Any Statistic Nerds Out There?

[Suntory]

Since we started hosting, I am running this ever-growing Excel sheet which calculates all kind of statistics. One of the most important pieces of data I am collecting and then analyzing is the amount of days before check in in relation to the amount of days for the booking. There is a correlation, of course, and that is the longer the stay the more in advance the booking is made. Here are the stats:

2 day bookings Average 5.9 and Median 3 days in advance of stay
3-6 night bookings Average 14 and Median 15 days in advance of stay
7-20 night booking Average 17 and Median 18 days in advance of stay
21+ night booking Average 51 and Median 36.5 days in advance of stay

So my question is this: is anyone on this forum nuts enough to collect this data as well or am I alone in this endeavour?

[Brian_R170]

I actually did this about a month ago to see if there might be any advantage to modifying the minimum length of stay based on how far in advance the booking was. What I found was unfortunately not that promising.

I also have a spreadsheet, but the data set is small (only around 50 bookings) over 15 months.

Edit to add that I saw you responded to that thread :

Minimum Stay Length Strategy?

Thanks for getting back to me. On your last point: that’s not quite correct actually. If you click on “professional hosting tools” (forgot the exact name of the service) you effectively enable the setting of “rule sets” for your calendar. A statistics guy like yourself would really like these rule sets. I start giving discounts on 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 days stays - that’s in addition to 7, 14 and 28+ stays. I also start lowering my prices 8 days before available days that aren’t booked yet. It’s ver…

I was only looking at 2-day, 2-4 day, and 5+day bookings (my minimum is 2 days and maximum is 14 days). I’ll have to pull up the data, but I think my average advance booking is around 50 days.

[Brian_R170]

My average advance booking is indeed 50 days. 2-day stays were booked the least in advance at an average of 46 days. Stays of 5+ days were booked farthest in advance at 52 days.

So, what is your goal in collecting the data?

[Suntory]

My goal is to essentially hold out for long-ish stays for as long as I can. Only once I cannot secure long-ish stays, will I allow shorter stays. Something along those lines …

[Brian_R170]

Yeah, OK. I wish my data gave me a clear indication that setting minimum stay length based on advance notice would actually help. Maybe I just need to analyze it some more.

[Allison_H]

You’re not alone! My day job is data analytics, so I’ve poured over my Airbnb rating and pricing data for sure!

Logic could tell you this, even if the data hadn’t. 21-day bookings will never be last minute because they wouldn’t find a 21-day opening on short notice. (Also why new hosts will get long stay requests - they’re often the only hosts with open calendars on short notice.)

[Suntory]

You make a very valid point RE new hosts. You are absolutely right regarding 21 days will never be last minute however recently I have been quite surprised how late some of our longer stay guests leave it to book:

12 days stay booked 3 days in advance

OR

42 days stay booked 14 days in advance

We like long-term guests so I am wondering if it pays to hold out for these type of guests much longer than I thought. We used to open up our calendar to 2 nigh stays 18 days in advance however since these rather late long-term bookings, we switched that to 11 days in advance. We might even go more aggressive in the future.

[Brian_R170]

I think my problem is the number of guest in my listing. My max is 8 and my average almost 6. I think it’s just not practical to book for that many people on short notice unless it’s one immediate family

@Allison_H

(Also why new hosts will get long stay requests - they’re often the only hosts with open calendars on short notice.)

Yes, I saw that right off with my data. Got my longest stay ever (11 days) with only 20 days notice. But, when I excluded my first 3 months of bookings where the data is skewed, the statistics didn’t change much.

[Suntory]

Okay so the other day I got a 28 day booking (exactly the kind of booking we want because it means less hassle etc.), a whole 9 (NINE!!!) days in advance. I am gobsmacked that anyone who wants to stay for such a long time would only allow 9 days to book. The thing is, we were free and we can accommodate such late notice ONLY because it’s January and in our city there is not much happening then. Goes to show that there is always demand for this type of stay no matter what time of year. The guy is relocating and needs a base for the first month. Very happy with the booking.