Today, Airbnb released new findings on its efforts to fight discrimination. For the past six years, Airbnb has worked to make its platform accessible and inclusive for all users.
In 2016, Airbnb completed its first civil rights audit led by Laura W. Murphy, a seasoned civil rights leader.
In 2020, the company launched Project Lighthouse, an initiative to uncover and address disparities in how people of color experience their platform. The finding will guide the company’s work to fight discrimination and make Airbnb more open and inclusive.
“Airbnb is built on trust, and we will continue to innovate and design new products and initiatives that increase acceptance and combat bias. Important insights, including data generated through Project Lighthouse, will drive our work to make Airbnb a place where everyone feels welcome. We can’t do this work alone, and our partners have given us incredibly valuable feedback. I’m deeply grateful for their insight,” said Airbnb Co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky.
Read more about the project and its finding below.
Who was involved in Project Lighthouse?
Project Lighthouse was developed in partnership with Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, and with input from other national civil rights and privacy organizations.
What were the findings of Project Lighthouse?
Through Project Lighthouse, Airbnb measured the rate at which guests in the US from different perceived racial groups have their reservations confirmed after they click “Reserve”. This is called the Booking Success Rate. They found that guests from all perceived racial groups have Booking Success Rates above 90 percent. The widest disparity exists between guests perceived to be Black and guests perceived to be white; guests perceived to be Black were able to successfully book the stay of their choice 91.4 percent of the time, versus 94.1 percent for guests perceived to be white.
What next steps is Airbnb taking?
Airbnb used Project Lighthouse to understand better the factors driving this disparity and is instituting a series of platform and product interventions to improve the Booking Success Rate for everyone and make the booking process more equitable. Such as creating connections through enhanced profiles, making more people eligible for an instant book, and more reviews for more guests.
You can learn more about Project Lighthouse and Airbnbs effort to fight discrimination here.