The temporary rental platform has always struggled with the way the hosts decide how and when they clean their houses. Therefore, Airbnb now opted to establish a hygienic protocol and even a certification to secure clean accommodation.
In response to the crisis in the tourism industry and the traveler insecurity caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the rental platform announced a new cleaning protocol to guide the hosts.
Named the "Advanced Cleaning Initiative”, the document was developed with the help of a doctor, based on the recommendations of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The hygienic protocol includes several instructions for homeowners on how to clean and disinfect each room in the house, specific information about COVID-19, and disinfectants certified by health authorities.
Airbnb has decided that hosts who follow the new recommendations will receive a special certificate so that they can be easily identified by people seeking housing.
The platform also established a mandatory minimum interval between each rental. Those who comply with the new cleaning protocol must guarantee a period of 24 hours between the check-out of one traveler and the check-in of the next. Those who do not comply with all hygienic steps will be obliged to wait 72 hours before receiving a new guest.
This break is based on recommendations from experts applied in another Airbnb program, which has already offered more than 200.000 stays to health professionals who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 in countries such as Germany, Spain and Italy.
The program is to be launched in May in the United States. Only after that, it will be implemented in other destinations.
The new hygienic protocol is an effort of the company to reassure travelers and reactivate reservations on the platform, which have fallen dramatically due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A survey by AirDNA, a company specialized in online rental analysis, reveals that Airbnb lost US$1 billion in bookings, with 90% of cancellations and an 85% drop in new bookings.
The concern with cleanliness will be one of the big issues in the hotel business. Those seeking accommodation via temporary rental sites need to deal with the fact that each host cleans their home as they wish. Hotels, on the other hand, follow hygiene protocols and are predictable regarding the standard of services.
