This is urgent! If your property isn't on Airbnb, you are losing out.
Airbnb is an Internet-based short-term rental service that everyone in the hospitality business should know about. Like a traditional online booking model, it lets customers search for and lease living space for a few days or weeks. However, Airbnb itself does not own any rental properties.
Instead, it functions as a broker. People who own space that they want to rent list their property on the site and pay a percentage service fee when their space is booked. Guests also pay a percentage when they finalise their accommodation. The host sets the cost of each room.
The Airbnb model is incredibly successful. There are over 3,000,000 lodgings listed on the site. Over 65,000 cities and 190 countries are represented in its catalogue.
This isn't surprising. With Airbnb, anybody can be a landlord as long as they have a spare room in their house. As a result, Airbnb has disrupted the entire hospitality industry and thrown hotels into a panic.
Many independent hospitality business owners don’t realise that Airbnb is also a tremendous opportunity to boost your marketing through multiple channels, not the least of which are the positive credibility you get through vacation rental reviews.
You, too, have the chance to list your property on this website and take advantage of its innovative model. The best news is that the fee to list a room on Airbnb is a fraction of the cost that OTAs are currently charging!
Airbnb gives both you and the customer a more personal all-around rental experience. The user can search properties according to their specific needs, setting their destination, dates of travel, and number of guests in a dynamic interface. Once they choose a place to stay, you, the owner, can get in touch with them through the site.
It's a good idea to send them a message asking if they need anything to make their stay special. This increases your credibility, which in turn, helps to earn your property a five-star rating. Credibility is an important part of managing your Airbnb presence. Use our vacation rental marketing resources to learn how to maximise this factor.
Enhanced review system
Travel has changed tremendously over the past twenty years. People no longer care as much about a hospitality’s brand as they care about a property's location, value, and reviews. Yes, reviews!
Reviews from reputable websites like TripAdvisor can turn tables. Independent properties that provide exceptional service receive 5-star ratings, which enables them to move toward top-rated spots in metasearches and on Airbnb. The properties rated highest are the first results that a potential customer sees when they search for accommodations in their particular cities.
Every time a guest stays at your property, Airbnb actively encourages them to leave a review. At the same time, Airbnb asks you to leave feedback about the guest. The reviews you write affect the likelihood of a customer being welcome at other Airbnb properties in the future. This is a good way to warn your colleagues about destructive, troublesome, or otherwise unpleasant patrons. What a nice change!
A new target audience
Travel these days is about more than just renting a room in a luxurious hotel. Travellers are diverse, and their ranks include backpackers, couples on their honeymoons, families, and so on. Airbnb makes a vast variety of properties available for every conceivable tourist, from people on a budget to people who need or want unique services. This makes travel more attractive than ever to a broader range of people.
Cost-effective marketing
OTAs are frowned upon by the independent hospitality owner because of the commission they charge for every booking. After all the hard work you put into hosting a guest, having to sacrifice between 15% and 20% of what you make to a third party just for sending a customer your way is hard to swallow. So when Airbnb announced that they would only charge a 3% commission for bookings, it was music to our ears! As far as we're concerned, this is the clincher. Airbnb is too good a deal to miss.
Boostly has seen firsthand how effective Airbnb can be. We recommend that all hospitality owners list their properties there ASAP. To find out more, learn how to become a host. If you would like our help, get in touch with us here.
