Since its founding in 2007, Airbnb has expanded to include over 5 million hosts and facilitated more than 2 billion guest arrivals worldwide. The company states that trust remains a central part of its platform as it aims to provide positive experiences for both guests and hosts.
Airbnb recently released its first Global Quality Report, which outlines efforts to improve the quality and reliability of stays booked through the platform. According to Airbnb, “Quality matters at every step of the Airbnb experience, from finding and booking a home, and having a positive stay, through to leaving a rating and review at the end of a trip.”
The report highlights features designed to help guests identify high-quality listings. These include Guest Favorites—a collection based on ratings, reviews, and reliability data—and top listing highlights that show percentile rankings for the highest-rated homes. Since launching Guest Favorites, more than 250 million nights have been booked in these listings globally. The average overall rating for Guest Favorites in India stands at 4.92.
Globally, listings ranked in the top percentiles have received over 3 million five-star ratings, accounting for about one-fifth of all five-star reviews on the platform. Updates to the ratings system now allow users to sort reviews by rating and view additional reviewer details.
To address concerns about host cancellations—a key issue affecting guest satisfaction—Airbnb reports making changes intended to deter avoidable cancellations. As a result, host cancellation rates in India decreased by nearly 20% year-over-year.
“Every day, over a million guests check into an Airbnb2 , and we want each of them to feel confident knowing what they can expect when they book,” according to Airbnb’s statement on releasing its Global Quality Report.
The company says it has invested in listing quality improvements and host education programs. Its Superhost program is now in its tenth year; last year saw almost a 50% increase in Superhosts within India alone.
Security measures such as ID verification for both hosts and guests have also been implemented along with reservation screening technology aimed at reducing unauthorized parties. In just over one year since launch, this technology has blocked or redirected more than 1.4 million attempts worldwide by guests seeking bookings that did not meet standards.
In terms of feedback mechanisms, Airbnb notes that since inception there have been more than 460 million guest reviews left on the platform. The average listing rating is above 4.75 globally; last year in India over 80% of guest reviews were five stars.
Airbnb’s updated hosting quality system was launched in 2023 with an aim to evaluate listings against new criteria more effectively. This approach provides feedback for hosts while removing those who do not meet required standards: “Since its launch, we’ve removed over 400,000 listings that failed to meet our quality standards.” The company adds this contributed to an approximately 20% decrease in quality-related customer service issues reported by Indian users compared with previous years.
“At Airbnb, we are constantly innovating for our community,” reads the statement from Airbnb regarding ongoing efforts around product updates and policy enhancements designed for improved user experiences.
The company says it will continue sharing updates on these initiatives as further progress is made.
