Airbnb is making a huge comeback

[Rubén16]

Nice article on Airbnb 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/08/business/airbnb-summer-travel-2020-bookings/index.html

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Rubén16 , I believe this is true, Ive gotten more bookings in a week than I have in 2 months.  Thats a great thing!  The world didnt end!!! Stay well, JR

[Robbie54]

Still run by a bunch of children unfortunately

[Anonymous]

@Rubén16  Based on the trends they've been reporting, Airbnb hosts who happen to be a comfortable drive from population centers, offering Entire Home or self-contained listings, are poised to do really well in the next months compared to homestays and locations dependent on air travel. That seems like something of a redistribution, since Airbnb has normally skewed more toward inner-city listings, and its search features are lagging behind some other sites when it comes to rural listings. 

I tried to book a domestic getaway out of the city recently, and ultimately found Airbnb sorely lacking in useful search fields (since I was looking more for a certain type of environment than a specific town) and variety of listings. I ultimately used a less user-friendly site with better options and less annoying fees. The hosts I've spoken to in this region have expressed some objection to feeling micromanaged by an app, find the Guest Fees too high for the market they serve, and perceive Airbnb's brand as being too slick and corporate for their taste, so they tend to use other sites or locally owned agencies. 

I'm really happy for the hosts who are benefitting from this (partial) comeback, but I can't help but think Airbnb could actually be doing a much better job of seizing this moment if it had invested more in improving its product and outreach for rural properties instead of the failed effort to break into Hotels and "Luxe." 

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Rubén16 That's good to see, although this article seems to be referring to a "huge comeback" for domestic travel in the US, not elsewhere. (Our property is elsewhere.) But still good to know that all is not lost--at least at the moment. Thanks for sharing.

[Katrina79]

This is great news! I just recently put up one of my places forJune on Airbnb again after renting it out for two months long-term through word of mouth. I’m getting many bookings right from June 1st! 

[Sharon1014]

I do think however that the US's Achilles heel is going to kick in as a result.  Acting too late, and easing too early.  Some hosts may think it's Christmas right now but there is, imo, a significant risk of a much bigger second wave.   So hope for the best, PREPARE for the worst.  

Our bnb is in the stand-alone touristy beach getaway out of town location and despite it being winter, we keep getting bookings.  We are quite surprised, but figure it is a legacy of the lockdown and unlikely to last.  We were expecting to mothball the place until spring.  So just making money while the opportunity presents.  But for hosts who have a city based property in a high density location, then it would be immensely helpful to have your exit /contingency plan well thought out and ready to action if required.

Chesky of course has his own agenda (IPO) and will say/do anything to get the numbers up.  Difficult to believe that the US stats currently exceed the stats for the same period last year.  Call me a cynic if needs be.  😋

[Emilia42]

I find this really odd and a little unbelievable. I would think that if every host was clearly following the new cleaning guidelines where 24 hours are blocked before and after each reservation that calendar availability would be cut in half. Also, if guests are booking more long term reservations that leaves a host will far fewer reservations a month then say 30 separate reservations. How on earth are there more reservations being booked than last year?!? 

[Robbie54]

@Emilia42 is it only in the US that calendars are blocked for 24hrs after each booking? Just checked my calendar here in the UK and a guest is able to book on the day a guest is leaving. I double checked by visiting the Airbnb.co.uk website to see if I can book dates on the day a guest leaves, which i can.  Or am I reading this wrong,  it's down to the host to block the calendar? The potential of lost bookings/money is enormous!! If that happened in the UK I wouldn't use Airbnb. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Robbie54 

Maybe that's a consequence of obtaining the cleaning 'badge'? You do the test, you get the badge, you get the penalty. Don't know, but it seems likely. Have you done the cleaning badge?

[Robbie54]

No idea what it is. I guess I'm your average host who struggle to keep up with Airbnb's ever changing mood. To answer your question, if that means my calendar being blocked before and after every booking then no thanks. 

[Maia29]

I've had an increase of bookings, but I also live in a major hub city in my state and lots of people come here for hospital visits and surgeries. My place is also an entirely private apartment with a private entryway, which guests have said that they chose my place just for that reason.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

It's all so easy to want to believe the PR spin, and if there's ever a company who can do PR Spin, then Airbnb are the experts.  The 25% payment to qualifying hosts being a shining example! The world is full of contradictory information, PR spin is one, Reported facts (?) are another. So here are some reported facts from Forbes... The 'Huge Comeback' is far from arriving, or when it does, it doesn't mean to say it will stay, guests might 'just change their mind' and find the secret corvid refund 'attest' button. Great result for Airbnb in that instance as they keep all the money. Not so great for Hosts as they lose out completely on income:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lealane/2020/06/09/how-bad-are-covid-19-pandemic-effects-on-airbnb-guests-hosts/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lealane/2020/06/09/how-bad-are-covid-19-pandemic-effects-on-airbnb-gues...

IPX 1031 recently surveyed part-time and full-time Airbnb hosts as well as guests who have used the platform. Here's a summary of the current situation:

• 47% of hosts don't feel safe renting to guests while 70% of guests are fearful to stay at an Airbnb. 
• 64% of guests either have cancelled or plan to cancel an Airbnb booking since the pandemic started. 
• Airbnb hosts expect a 44% decrease in revenue June-August. Hosts have dropped their daily rates as much as $90 on average. 
• 45% of hosts won't be able to sustain operating costs if the pandemic lasts another 6 months (16% have already missed or delayed a mortgage payment on one or more of their properties). 
• On average, hosts have lost $4,036 since Covid-19 began to spread in the US. 

Although these are USA financials, and IPX1031 are tax specialists, their information needs to be accurate and we can identify similar traits here in the UK. Maybe you USA hosts can see the same?