How to Increase Your Airbnb Occupancy Rate

Essential tips to soar Airbnb occupancy rates

The Airbnb Occupancy rate refers to the ratio of the number of nights your Airbnb rental was reserved to the total number of nights the listing was available for rent. People who are Airbnb hosts or those who have worked with Airbnb for a while know the significance of this ratio. They understand that the occupancy rate is closely related to your revenue. Thus, maintaining a higher occupancy rate is crucial as it means more earnings at a particular time.

However, sustaining a high occupancy ratio is not as easy as it may seem on the surface. Maximizing your Airbnb occupancy rate requires high-level planning and strategizing. The hosts need to pay attention to every little detail and ensure the best customer services to make guests feel welcome. They need to oversee everything from the listing to amenities to rental cleaning and maintenance to ensure that the guests feel comfortable. Only when all the details are perfected, and everything is in order can one hope to uphold a high Airbnb occupancy rate.

So, today, to back the hosts in boosting their occupancy rate, we have decided to discuss some tips that can help them achieve this goal. Here we go!

Essential tips to soar Airbnb occupancy rates

For sustaining a high occupancy rate, attracting more guests to book with you is of critical importance. Here is how you can ensure this.

1. Consider the location before investing

If you are about to start your rental business, before purchasing a property, make sure to consider its location from all aspects. Real estate investing needs a proactive approach, and researching all your options before finalizing a place will help you make the right decision.

Before investing, the rule of the thumb is to select the area that receives the highest demand among travelers. A host should also avoid choosing a location that receives seasonal guests because that would only generate income for a specific period. Other things that you can check before purchasing a property are the stay restrictions as in the maximum number of days an Airbnb guest might stay in a short term rental and the local law in order to comply with all the regulations.

More tips how buying a property for Airbnb read in this article.

2. Work on your pricing strategy

Your pricing strategy is of crucial importance, especially when we are discussing attracting more customers to your rental. If you maintain competitive pricing and ensure that your rates do not seem too high compared to other rentals, it will help you to get more customers. Also, while finalizing your pricing strategy, maintaining a balance between competitive pricing and expenses is a must. Hence, when deciding your rental rates, consider your costs to see that your rental business does not fare in a loss.

On top of this, updating your rental prices continuously to reflect the increase and decrease in demand can also increase your income. Doing so will also push your listing up in the Airbnb search results. This action will increase your visibility, which in turn will invite more guests to your property.

3. Update your listing regularly

Another way to attract more guests is by keeping your listing updated. So, if your listing displays any outdated information, then you should remove or replace it immediately. Any misleading information, outdated photos, or typos should be done away with, and only accurate and precise information should be made available at your page. Also, if you make any new purchases or improvements at your property, then your listing should reflect the same.

Another important thing about Airbnb listing is that you should do is to tweak your listings according to the season. So, for example, if it is the season of spring and your garden is in full bloom with new flowers and leaves sprouting everywhere, then you should see that your listing showcases this present mood in its pictures. Doing so will make your listing stand out, enthralling the customers, and catching their immediate attention.

4. Use instant book feature

The Airbnb platform gives high priority to the satisfaction of its customers. So, if your listing ensures that everything is in accordance with the guests’ preference and ease, this will affect your Airbnb occupancy rate positively. Now, one way of assuring customer’s comfort is by using Airbnb Instant booking, a feature that makes it simple for the guests to make reservations with you. This feature fast tracks the booking process and cuts-out the long wait. Using it aids hosts in kicking up the Airbnb Occupancy Rate and in improving their Airbnb ranking.

However, if you are not sure about enabling this feature because then consider using the special requirement option. Turning on this option will only allow those guests to book with you who meet your requirements. This way, the Airbnb platform will ask the guests to submit their government-issued IDs before confirming reservations. Doing so will ensure your safety.

5. Highlight your best amenities

If you want to appeal to more people to book their stay with you, then you need to make your rental more comfortable. Now for doing so, you are required to offer your guests the best services and amenities. Doing so is recommended because if your place is equipped with the desired appliances and amenities, the guests will feel more enthusiastic about giving you a chance. For this, first of all, start by identifying your target customers and then, in the next step, analyze their needs and expectations. Once you have this figured out, you would know what more to add to your property.

After getting the right amenities, the next step is to put a spotlight on them so that the potential guests come to know about what you are offering. For this, please update your listing’s description and provide details about your new facilities. Next, get your camera and click some fascinating pictures of your place’s latest additions and post them on your listing. Doing so will support you in soaring your Airbnb occupancy rate.

