Am I being penalised for not having rent out for the past 9 months?

[Doris515]

Hello there, I have been a super host for over 7 years but have not rented out our villa with pool in Southern Spain for the past 9 months as we lived in it ourselves for a change. I opened my listing calendar two months ago and yet only received one booking so far and lots of requests from people to book outside of airbnb which I obviously denied. Am I being penalised for not having rented out for a longer period or why has the algorithm dropped me down to the bottom? I usually had our villa fully booked all year so am very surprised. Appreciate your help, advice and suggestions upfront!

cheers from Malaga, Doris

[Zheng49]

That is how the algorithm works. The more booking activity you have (and will have), the higher you will end up on the algorithm. 

Another reason is that guests also like to book on properties that are more popular (ie. with a lot of days already booked up). 

[Doris515]

Thank you! Weirdly enough the only requests I get are people offering to pay outside of airbnb. Should I decline and yet risk to get further penalised by airbnb or simply not respond, and again be penalised for lack of response? Much appreciate your support!

[Helen3]

It's probably because many people booking a villa summer holiday would have booked long ago coupled with falling demand @Doris515 

are you listing across all relevant STR marketing channels.?are you set up to take direct bookings ?

if you receive inquiries you don't need to respond . If someone asks to book outside airbnb you can report them . 

[Doris515]

thanks so much Helen, much appreciate your input. I am not sure what you refer to with SRT marketing channels, can you expand, please? 

I am not set up to book direct bookings to avoid party animals, as our villa is ideal for families with children and our neighbours are very sensitive so I prefer to double check with the potential clients first. however, if no bookings come in I will have to accept direct booking, I guess. Would you know if airbnb penalises me if I decline a booking despite being done through direct booking?

thanks again