Airbnb is Still Tackling Racial Discrimination On its Platform

Airbnb has worked on an internal system for the past eight years to address racial discrimination on its platform. This came after Black users shared their experiences of facing discrimination at Airbnb under the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack in 2016.

Additionally, a 2016 study by two Harvard Business School professors and one then-doctoral candidate highlighted that Black Airbnb guests were 16% more likely to have their reservation request declined when compared to white users. A 32-page report released by the company in 2016 acknowledged the lack of diversity in its organisation and that three of its White male founders “were not fully conscious of racial bias when they designed the platform” back in 2008.

The report also highlighted “an unacceptable lack of urgency” linked to racial discrimination. Subsequently, Airbnb opened an internal research tool called Project Lighthouse to examine how people of different races experience its platform.

The report found that people of different races had a “booking success rate” (meaning, they were allowed to rent the place they desired) of over 90%, users while those who were regarded as Black were almost 3% less likely to have their request accepted than users who were perceived as White. Though there is a slight difference, it is an improvement from the 16% figure in the Havard Report published in 2016, where Black users had the lowest acceptance rate of all demographic groups.

What changes are included in the new report?

The report was released in December 2024 and found that Black and White guests’ booking success rate has decreased by half due to Project Lighthouse, but the rate has increased for users of all races. Black users now have a 95% success rate when booking an Airbnb. “In 2023, guests perceived to be Black were able to successfully book the stay of their choice 94.8 per cent of the time, versus 96.2 per cent for guests perceived to be white,” the report said.

Additionally, users are now able to make booking an Airbnb more accessible. This allows guests to rent without waiting for hosts to approach for a request. “It’s an important tool that can help reduce potential discrimination in the booking process by supporting more objective bookings.”

The company will also make it easier for guests to add multiple travellers with Airbnb accounts to a reservation. Their Lighthouse analysis showed that Black or Latino/Hispanic users had fewer reviews than guests perceived as white or Asian.

“As we continue to explore opportunities to make Airbnb more inclusive and address disparities in the booking success rate, we will continue to work closely with partners like Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, LULAC, NAACP, and National Action Network,” Airbnb said.

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