6. Be quick with your replies

In the online era, when we make most of our purchases online, the importance of aptly replying to the customer’s queries cannot be stressed enough. In the present trend, before ordering anything, people like to establish contact with the seller to ensure that the seller is genuine and get answers to any query they might have regarding the product. A similar trend is followed in the hospitality industry as well. Before making any bookings, the Airbnb guests want their questions answered, and thus, giving them quick and apt replies is critical. In the Airbnb business, sending prompt responses can mean the distance between gaining or losing a booking.

But being prompt with the replies is easier said than done because we cannot expect a host to check their inbox every minute, especially if they are managing more than one rental. Thus, using Hosty’s Centralized Airbnb Central Inbox for this purpose is recommended. With this feature, the user will get the option to control all their rental business communications from one central location. This action can help them in saving time and increasing efficiency.

7. How about a seasonal do-over?

For increasing the Airbnb Occupancy Rate, a host needs to catch the potential guest’s attention. But how can someone do that? Well, one way of managing this is by introducing some seasonal tweaks to your rental. Doing so will brighten up your space, give it a fresh look, and help it stand out.

But wouldn’t a seasonal do-over mean cutting the profits? Well, the simple answer is no, it wouldn’t. There are two reasons for this. One is that when you introduce seasonal tweaks at your place, your increase in revenue because of the added number of guests will easily exceed your little makeover expenses, which will prevent any loss. And secondly, when suggesting a seasonal do-over, we don’t mean making significant changes to your property. Instead, we recommend making small tweaks like changing your linens to suit the mood or purchasing new dinnerware for the table, etc. Thus, because of these causes, the host won’t incur any loss.

8. Encourage guests to leave positive reviews

As we have already established, Airbnb gives utmost priority to customer’s satisfaction. Therefore, encouraging your guests to leave you positive reviews can have two-fold benefits. Having positive feedback can motivate other potential customers to book with you. It can also increase your Airbnb ranking, which, in turn, can increase your visibility.

However, it must be noted that the responsibility to encourage the guests to leave positive feedback falls upon the hosts. It is the guests who will have to take the first step. Therefore, as soon as the guest checks-out, a host needs to make sure to leave him a positive review. As soon as you do that, the Airbnb platform will automatically ping them to notify that the host has left them a review, and so they should do the same. Thus, leaving feedback can prompt guests to write positive feedback. Turn to Hosty’s Review Management tool that will allow you to easily automate this process and encourage your guests to leave reviews for your property.

9. Revamp your rental marketing strategy

If you wish to maximize your Airbnb Occupancy rate, you will need to upgrade your marketing strategy. Working on your marketing strategy will promote your property. When people will come to know about your property’s existence, it will automatically mean more bookings. So, in order to advertise your property, here are some useful tips that you will appreciate:

Create an Instagram page and find some traveling influencers to work with. Doing so will help you in gaining more exposure;
Set up a Facebook page for your rental business and use it to share information about your property. Remember to upload regular posts there;
Consider partnering with useful local businesses in your area. If you offer special discounts to people who come to know about your property through these local businesses, it will motivate people to book with you promptly;
Register your rental at other short-term rental pages too. This action will bring you more business;
Step-up your emailing strategy. Write newsletters and promote your special offers through emails.

10. Become an Airbnb Superhost

Gaining the tag of a super host is really awesome as it won’t only increase your Airbnb ranking, but it will also increase your Airbnb occupancy rate. It is so because achieving the tag of a super host gives you credibility. It makes you look more genuine in the eyes of the guests and hence promotes more bookings. In order to become a super host, these are the things that you need to do:

You need to maintain a response rate of 90%;
Your cancellation rate must be below 1%;
It would help if you sustained an overall 4.8% rating;
You need to complete three reservations or ten trips with a total of 100 nights.

If you fulfill all these conditions, Airbnb will reward you with the title of Superhost.

11. Plan ahead for the peak season

Your peak season means the time when your property sees most guests. This time can differ for different rentals. For example, if you have a property located in a slightly rural setting that targets couples, your peak time may mean the month of February. However, if your target customer base is family people, you may likely see the most rush during the vacation times.

That said, what is important here to note down is the fact that during the peak season, things can quickly turn chaotic with so many people coming and leaving. Thus, the key here is to prepare in advance. Doing so will decrease your stress when the time comes as you will feel more prepared to deal with the circumstances then.

Conclusion

Running a successful Airbnb rental business requires a high occupancy rate. If you have your place rented for most nights, this will directly affect your revenues and increase your profits. If you wish to run your business in the long-term, start tinkering with new ideas and strategies to maximize your Airbnb occupancy rates.

All the best!

Explore Hidden Secrets to Airbnb Off-Season Success: Tips That Work Wonders.