OMG I finally got a booking!

[Huma0]

So, the Summer Release rolled out back in early May. Since then, my views have dived and I've barely gotten any enquiries, let alone booking requests, and I've had no bookings at all except for a couple from returning guests.

I have recently been in contact with CS about this. After a bit of back and forth, I was told that there was an engineering team working on fixing some of the glitches related to the Summer Release (this was vague, so I don't know which specific glitches they were referring to) but there was really nothing they could do in the meantime to help me. I am not knocking the CS Rep who, as it happens, was pretty decent compared to most I've dealt with in the last couple of years. It just wasn't within his control to do anything to help me.

Then, all of a sudden, I get an enquiry. No big deal, I hear you say, but it's the first one in a month and for a listing that used to be my most popular but that seemed to drop off the map completely after the Summer Release. Then, today, I got a booking request for that same room and, after a bit of back and forth, accepted it. That is literally the first booing in two months.

Maybe it's a complete coincidence, or maybe something has happened.

[Huma0]

@Mariann4 

Glad to hear that your views are starting to go up again. Mine are still very slowly creeping up, but only for one of my listings (the one that is in three categories and showing up quite high in some of the searches). 

You are right that Europeans are really travelling a lot this summer, so I'm not convinced by the arguments that the drop in views/bookings are to do with the economy or US election, rather than the Summer Release. It might be different elsewhere...

Congratulations on your trip to Paris! I also used to travel for work frequently before COVID (usually once or twice a month). I don't know if this trip is for work or pleasure, but I hope you have a great time!

[Mariann4]

Strictly pleasure! Highly needed 😊 @Huma0 Thank you 😊

[Huma0]

@Mariann4 

I don't know why some hosts keep saying that it's the economy, war in Ukraine, US election etc. and that people aren't travelling. It just doesn't make sense if you look at what is going on in the rest of the travel industry right now.

See this article from April (so just before the Summer Release rolled out) relating to travel figures in Europe: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2022/04/17/europe-travel-makes-a-comebackas-do-the-prices-an...

But it's not just Europe. Note the figure relating to US travellers:

"

• The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) reported that in March 2022, U.S. air travel to and from Europe increased by a staggering 862% over March 2021. Paris was the fifth largest hub to serve U.S. destinations after Cancun, London Heathrow, Toronto and Mexico City."

Perhaps some US hosts are seeing a dip in bookings because more people are travelling overseas this year than last, resulting in less domestic bookings, but I suspect that people are travelling more in general after the lifting of restrictions.

As for me, I have noticed in recent months that a large portion of my bookings have been from American guests which, since I started hosting primarily long term stays, used to be unusual. Of course, I am basing this on a tiny sample, but I really have noticed a very pronounced change in the demographic of my guests since December. 

I have had 12 bookings for 2022 so far from Airbnb and 7 of these have been from American guests. That has never happened before. For example, in 2021, 1 in 8 of my guests was American and that was in December. In 2020, it was 1 in 5, but that one American guest was already living in the UK, not travelling to it. So, from December 2021, I seem to be mostly hosting guests from the US. I was wondering what the hell was going on, but the figures above give me some clue, especially as London is showing as the second most popular destination on that list.

Combine the increased travel seen in other parts of the industry with the fact that my views were higher than normal and bookings going well (back to pre-pandemic levels) right up until the moment Airbnb launched the Summer Release, and crashed directly after, and it's not difficult to figure it out.

I don't for one moment think that bookings stopped in their tracks in early May due to the economy. Sure, the state of the economy isn't great, but it didn't suddenly crash on 6th May, or at least not that I am aware of. If it's the economy, how is it that lots of guests were looking/booking right up until that particular date?

[Mariann4]

I agree with you, @Huma0 . I hardly ever have Americans. This year I've had two groups. 

Here in Norway hotels report more than full houses and the prices are skyrocketing. There are no rental cars available leaving private people to rent their personal cars on various platforms. And one of our major airlines are on strike going into the fourth week soon. People just change airline and pay double, or triple, to get outta here. Domestic or abroad. 

My listing appear on the first or second page of my city if you search on an available date. And I'm not very well situated being in the suburbs of my city. So I'm up there. Yet, nothing...

Others report of normality. So I don't know. It's normal for me to have a lot of views and few bookings being a homeshare. But now there's neither.

I could understand that people are cautious staying in other people's homeshare due to the risk of exposure to Covid-19. But they still would have viewed the ad and then ruled it out...

🤷‍

[Huma0]

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@Mariann4 wrote:

I could understand that people are cautious staying in other people's homeshare due to the risk of exposure to Covid-19. But they still would have viewed the ad and then ruled it out...

🤷‍

---

Not as cautious as you'd assume. I turned a lot of guests away in 2021 because they were not being cautious enough. The vast majority of guests who got in touch last year hadn't even bothered to look up vaccination and quarantine restrictions in the UK and, given that most of them seemed to think they could then self isolate at my shared house (erm, no), I got the feeling that they were not actually planning to quarantine at all. People would also lie about it to get the room. 

This year, only one guest has bothered to ask about anything COVID related (should she wear a mask in the house). 

Anyway, you are right above the views. Likewise, it's normal for me to have a lot of views and few bookings. I've NEVER seen my views so low, not even at the start of the pandemic or during lock downs. One room went down to 0 views for the month!!!

