How to Get Guests To Send Booking Requests Again?

[Aja1140]

Hi, 

We're fairly new to hosting on AirBnb. We just posted our listing about two to three weeks ago. Probably within 3 to 4 days of listing the home, we started receiving requests to book our home. We were getting a steady stream of inquiries and confirming bookings for a good hot minute. Unfortunately, since last Thursday, that hot trend seems to have fizzled out. We've had to turn down a few bookings due to conflicting trips, people not being to afford our stay and one person came with a "party hazard" warning label attached to their profile. We also accidently declined one person because we didn't know what we were doing. Now we asks guests to withdraw their request so it won't count against us. To make matters worse, we have yet to have any reviews. So, we're not sure what's wrong with our listing that has suddenly turned guests away. How do we keep the momentum going and eventually get to the point where we are consistently booking and not experience this daunting dry spell??? 

[Marie8425]

@Aja1140 

Other's hace mentioned including myself  sudden    no inquiries.

I  would note two things    no  dining seating  for 6  and   you  selected   no essentials  which it looks like  you   have

[Joelle43]

Hello @Aja1140 

New listings on Airbnb get a push from the algorithm which lasts about a month and that explains why you had a good response rate but after that time your listing gets no special treatment and your listing becomes one of the many choices the algorithm has to make.  Only 15 pages are shown to guests but often there are over a 1000 listings to choose from.

I  had a quick look on your listing and your photos have been taken in portrait mode rather than in landscape mode which gives guests a better idea of the space in a room.
I had to check in your amenities if you had Wifi or not which is bothersome.  Airbnb allow us to show the internet speed on our listing and it appears straight away on our listings so really worth using this feature.  Instructions below:

https://www.airbnb.com/resources/hosting-homes/a/attract-guests-with-the-new-wifi-speed-test-433?loc...

It sounds like you are not on Instant Book but be sure that you understand the difference between a booking request and an information request.  There is a guide about the difference in the host guides

If you are looking for some information on the various issues related to being a host on Airbnb, just go to your profile picture here on the community center and a drop down menu will appear and click on Host guides

Best of luck Aja

Joëlle

[Sophia]

Hi @Aja1140,

Hello while fellow Hosts share their suggestions, I wanted to drop in and link a few threads which may be useful to you 😊

• Strategies for getting bookings 
• Slow season hosting strategies
• Low bookings

Additionally, I'd recommend joining the Local Host Clubs to connect with fellow hosts local to your area. You can get advice, exchange tips and share insights on how bookings are going in your area 🏠

If you'd like to, you can ask for feedback on your listing from hosts. 

Check out this guide on how to: Ask for listing critique on the Community Center 🗒

Hope these help!