I’ve been running a quite successful STR business for nearly 10 years, constantly growing. I own 2 spectacular chalets in the most visited touristic area in Romania. I’m not lacking in modesty when I say I have inspired tens of local antrepreneurs to start a business in STR. The story of my business has been featured on the Romanian business press. I’ve dedicated the last 10 years of my life to this. I’ve always had my properties listed on most big STR platforms, plus I have a solid base of return clients, so my calendars have been always pretty full, from one source or another.
However, AirBnB has always been my favorite. I would have the best prices on this platform. I believed in AirBnB, booked all of my trips through it and signed up many many new hosts.
My airbnb bookings have gone to 0 ever since the big changes in May. Views have dropped to nearly 0.
I’ve spent countless hours every day in the past 3 weeks trying to figure out how to adapt and adjust to the changes. No luck. I finally got a booking yesterday, a group from Romania. I suspect they’ve been wise enough and booked here only because it was the best price.
My listings show up randomly in the search engine. Sometimes they do show up when I search for my region, other times they don’t, even though some of my neighbours do show up!
Yesterday I tried to look for a 10 days stay in Croatia, I’ve been there every year for the past 8 years. I kinda know the different islands and where I’m heading. The search results were very very few, compared to what I know from experience and other booking platforms. The results were also misleading. I would search accommodation on one island and the search engine sent me on the next one, or even further.
I’ll book through another platform.
I don’t deny the fact that the actual slowdown in bookings is not only the result of AirBnB’s changes. I used to be fully booked for the weekends at least 6-8 months in advance. That’s not happening anymore. People are calling more for last minute stays. However, AirBnB’s changes are definitely a huge problem. I’m getting calls from foreign tourists, looking up my rentals on google. I’ve been told they didn’t see my listings on AirBnB.
Sorry for my super long vent. I just wanted you to know we’re affected here too.
Ema