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Very few places in the world don’t have a slow period - for us it’s the summer months. So during those times it’s important for hosts to know why guests would want to go to the area at those times. Are there any special events, conferences or festivals? Visitors’ bureaus often arrange events for off peak periods.
Are there any large businesses with people coming for work reasons? Or people coming to work in hospitals temporarily or lecture at local universities? What about theatre people who will be in town for a show that’s playing in the area for a few weeks? There should still be plenty of reasons for people to need short term accommodation in your area. Once you know why people will be coming to the area, then you can target them.
Great thought thank you… But now the real question is … once you’ve uncovered this group of people how does one target them. Please expand on your answer. I am sure it will be helpful for all. Best Aeriol
@aeriol To be honest, @jaquo has posted about this very topic numerous times in the short time that I have been a member of this forum. If you click on her name, and make the ACTIVITY tab active, you will be able to find her words of wisdom in quite a few threads.
Do you mind if I ask what you are charging in Pickering. I have checked all the listings nearby and i seem to be $10.-30. less than most of the others. In fact there is only one in my similar price range. I have also added breakfast and free parking to my listing… which is a big deal in T.O. not in Pickering. So I am just wondering how low one has to go. There is a point where it is not worth the extra work and loss of privacy. So curious what amount you had to go to in order to get those reservations.
I am in Toronto, and my listing has been dead since October. For me the reason is that it stopped showing in search. Have you checked to see if yours is discoverable? But don’t do it when you are logged in, then it will surely show. Try when logged out and ask friends to try to find you
I never check because honestly, is there anything I could do about it? Yes, I could spend hours on the phone to Airbnb and the chances are that the response would be ‘we’ll look into it for you’ and then nothing would happen. If ever I need to get more bookings than Airbnb are providing then I promote the listing on social media.
Personally, I haven’t been able to resolve it for over a month now, the entire experience has been drastic.
But I suggested you check if your listing appears on search just to rule out this reason, and if everything is fine with the search, then you probably can try other things to get more reservations. And also I am curious if they are not doing it for other Toronto listings.
There are so many listings these days that it’s almost impossible to come up at the top of the SERP unless guests have searched for very exact criteria. This is especially the case if new hosts in your area are starting out and getting the new host boost.
I think that Airbnb is a fantastic service but to ensure that you’re fully booked, you have to take matters into your own hands and be proactive about promoting your listing.
Airbnb’s search tries to match guests with hosts (not always successfully admittedly) so it’s always going to be touch and go. As I said, I think Airbnb is fabulous but when we signed up, they never promised us a good position in their searches. In fact, they never promised that we’d be there at all.
I am not talking about good positions, nor about being fully booked, you misunderstood me. I am talking about the listing not showing up in search completely, neither on the 1st page not on the last and nowhere in between. It becomes non-existent.
I have been on AirBnB since 2012 and shared your opinion about its fabulousity, but then it was changed after my listing disappeared from search and I received no assistance whatsoever, now AirBnB is useless for me. But that’s not the point of the discussion, what I was trying to say that you could check if that’s the case with you, too. And if it is, then unfortunately you can do nothing, other then finding your guests outside of the AirBnB
However, I stick by my comments. If your listing has had no activity since October, it’s hardly surprising that it’s not showing. (Sorry but true). Remember that the Airbnb search system is a computer program and therefore pretty simple.
With no activity for so many months the program ‘assumes’ that you are not an active host. Imagine that you were in charge of what shows up in searches - you’d show listings that were busy and active rather than one that had had no activity for months.
I completely agree with you that you should show in searches somewhere - if even on the last page - but I do believe that you should try to get some activity on your listing yourself. That might be the best way to resolve your situation.
There was no activity, because it was not showing in search. That is the reason of no activity and not the other way around as you are suggesting.
It stopped showing in search for some reason during an active reservation, it has nothing to do with being inactive. But even if it were the case, how can I possibly get some activity on it if doesn’t show up and guests do not see it?
At the risk of oversimplifying, I honestly do believe most drastic slowdowns are seasonal. How many seasons have you hosted? In my seven years on Air, I notice the exact pattern over and over. Dead, totally dead, starting June 1 here in Hawaii. Maybe a few reservations sprinkled into the summer. Mostly two or three nighters. Sometimes a pick up in the fall, sometimes not. And then I am slammed in the winter with back to back bookings through April.
By promoting your listing yourself to get guests. I’m sure that there are some hosts who are 100% back-to-back booked thanks only to being listed on Airbnb. But I’m not one of them. At the moment I’m booked until the end of April but have nothing for May. So in the middle of next month I’ll start promoting and encouraging May bookings.
with respect to Toronto, when I do search for the dates my listing is available, e.g. February and March, I get this message that only say 6% of the listings is left for the dates and suggestions to book asap as the demand is high. There would be 2 pages of results for some criteria and my listing will not be there, but only some less desirable, like basements outside of Toronto and such.
Do you think such messages are not representative of actual demand?
I have never had problems with mine, it was very popular.
How exactly do you promote if you don’t mind sharing?
But I am still not sure about advertising outside of AirBnB as I only accept guests with reviews, it gives me security and bringing random guests from other sources somehow doesn’t sit right with me
I’m the same, I only use Airbnb these days. I promote the rental primarily though my website and social media. For example, on the dreaded Facebook, you could join local groups. Send a link to your listing with a message such as:
Do you have friends, family or clients coming into our area? We offer fantastic accommodation and a friendly host who is happy to help you live like a local.
Then add a link to your listing. It takes two minutes but it works. You can do the same on Google +, Twitter, Flipboard etc. Quick and easy.
I don’t like to post too many links to my website because I am here to help and to learn - not promote my site. But you might get a few additional ideas here:
Again, excuse the simple question, but isn’t Toronto freezing in the winter? Are you hosting mostly out of towners? If given the choice most visitors will want to come when they can at least walk around for ten minutes without getting so cold they have to duck in somewhere. Now my sons and I are nuts, we like to travel to the cold and snow, but that’s because we live year round in Hawaii and crave the change. When summer comes here and it is nice elsewhere no one comes to Hawaii Island. Makes sense, and I don’t blame them. I would leave too if I could!
You may be overthinking this. Your problem is seasonal. Unless you cater to some other type of local customer, such as a business one.
Just wait it out! That is what I do when summer comes!
