No bookings since Jan 2023

[Mohammed252]

Up until Dec 2022 I used to be about 70% booked. Since the start of January 2023 I am not seeing any bookings. Does anybody what has happened?

[Fred13]

Guests come and are on Facebook every evening showing their friends so  they book and that has accounted for about 25% of guests we are getting this year; another 25% are repeats (parents now bring the friends/family/kids) and the steady media exposure (certainly includes Airbnb) accounting for  the rest.

However, we also experienced a spooky silence in September/October when normally that is when the bookings pour for the next year.

[Jessica134]

Being a family that lost people we loved to covid death before the vaccine was available including a very dear friend dying of covid, I can say that saving lives is never a bad choice.   Humans are not replaceable businesses is. 

That being said, has nothing to do with covid.

I see so many other listings booked solid with competitive pricing. Other platforms are doing great, travel is up, especially business travel. The Airbnb platform has changed its focus and algorithm to Destination travel. This killed many good listings. There are many tech issues since the app made all the upgrades and added new features in November / December but the company will not address or admit issues. I have had an error message every time I send a message for months.

[Pat271]

@Fred13  Spoken like someone with a strong following and a unique property. Oh wow, I was right, you have exactly that! 🙂

I have very little repeat business, no blog or other “internet influencer” cred, and a typical, traditional beach vacation rental in the typical, traditional, non-unique location where vacationers have regularly been visiting for decades. I was and continue to be booked solid. The difference is that this locale has a very high financial barrier to entry, and is legally capped in terms of # of short term rentals allowed.

I think the primary reason for low occupancy is influenced more by the market conditions of individual locales, i.e. supply/demand, saturation, etc. If a locale has either high saturation or is visited much less often than it was in the past, then I agree that it behooves one to do something to make onesself stand out to those who do happen to wander by. More intense marketing could be tried, or somehow converting the property into one with a more interesting theme, but it will still be difficult to be successful if there  is something wrong with the primary supply/demand picture.

Not everyone has their own island. 🙂

[Fred13]

Aye @Pat271 . The point is, do everything in your power to even be better, advertise in a new way or with a different angle, think of features to improve your offering to compete more effectively against the competition.  Beats doing nothing to change a supposedly 'inevitable' outcome.

I learned something long ago in business, when you find yourself even thinking you are loosing your share,  double down through thought and action.  Talking about the phenomenon of all-of-a-sudden market saturation, this year we have 13 new island competitors.

[Kristy216]

Belize is probably quiet a bit different then rural NC. Yes this country is in economic turmoil at this time. Bookings were not a problem until December. With no bookings there is still overhead being paid out. This cabin is unique but not extraordinary! Is simple with lots of added amenities! We were completely booked, except 1 or 2 days, until the last quarter of the year. Now zero. The problem is what changed. Something did somewhere. It has been marketed in several different ways on social media platforms. This problem is not about listings in the islands that can afford the best of everything for those who can afford that luxury. It’s about a loss of income in a small rural country area with mostly middle class blue collar folks. The cabin is a studio with a front porch that hangs over the creek. 2,000-3,000 monthly earnings at 99 -150 per night. Yes other larger mountain cabins that sleep 15, near ski slopes, indoor pools and hot tubs are still renting. I’m sure the properties are managed by professionals. We are not and never will be in comparison or competition with them. We are not alone in this. Bookings are not down but gone in our area. Help and advice is appreciated but with an understanding that not all Airbnb properties are equal. Some host have limitations financially. The sudden halt is the concern and Airbnb has no answers or comments. Only host helping host! 

[Fred13]

Believe it or not we didn't see a booking (or inquiry) for a month, only a few in 3 months, so something was amiss. So we plunge into an upgrade and wrote to all the old guests and send them pictures of all the new stuff, held the old price and dozens re-booked. Saved the year. The principles are the same no matter what you have: think of and in new ways and do as best you can. What else is there to do when nothing else is happening?

