Your Airbnb occupancy rate is the single most critical element in determining the success of your vacation rental company. As a host, you are well aware that the occupancy rate is directly related to the earning potential of your rental property. That is, the greater the occupancy rate, the more revenue you might earn over a certain period.
Increasing your Airbnb occupancy rate, on the other hand, is easier said than done. We’ve compiled a list of the top 11 rental management methods and approaches to aid you in increasing your occupancy rate. Continue reading to see what actions you should take to increase your Airbnb occupancy rate and reservations.
1. Determine an Appropriate Price
Adhering to a well-thought-out pricing plan will also assist you in maintaining a year-round high Airbnb occupancy rate. Begin by studying your rivals and pricing your vacation rental house competitively.
Not only should your pricing be competitive, but it should also cover your costs to ensure that your firm remains profitable. Savvy hosts recommend altering rates regularly. Market conditions are always shifting. Thus, why should your price be constant?
Additionally, by adjusting your price to suit demand peaks and troughs, you may improve your revenue. If you consistently update your nightly prices, Airbnb will move your listing to the top of the search results. In this manner, you’ll boost the exposure of your listing, which will result in a higher occupancy rate.
2. Highlight Your Best Amenities
To maintain a steady flow of bookings, you should always seek to improve the client experience. Along with competitive pricing and effective communication, visitors enjoy high-quality facilities.
Identify and comprehend your intended visitors’ demands. If you understand their requirements and expectations, you may equip yourself with the greatest facilities.
To inform guests that you provide the facilities they want, improve your listing’s description. The next step is to update your listing with fresh professional images that showcase your facilities in the most attractive light possible. A picture, as the adage goes, is worth a thousand words. Therefore, by emphasizing your top features, you can entice more customers to register with you.
3. Respond Promptly to Your Guests
Being a responsive host is critical for increasing your reservation volume. Indeed, before making a reservation, visitors evaluate an average of eight places and enquire about five more. It’s unsurprising that hosts who respond swiftly get more bookings.
While this may seem to be a simple task, it is not always feasible to answer immediately after receiving a message from a prospective visitor. This is when automation is advantageous. By using vacation rental software such as IGMS, you may significantly cut response time and increase the response rate.
iGMS allows you to build and store themes, as well as arrange your communications into a unified inbox. Along with other automation tools and sophisticated capabilities, IGMS supports the sending of automatic messages based on predefined dates and times.
In this manner, you can always keep your visitors informed of critical information and directions.
4. Make use of Instant Book
If you haven’t already activated the Instant Book function for your listing, now is the moment.
Guests expect an easy and quick booking procedure. The simpler it is for visitors to reserve your house, the higher your Airbnb occupancy rate will be. Additionally, it might assist you in improving your Airbnb rating.
If you’re still worried about allowing Instant Book, Airbnb recommends activating extra booking conditions for guests. Thus, visitors will be asked to provide government-issued photo identification and favorable recommendations from previous hosts to reserve your property.
5. Increase the number of positive reviews
All year long, your visitors value excellent customer service. As a host, you understand how critical it is to meet and exceed guest expectations to get great feedback from your visitors. Positive evaluations, on the other hand, help you acquire more bookings, which results in a greater Airbnb occupancy rate.
Assure that your service is always consistent and polite. Provide prompt and comprehensive responses to any inquiries your visitors may have before or throughout their stay. By ensuring that each visitor has a smooth booking experience followed by a safe and happy stay, you may increase the number of 5-star ratings you get.
Finally, to increase your good review count, take the initiative and review your visitors after their checkout. Then, Airbnb will ask your visitors to leave you a rating in exchange. Additionally, a vacation rental system that has a review automation tool might assist you in increasing the number of reviews. For instance, IGMS vacation rental software includes review templates and enables users to write reviews directly via the system.
By using automation, you may improve numerous parts of your organization and reduce the time required for everyday operations. If you’re not sure where to begin, see our complete guide for the finest vacation rental company automation ideas.
6. Become a Superhost on Airbnb
Obtaining a Superhost badge may open up a whole new world of opportunities. Not only will this assist in improving your rating, but it will also assist in increasing your Airbnb occupancy rate.
To become a Superhost, you need to take the following steps:
- Make at least ten visits or three bookings totaling 100 nights;
- Maintain a response rate of at least 90%;
- Maintain a cancellation rate of 1% or below;
- Have a 4.8 overall rating.
Superhost listings get more prominence and seem more trustworthy in the eyes of tourists. If you strive continuously to improve your day-to-day operations, your efforts will not go ignored. Although achieving Superhost rank involves a little more time and effort on your part, it is well worth it in the long run.
7. Refresh Your Vacation Rental Marketing Plan
Without a strong marketing plan, achieving the best occupancy rate may be impossible. All of your other efforts may be useless if you do not advertise your rental. Nowadays, there are several methods to stimulate interest in your property and generate bookings. The ideal course of action is to use several promotional channels to get the broadest reach possible.
The following are some of the finest strategies to consider while advertising your property:
- Establish a Facebook business page for your property and publish relevant travel information with advertising postings about your accommodation.
- Create an Instagram account and collaborate with influencers to increase your business’s visibility.
- Form local alliances to give unique promotions and discounts to your visitors. Guests will enjoy the chance to benefit from unique deals and will be more likely to book with you.
- In addition to Airbnb, list your house on other holiday rental websites.
- Become an expert in email marketing. Maintain your Airbnb occupancy rate by creating compelling newsletters, promoting special deals, and contacting prior visitors.
These tactics will assist you in increasing awareness for your unique rental and ensuring a continuous flow of bookings throughout the year. In our ultimate marketing guide, you’ll learn more about advanced marketing methods for your organization.
Conclusion
To have a significant impact on your company, you should always seek out new techniques for increasing your Airbnb occupancy rate. Regardless of the season, maintaining occupancy on your property guarantees that you have a stable revenue to spend in the development of your company. Consider automating some tasks to free up your time to expand your firm. Lodgable vacation rental software may assist you in optimizing your operations and establishing a foundation for long-term success for your company.
