Airbnb Will Eliminate Guest Fees in Europe, Africa and Asia
Airbnb has announced that it will eliminate guest fees for many property managers and hotels that sign up for its service beginning June 4th, 2019.
Eligible property managers that create accounts starting June 4th will be charged a 14% host-only fee by default. Until now, the default was that Airbnb charged hosts a 3% to 5% fixed fee, and guests paid a fee of up to 20% of the rate for the listing. The option will be available for properties in Asia Pacific (except Japan), Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Existing and newly enrolled property managers will also have the choice to switch between the old and the new fee structure.
Skift reports that Airbnb has tested its new fee structure “with a number of hosts globally” and “saw an increase in bookings in certain regions for hosts that adopted it.” Hosts will probably raise their prices after being charge more from Airbnb. But guests should see cheaper prices overall.
The move is likely an attempt to go against Booking.com who has long advertised that it doesn’t charge booking fees to guests.
