Inviting previous guests back a year later by messaging them again in the chat feature

[Jimmi27]

I would like to start a process where about 9 months after a guest stay (essentially 3 months prior to the 1-year anniversary), I would like to send them a reminder invite that if they plan on returning to my city again this year, that we would love to have them book with us again.

Is this frowned upon? Does Airbnb take a specific stance on this strategy? I have read it might even be illegal to reach out to prior guests in some countries. For example, in the UK there is Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that while I know nothing about them, it makes it look like you can't reach out to people without consent. That might even apply to following up in a chat a year later.

I get it, there is marketing fatigue everywhere, but I really just want to send a friendly reminder to consider booking again if they enjoyed their time (especially if it was a 2-way 5-star review) . But maybe this kind of messaging is now dead in 2025+?

Many of us hosts often say in our private and public responses that they were such a good guest and they are welcome back anytime, but not being allowed to reach out within the Airbnb platform seems limiting. Worst case, what if I am flagged for breaking some law and get delisted, even as a Superhost!?

[Shelley159]

Hi @Jimmi27 

When I think about it from the guest point of view, I'm not sure how it would add value for me if a host contacted me to ask this? I would have my past booking with that host on my profile, so there's nothing stopping me from clicking it to check whether the same place is available if I wanted to book again.

I think some guests may be annoyed by the message and feel pressure to write a response, but let's see what others hosts say.

Maybe a more subtle alternative (that also gets around your concerns about legality) is to send a message after check-out that explains how to find the past booking on their profile if they want to book again?

[Jimmi27]

I understand your perspective. I was hoping there was a built in feature, where you could send a Special Offer, so it wasn't a lazy followup, but real money on the line, like here is an offer to book again but with a 20% Discount applied if you book during these dates, or during the next 30 days.

But yeah, if it's not built into the system, it will feel a tad predatory or spammy. Which I still agree is a missed opportunity, reconnecting people that enjoyed the stay and host that enjoyed the guests.

I'll do nothing for now and sit on it for a bit. But why would Airbnb not encourage this type of obvious business transaction follow-up?

Thanks for your input too, Shelly.

[Shelley159]

I've seen in this forum that there definitely are hosts who tell guests after their stay that there will be discount if they book again @Jimmi27 

If a repeat guest wants to book and you use Request to Book, you have an opportunity to enter a lower amount when the request comes through (on Instant Book, you'd have to "send money" after it's booked if you want to give a discount).

Hopefully one of the hosts who have a repeat-guest discount system in place can explain in more detail.

I know one problem is that a new request comes in a new, separate message thread, so it can be hard to know that it's a repeat guest.