Convinced that the boom in leisure travel is permanent,
The company said Wednesday that it will increase the amount of liability coverage for hosts, up to
More listings would not seem to be
CEO
The company also continues to try to crack down on large parties at rentals, a few of which have turned violent. And it faces efforts to increase regulation of short-term rentals.
Through it all,
Investors worry that consumers paying more for food, gas and housing — and facing predictions of recession — will cut back on discretionary spending like travel, hurting
Some current hosts are worried that might already be happening. Last month, a post on a Facebook page for
Other hosts on social media have suggested theories ranging from a fragile economy to pent-up travel demand finally running out, and some think the problem might be that
AirDNA, which tracks short-term-rental numbers, said
Chesky said in an interview that
“People are pulling back spending in tons of areas, but not travel," he said. "And with a looming recession, we felt like more people than ever are going to want to make extra money.”
Potential hosts sometimes hesitate, Chesky said, because they are uncomfortable having strangers in their homes. The company's response is to triple the amount of coverage for hosts — from
Chesky is betting that will persuade more owners of nice homes to list them on
“Exactly, and home values have increased since we wrote the
The company said it is also launching a system to verify the identity of guests and flag potential parties, immediately in the
In the meantime, the company is working on a plan to display the all-in price of a stay up front on its app and website — an amount that would include cleaning fees, which can be very high and only appear later in the booking process.
Chesky said he didn't want to bar or cap cleaning fees — that's a decision for hosts, he said. But including fees in the upfront price — and in the order in which search results are displayed — “is going to correct the market,” he said.
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