[Kristy216]

You are right! It is basically the same. I do appreciate your advice and I am gonna do everything I can to boost our listing using your information! Thank you very much for your insight. Like I said it’s host helping host. Sometimes that’s better than help from Airbnb! Thank you and I wish use all luck! Also if you ever wanna fly over and want to stay in a small, private cabin on a creek in rural NC, just let me know. We all need change sometimes. But if I was on an island I don’t think I would ever wanna leave that kind of paradise! Thank you again!😊

[Kristy216]

I am a fairly new co-host. I manage one listing but this seems like a widespread issue! Our calendar looks like the Super host rating is given as a pity boost! Considering eggs are almost 7 to $8 a dozen, I understand the struggle. People still want breaks and vacations but the economy is against the outlook on tomorrow. The drop in reservations have truly been a major concern to most host. The rural area where our rental is isn’t a high tourism destination. We do provide a secluded rustic cabin on a creek for a modest price for travelers. Also it is located just a few miles off a major interstate with no motels within approximately 15 miles. With this in mind, our normally booked cabin is empty. We have ran promotions, added perks, lowered prices and cleaning fees. But as a host you can only drop so far and maintain a rate that is not considered low price/ low quality expectations. What is the remedy to find that balance and be able to maintain Super host status. Right now the previous guest are not even leaving reviews. I have left reminder messages helping them to understand reviews are useful to host and very helpful to other guest.  I’m gonna stop babbling but any useful insight would be wonderful! Also as was mentioned in other post, searches are leaving out common accommodations. Small rustic cabins on creeks should be in a category for smaller, intimate, rural stays. Anyway I think I got off subject and added a few. I’m sorry but the empty calendar is still the main concern! Please advise….😊

[Jessica134]

Good luck the customer service will not problem solve they will only say all looks good..lol even when there is a obvious issue

[Kristy216]

I wonder if relisting completely would change search results and bookings. I do not want the primary host to lose status or reviews but just redoing everything within the listing from top to bottom and the property categories, would help optimize more search results, inquiries and bookings. Right now I know another platform that is looking alot more promising than air bnb. If they don’t care about the issue then I don’t care about service fees. There are so many listings on their site that evidently revenue is still good. Making no difference if a small number of host leave this platform. In comparison there drop in rentals isn’t enough of a problem for change. Only when profit loss hits their pockets will any of this matter. You do not see replies from Airbnb in many of these post. Host are important but not important enough to address the concerns of hosts that provide a small margin of sustainability within the companies financial gains. Possibly the reason for the algorithm change. To promote what’s most profitable for them not for  host as a whole. If you choose staying in a luxury cave in the Rockies opposed to renting a room in a shared home that shares the same view. In order to compete,  the lesser has smaller fees and therefore lower income. The cave is higher and but sought after. Possibly taking the shared home 4 times reservations to equal one reservation in the cave. Making the cave a higher algorithmic find for company earnings. It’s just business. Anyway time to start making our listings our priority and not expect Airbnb to fix things for us. 

[James2743]

For some reason Airbnb bookings have dropped off a cliff this year.

Last year 70% of my bookings came through Airbnb. This year less than 10%.

Basically since the summer update.

[Trude0]

@James2743 : Are you only seing a decline in Airbnb bookings, but not in total bookings? Are you comparing actual figures for last year, and bookings for this whole upcoming year? Could it be that Airbnb guests book with shorter notice, so that the share of Airbnb will increase when you get closer to a specific month? 

I’m only on Airbnb, so cannot comment on whether Airbnb might be losing market share in my area. And this time of year last year, I was not open for bookings. But it is rather quiet, I have hosted 1 stay in Jan, have 1 booking for mid-Feb and 1 for mid-March. I have not opened up spring and summer yet.

[James2743]

The whole market seems to be a lot slower this year, but where some channels are slow but active, Airbnb is slow but dead.

I have been a superhost since I first listed but this year i don't think I'll make it. Not through quality or reviews, but just that I'm not getting enough bookings through Airbnb to get the minimum numbers.

[Jessica134]

Not on other platforms

[Kristy216]

Same here