CALIFORNIA – Rental platform Airbnb is mulling charging hosts that contract cleaning services with tax-inclusive prices though no decision has been made as of now.
The Chief Executive Officer of Airbnb had said in February that the company sees a market for charging hosts for particular services in addition to providing free goods and in latest conversation, Catherine Powell, global director of hosting for Airbnb clarified that the firm was considering providing a marketplace where hosts can purchase or rent items like cleaners, co-hosts, and other services in relation to charging guests for services.
Delving into the details, Powell highlighted that over 500,000 co-hosts currently use the platform, adding that it’s not unlikely Airbnb will run a marketplace with companies that offer host services around the world, as well as startups focused on the guest experience but said it could be planned for next year.
“We have hosts asking us about cleaning services and other things they may or even want to rent,” said Powell at Future of Lodging Forum 2023 in London.
Powell, however, admitted that taxes could be included in the all-inclusive pricing that Airbnb introduced last year in the United States and some other markets.
The current practice is that when customers view the total price, the price is initially displayed without taxes, but includes the nightly rates, Airbnb fees and cleaning costs.
Previously, when visitors viewed the prices of an offer, they first saw the accommodation prices, but they did not see cleaning fees, Airbnb fees, or taxes, so they did not have an accurate view of the total price.
Some customers complained about expensive cleaning fees that they only discovered later after having hired the service. The practice was lucrative to the landlords who had a say in the cleaning fees and saw this as an additional source of revenue to the dismay of customers.
Co-founded by Brian Chesky, Airbnb has long made the entire price, including taxes, readily visible in Europe and the new change expected in 2024 would provide relief to many who complain about exorbitant price charged by the landlords in lieu of cleaning.
The company was launched in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to welcome 1.4 billion guest arrivals from across the earth. Airbnb has 6.6M active listings worldwide while $13.8K was earned by the typical US Host in 2021as per official stats shared by the company.
