Short on rental properties in some nonurban areas, Airbnb and Vrbo are battling to persuade more vacation-home owners to list on their platforms
Airbnb in May said it eased the sign-up process for new hosts, reducing the number of steps required to 10 from dozens. The company said it has added more than 100 upgrades to its platform, including features for one-on-one mentoring on hosting. It also is trying to convert guests into hosts, offering referral payments to hosts who can get others to list their places on Airbnb.
A Vrbo ad campaign, which mentions Airbnb by name, targets hosts seeking to diversify their listings beyond a single vacation-rental platform, said Jeff Hurst, chief operating officer of Expedia Brands. “We’re more explicitly encouraging partners who may only list on a competitive platform to also list with us,” Mr. Hurst said in an interview.
One factor exacerbating the supply squeeze is the rising number of hosts who took their homes off the rental market for their own use. Joanne Flynn Black, who operates a cabin near Catskill, N.Y., said she stopped taking guests for about a year while she stayed there during the pandemic. She recently reopened her property for bookings.
Airbnb was bleeding cash earlier this year, making its plans to go public by the end of 2020 look bleak. But by adapting its business to the pandemic, Airbnb looks to have salvaged its IPO and possibly its future. Photo illustration: Jacob Reynolds/WSJ
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