals as a way to help holidaymakers cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
The average cost of a night booked through Airbnb rose from $122 at the start of 2019 to $168 at the start of last year.
Airbnb said it had recorded a 70pc increase in the number of stays in private rooms in the UK last year amid a squeeze on tourists’ budgets. It said hosts renting out spare rooms make on average £2,200 a year.
The company has been seeking to battle criticism that it has become unaffordable and ridden with hidden fees. Last year it started to show the total price of a stay up front after complaints from customers about being stung by items such as cleaning fees.
Airbnb said an update to the app would mean more than 50 new changes, which it said were made after analysing more than 4m customer service requests.
They include allowing users to spread payments over time through a deal with the buy now pay later company Klarna, better checkout instructions, and lower fees for stays of a month or longer.
Brian Chesky, the company’s chief executive, said the focus on single rooms moved the company back to its “founding ethos”. Airbnb was founded after Mr Chesky and his co-founder Joe Gebbia rented out space in their San Francisco apartment in 2007.
Mr Chesky said: “With Airbnb Rooms, we’re getting back to the idea that started it all – back to our founding ethos of sharing. Airbnb Rooms are often more affordable than hotels, and they’re the most authentic way to experience a city. This is the soul of Airbnb.”
