Airbnb: Donations to hosts and public reactions

Since the pandemic exhausted his income Airbnb Around the world, the company asked visitors to donate money to their hosts.

More specifically, the platform short-term rental began asking visitors to send "courtesy cards, Which will include donations of money to their former hosts, who lost a lot of money due to the suspension of travel.

The new tool of Airbnb seems to be another attempt to reassure hosts and alleviate their financial stress, this time by asking for contributions from former guests. A spokesman for the rental company told Business Insider, that 100% of will be transferred to the hosts revenue from courtesy cards.

"In the spirit of reheating connections, we have developed a new feature that allows visitors to send virtual cards with messages of support and encouragement. to hosts who provided excellent hospitality. If desired, guests have the option to add a volunteer economic contribution,Said a company spokesman.

However, the news of Airbnb's new operation soon provoked reactions from the public. People, in fact, with rapid reflexes flooded it Twitter, expressing their dissatisfaction.  

Most users pointed out that were themselves affected by his judgment COVID-19 and are in a similar situation. They say they are equally struggling to save money amid the pandemic and wonder why it should be their responsibility to support the hosts.

The hosts, for their part, have also directed their anger at the company, claiming that it implemented cancellation policies at the start of the pandemic, which cost them even more money. Airbnb said in March it would spend $ 250 million in compensation to owners for cancellations of visitors caused by the pandemic.

The financial situation is particularly dire for Airbnb's large-scale hosts, some of whom bought dozens of properties and built short-term rental empires that were their main source of income. About a third of the service's properties are owned by hosts who manage at least 25 properties, according to the analytics website. AirDNA.

Note that Airbnb representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.