Lack of Reservations

[Captain-Ron1]

Compared to the last two months when we were nearly booked solid, our reservations are completely nonexistent for the months of May and June even though we have achieved Super Host status. This being our first-year hosting, is this normal for Florida? 

[Alicia753]

@Captain-Ron1 I think this downtrend of bookings is experienced by the majority of Hosts. To my understanding, the fluctuations of bookings can be influenced by several factors not just the seasonality but also the economic conditions and travel trends. To counteract these dips, consider adjusting your marketing strategies, optimizing your listing’s visibility, or offering special promotions to attract more guests, but still ensure your listing's expenses are covered. Hope this helps! 

[Lorina14]

Hi @Captain-Ron1,

I would go to the section that you compare similar listings in your area (on the app it is the calendar button on the bottom and click on a set of dates then it will give you the option to see similar listings, click on that then choose booked listings and view those and click on unbooked listings to see those). See what amenities they provide that you don’t, or what you have that makes your place special. Maybe update a photo or two and tweak your listing description. I think the algorithm likes when people are actively improving their listings.

You can also run specials to be more competitive, but do be aware specials stack with weekly or monthly discounts. 

You may want to search like a guest (not logged into your account or the app) for x room/x baths and see where you show up in the search (or if you do at all), take a look at the map of your area and see what is showing up (your price, who is near you, are they booked, etc).

You can also use AirDNA or Pricelabs or a similar program to run comps in the area of similar listings, their rates, their bookings, etc. as this helps to keep you competitive. They also know when there are shows or events in the area as you could charge more then. We had Taylor Swift come to our area (I didn’t know) so people were happy to get $120-130/night as most all places were up to $400/night! I wouldn’t have put it at that price but wow…It pays to pay attention to what is going on your area.

There are seasonal changes as in the winter in our area we had to drop our prices a bit with the specials to fill our space rather than have it sit empty. It depends on what matters to you, a lower price per night and occupancy and some reviews or higher price and potentially no occupancy.