[Mariann4]

@Huma0 We were in complete lock-down with no one allowed to enter the country. Even for saying their goodbyes or attending their own weddings. So I didn't get inquiries at all. Then we opened up during summer to try and help the tourist industry. I had a couple of foreigners, but not much. Restrictions were too heavy for them to enter. So I didn't even get my 10 stays last summer (2020 I had ONE guest on a motorcycle from London all season).

We tried to be cautious. Difficult in a homeshare, but we tried. I didn't clean the rooms the minute guests left. They were more careful about touching everywhere and asked for instructions on the dishwasher rather than leaving the unknown to me. Allthough I had one guest getting insulted when I didn't shake his hand upon arrival.

Now we live as though it's all over. I clean more. But I rely on three shots of vaccines and a good health. And the hand disinfection is still here. But if you are worried for your own health, a homeshare with shared bathroom and kitchen is not the place to stay...

[Huma0]

@Mariann4 

We also had that situation for a while here and there were many months where I didn't host any guests. Airbnb actually blocked the calendars for UK home shares early on in the pandemic.

However, because I host long term guests and it was actually legal here to rent to someone if they do not have a residence else where, just prior to that block, I had two guests for a short period. One was in between homes because her flat purchase had stalled due to COVID but she had already sold her previous home. Another didn't have a fixed abode.

Once the block was lifted, I had a couple of similar guests, i.e. a guy who had got divorced and hadn't yet found a new home and a girl relocating to London for work. It was not until the Autumn that I had one guest (a previous booking that had been postponed due to COVID) from Germany, coming here to do a course. All other bookings were from people based here in the UK. No holidaymakers or tourists at all.

If I didn't host long stays, for sure it would have been impossible. I also reduced my guest count and for many months was either here alone or had one long term housemate. 

Despite all of that, I did still get enquiries from guests from abroad. They were people that were hopeful that the restrictions would be lifted soon, but it didn't work out. People wanted to come here but couldn't. So, even with all that going on, there was still more interest than I am getting now since the Summer Release! 

Now, people can come here and they are. They are just not booking my listings!

[Mariann4]

Baaahh... 😒 (didn't want to give a thumb up for that one @Huma0 )

[Mariann4]

Yesterday I had two bookings and one inquiry in one day, @Huma0 . So much for having my own vacation 😂 I guess it's a glitch in the summer release. And that it will be weeks before the next one(s) 😂

[Huma0]

@Mariann4 

That's good news. Sadly, I haven't had the same experience. Complete silence since the booking that prompted me to create this thread. My views are still very low, despite my listings now being in three categories.

How was Paris, other than the Airbnb interruptions? I always found that as soon as I was on the way to the airport, the booking requests and enquiries would flood in. Maybe that's the trick!

[Mariann4]

Still in Paris, @Huma0 

Tour de France finale tomorrow. Complete coinsidence that we are here at that event, but now we have to go acting like the Norwegian vikings that we are and create a lot of noise while here watching 😅

Had a new request today. But still pulling teeth with toothpicks for the magic password. So I guess it ends up with a new decline. Guest already have low score on communication and cleanliness. So yeah...

I have not done anything to tweak my listing. Nothing but new pricing. But that was straight after the realease and before I new about it. But going abroad might absolutely be the keyword here! Maybe you should hit the tunnel and have some French ò-la-laaah to get back on track...? 

[Huma0]

@Mariann4 

Sounds like you are having fun! I would love a bit of French ò-la-laaah (sounds a bit rude when taken out of context).

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@Mariann4 wrote:

Had a new request today. But still pulling teeth with toothpicks for the magic password. So I guess it ends up with a new decline. Guest already have low score on communication and cleanliness. So yeah...

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That doesn't sound good. With the booking I got last week, it was also like pulling teeth to get the magic password, but at least the guest had only 5* reviews, and she got there in the end.

However, I did get a handful of enquiries just after the Summer Release from guests who didn't sound like a great fit and one booking request which was then withdrawn. The latter said it was because she got her dates wrong and would rebook but I never heard from her again. I suspect it was actually because I asked her to make sure she had read the full listing and house rules and then she realised the listing was not for her but did not want to admit it.

I really hope that the one booking I got turns out to be unproblematic. I had told myself to decline any request if I was not 100% confident about the guest, especially their communication skills, but it seems like beggars can't be choosers and the Summer Release has turned us into the former. I suspect that some other hosts, who are not as stringent in their vetting will be taking every terrible guest that comes along out of sheer desperation. 

[Mariann4]

The perception is in the eye (ear) of the beholder they say, @Huma0 😉😎

Best of luck still! My season is about to finish. We'll see where I end up by end of September. Only I just got news that 50Cent is going to hold a concert within walking distance from my home late autumn. Maybe I'll get some cool youngsters 😊

[Jamie206]

One day last week we had a couple bookings. It was very sudden, like a switch had been turned on, bookings came in for just that day. Then just as quickly turned back off. No bookings before or since. The situation is disturbing. 

I would encourage ALL hosts to bombard customer service and the feedback loop (just in case someone does actually read it)

[Huma0]

@Jamie206 

I also haven't had any further bookings or requests since that one last week. I am not expecting loads of bookings as I host long term and now, since that booking last week, only have availability from October. Still, I felt like something may have changed given that I suddenly got my first enquiry and then my first booking after weeks and weeks of nothing.

But, if you are hosting short stays and used to getting several bookings a week, yes, it is disturbing. Have you been keeping an eye on your views? Did you notice any recent change in those?