i am a new host but no bookings yet

i am a new host but no bookings yet

hello, my name is nneka hosting from Lagos Nigeria, so i started hosting since may but no bookings yet, my apartment is nice and i kept my prices quite competitive, i dont know if there is more i should do

2 Replies 2
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Nneka11 

 

Unfortunately, you might have picked a bad time to start hosting. In early May, Airbnb introduced its 'Summer Release' and new categories, which has turned out to be a bit of a mess. Many, many hosts who previously received lots of bookings now have none. Have a search here on this forum and you will find many threads discussing this and explaining these problems.

 

Then again, it might have nothing at all to do with that. Have you looked at your competition? I am guessing you have because you mentioned being competitively priced, but have a look at their calendars. You won't be able to tell whether a host has blocked dates or they are booked, but if a lot of them have empty calendars, i.e. lots of dates available, that will tell you that it's a wider problem, i.e. not just to do with your listing.

Gillian166
Level 10
Hay Valley, Australia

hi, and welcome. I wish you all the best. 


I guess the first question is: who is your target market? locals or internationals?  without knowing that it's hard for us to help you out. So, from my "international tourist" point of view: 
here comes the hard part:
1) your photos are not professional. many are over exposed, white balance is off, some are crooked. they are not taken by the same person, and some are probably taken off the buildings marketing page? the quality is too low.  (I'm actually a photographer so i'm being picky here, but even so, your photos need help)
2) If this is "luxury" is nigeria, then keep that word, but it's not luxurious in a global way. I recommend using words like: stylish, modern, clean, comfortable, sleek, new
3) put captions on your photos, all the words in your listing matter, even the photo captions

"The Zen Luxury Apartments is an experience guaranteed to leave you breathless with longing."

there's a saying in business: "underpromise, overdeliver". You are not doing this.  

your listing in confusing, 3 bedrooms, 1 bed? 

also, you are more expensive that my cottage in a famous wine region of Australia (and we have a dishwasher!). are you sure your pricing is right? I looked at your region, all the "new" listings in your region have that high price, but all the others with reviews are lower. most of the apartments look the same (with varying adjectives of "boho, retro, vintage, stylish" none of which actually are those things). 

sometimes you need to drop your price to find your market. and then slowly improve your listing and raise the price.