A Message from Our New Global Head of Hosting to Airbnb Hosts

In her first video message to all Airbnb hosts, Catherine Powell, Airbnb’s new Global Head of Hosting, announced a return to a closer partnership between the company and our global community, starting with more transparency and sharing. Host updates will happen regularly and will be available in the Resource Center*.

“We’re returning to that type of collaborative partnership that can help make each other better. We’re also highlighting what drew guests to Airbnb in the first place—the magical human connection that only hosts like you can provide,” said Powell, who joined Airbnb six months ago from the Walt Disney Company to lead Airbnb Experiences. In her new position, she is unifying the teams that focus on hosts of homes and Experiences to build a single and strengthened community.

One of the first projects to support hosts as they navigate a changing travel landscape will focus on travel trends and insights. Airbnb has already begun to share this type of information with hosts, under the Performance-Opportunities section of their account dashboards. This effort will be expanded so that hosts have even more control over how and when they host.

Powell also reiterated Airbnb’s commitment to sharing information and gathering regular feedback on policies and programs that affect hosting. “We’re rolling out a series of workshops with hosts around the world to partner on new ideas and consider hosts’ feedback in important decisions that affect our community. We’re also creating webinars to offer more guidance on topics suggested by the host community,” she said.

She also emphasized a goal of increased transparency about company challenges, citing our recent and difficult decision to reduce the size of our workforce and some of the work to adjust to a faster-than-expected travel recovery in some locations.

*This video and message on the Resource Center are currently available in English; more languages will be available in the coming days.