AirBNB has quietly launched a back-end page for hosts to turn over the management of their listing to superhosts. This new feature gives individual hosts the ability to outsource the management of their listing to a broker, of sorts, who handles guest transactions and pricing.
The Superhost market makes sense. I’m sure there are many AirBNB hosts (and potential hosts) who would prefer to have someone else handling the transactional minutiae of hosting. For AirBNB, superhosts could deliver a greater inventory and open access in large metro markets by lowering the barrier to entry for new hosts.
However, I can’t help but think that superhosts may kill AirBNB’s brand. After all, the “secret sauce” for AirBNB has been the direct relationship between guests and hosts. A superhosts isn’t going to greet a guest and introduce them to an unknown taqueria, after all. If AirBNB removes that connectivity and endorses greater separation between host and guest, the next step is likely to be commoditization.
It will be interesting to watch this trend over the next few quarters for any hint of guest backlash, especially in gateway cities.