Major Uptick in Zero-Review Guests?

[Richard531]

Have you guys noticed a MAJOR uptick in zero-review guests over the last 1-2 months (August, 2021)?  Usually, guests with zero-reviews seem to represent ~25% of reservations.  More recently, it seems to have flipped and ~75% of guests making reservations requests have zero-reviews.  And a lot of those zero-review guests also have the always-curious accounts that have been in existence for years. . .  It’s all so strange. . .

I’m hoping that we are simply seeing an overall market share increase in people using the Airbnb platform to book travel.  It’s an AWESOME thing for hosts!  Do you agree?

All our listings are in Sothern California, but we cover 3 distinctly different markets in the region (Mountain/Ski Resort, Desert, Mountain/Remote).  All of those markets seem to be seeing this same zero-review major uptick.  What are you guys seeing?

[Jillian115]

@Richard531 Yes, I have noticed the change. I have mixed feelings. Obviously I want the bookings but with the new booking system allowing guests to bypass the house rules and just skip right through the system I feel less safe and have to work very hard to make sure guests are informed. I think the change is due to Covid. Less international travelers booking leaves spaces more open for new domestic travelers. Bookings tend to be more last minute as well. People are staying away from each other and prefer staying in a house over a hotel because of the pandemic. I'm actually hoping it will change back. I miss my international travelers. They were so easy compared to todays new and uninformed guests.  

[Jo719]

Ive also found that most bookings are from people new to air bnb, but just put this down to less international travel so people looking for domestic holidays, as @Jillian115 said. We seem to get bookings 4-5 weeks in advance, very few are last minute.

[Jillian115]

@Jo719 Just to clarify, my last minute bookings are actually due to the recent update to the search criteria. My listing no longer shows up if you search by my city. The only way to get to it is to zoom out on the map.  If enough listings are booked in our city and in the bordering my city then when searching by date my listing will then appear on the list. This recent update has been devastating for us.  We used to have no problem filling our calendar months out. Every day we had open in the summer was booked.  Now we are lucky to get most days. I have 6 open days this month.     

[Richard531]

@Jillian115  I wasn't aware that the booking system had changed (bypassing the house rules - that's horrific) or that search criteria had changed to have a listing show up/not show up in a certain market.  I hope that you figure out what's going on with that!  

Perhaps my questions doesn't resonate with many. . .  I'm telling you - the majority of my bookings are with zero-review people.  I'm not loving it, but it's seems to be working out OK for the past few months.  Just lots and lots of education along the way to keep everything where we need it to be.