Do professional hosts matter? Evidence from multi-listing and full-time hosts in Airbnb

Professional hosts who operate more than one listing or in a full-time manner on peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation sharing platforms are growing. This study investigates (1) the effect of customer evaluation on property performance through online traveler reviews, (2) the difference of property performance between host types, and (3) how the effect of customer evaluation on property performance varies by host types. A large-scale, longitudinal dataset of the entire State of California is used for econometric analyses. A property managed by a multi-listing host makes 27.8% more revenue per available night (RevPAN) than a property managed by a singlelisting host in a month. In contrast, a property managed by a full-time host makes 23.8% less RevPAN than its counterpart managed by a part-time host. While customer evaluation positively affects listing performance, its effect is divergent between professional hosts, weaker for a multi-listing host but magnified for a full-time host.

Automated summary

Professional hosts who operate multiple listings or full-time on P2P accommodation sharing platforms are growing. Properties managed by multi-listing hosts tend to generate higher revenue per available night, while those managed by full-time hosts tend to have lower performance compared to part-time hosts. Customer evaluations have a positive impact on property performance, especially for full-time hosts.