Airbnb Select and what it means for your business as Property Managers

On Thursday 22nd of February 2018, Airbnb announced Airbnb Select and a whole range of changes that will make it easier for professional Property Managers to stand out from the crowd. Airbnb has been improving their platform throughout 2017, adding features known from Booking.com and HomeAway such as seasonal prices and daily length-of-stay.

According to Hakeem Bouhid from Flatbooking and user of Hostaway, “Airbnb Select opens up new opportunities for us - it’s the top 1% of Airbnb and we were selected!”.

But, what does this update from Airbnb mean for you and your business? We’ve summarized the key changes below:

Airbnb Select

You can’t apply to become an Airbnb Select host - you are chosen. Airbnb will promote Premium Properties and make sure they hold the same standards as hotels for the travelers. This will appeal to business travelers, who don’t have the time to deal with dysfunctional amenities or missing towels. It will also appeal to the luxury travel, and therefore, in the look for the growing market of luxury accommodation.

Airbnb Plus

This is a more upscale version of Airbnb Select. Only 2,000 homes were selected for this category, and the checklist has more than 100 items! These properties will be ranked higher and come with concierge services, interior design, etc.

Beyond by Airbnb

If you have a property that belongs in this category, invite us over! These properties are so exclusive they aren’t even on Airbnb yet.

New categories

Instead of the current filters for Entire Home, Private Room and Shared Room, Airbnb will promote Unique Space, B&B, Vacation Home and Boutique Hotel. This is really good for those of you that offer treehouses, houseboats or even airplanes, as these will get better visibility on the site. When the update is launched, make sure you have the right category selected!

New SuperHost Benefits

Later this year, Airbnb will launch the new Superhost Program which will include discounted smart home appliances and what everyone has been hoping for… higher search rankings! Custom URL’s will do great for SEO as well.

SuperTravelers

Starting summer, 10,000 travelers will be enrolled in the SuperTraveler program. This will offer various benefits and hopefully make it easier to approve reliable guests.

We hope you find this article useful, and that by taking these changes into consideration for your business you benefit from the opportunities available.

The Hostaway Team