Why have we all lost all of our bookings?

[Ash7]

Can anyone here address the horrifying situation that has happened to millions of us long-time hosts since the new "Summer Update" 2-3 months ago, when we all lost all of our bookings?

[Helen3]

We are a community of hosts and guests so can't address the situation - that's down to Airbnb.

But as an STR business owner you can help address the situation by using other relevant listing platforms and by marketing directly using your own website/FB platforms .

good luck @Ash7 

[Fred13]

Normally my bookings split this way: 70% Airbnb/ 20% Direct / 5% VRBO. Last 3 months: 40% Airbnb, 50% Direct and 10% VRBO.

This is the first time in 7 years we are not 100% booked at least for the next year' this year 20 days still open in the next 365 days. Also guests can no longer book more than 1 year ahead, unlike in the past years.

So yes,  this change (specifically starting with a 'weekly' default filter) is having an effect on every one, in varying degrees.

[Inna22]

@Fred13 someone told me there were trying to book more than a year out and could  not and I thought they were yet someone who could not click three buttons correctly before getting distracted by snapchat or whatever else they had going on five other of their devices. This time they were correct!

My breakdown has been 60% airbnb, 35 vrbo, 5% booking.com. Direct bookings are no longer allowed in Chicago. Lately Vrbo percentage creeped up to about 45-50.

My weekends are doing great but my weekdays have been a disaster.

The question is- if we are all seeing lower booking rates but airbnb is not seeing lower volume, who is getting booked?

[Fred13]

That is the million dollar question - did their recent move simply shifted bookings among their listings? if so, no wonder they continue with their changes.

The defaulting to only a week-available opening  (though it boils down to 5 days really), seems to makes no sense, yet still is not changed. I remember they ran  a survey which told them many guests were interested in 7-day stays; is this why they took off on such an odd direction?

[Huma0]

@Fred13 

Not being able to book more than a year out is weird. I hadn't heard about that before. It's especially strange given that the searches for 'any weekend', 'any week' and 'any month' are often showing dates far into the future, rather than the earliest availability. 

And as for the week thing, I recently had an enquiry for a short stay, even though my minimum is 28 days. The guest told me she found my listing when she searched for 'a random week in December'. If that's the case, why is my listing even showing in that search?

Seems there are still plenty of glitches going on.

[Sudsrung0]

@Ash7 

This year has been the complete opposite for us in Thailand right now is our low season but we are full, This low season we have had many Americans stay with us which is unusual this has never happened before.

All our bookings have come from Airbnb and although we are listed on other platforms we get nothing, maybe partly because our calendar is showing full from Airbnb.

Amazing really because our two biggest markets are Russia and China and they cannot travel here, I see another mass lockdown of 21 million people in China.

[Huma0]

@Sudsrung0 

I read an article that reported statistics that a lot more American travellers were going abroad this year. That might explain it. I have certainly noticed that the majority of my guests in recent months has been from the USA (over 50%) and that is highly unusual for me. 

However, bar one, these are all bookings that came in before the Summer Release. Now I'm not getting guests from anywhere! 

[Elaine701]

Our current stat is (roughly) 85% Airbnb, 10% direct, 0% VRBO, (I snoozed VRBO some months ago because their calendar sync wasn't working, and it's futile to try to get any support) and 5% Fincallorca, a boutique outfit here in Mallorca. Great host support, and they've delivered some really nice guests so far. I'd like more from them. 

I'd love to increase the ratio of non-airbnb bookings, but Airbnb book us up so fast, that nobody else has a chance.

I've at times blocked dates on Airbnb just to give others a chance, and it works (sort of) but the bookings never come flying in like they do on Airbnb. 

I'm thinking about making prices on Airbnb higher than all other platforms. Maybe that would help. I might unsnooze VRBO too, but they were never very productive. I have fairly low expectations. 

[Sudsrung0]

@Elaine701 

I've seen recently people complaining about VRBO's calendar not syncing very well with Airbnb, 

[Fred13]

I manually enter any VRBO bookings to the Airbnb calendar, when they happen. It works well, after all there aren't that many.

On the other hand, the VRBO calendar as a function of the Airbnb calendar has been flawless, so far.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

September was always the top season in Zagreb and we were full, but this year is lame. My neighbors are full of guests from Booking .com so the China lockdown or Ukrainian war is not the reason.

It seems we will have to list there too

[Emiel1]

@Ash7 

You own four listings (some of them seem to be the same accommodation), they are all in the search system:

https://www.airbnb.com/s/homes?host_id=177441&map_toggle=true