Rise Above the Airbnb Bust: Tips to Keep Your Bookings Rolling in 2023

Ep #43 - Rise Above the Airbnb Bust Tips to Keep Your Bookings Rolling in 2023

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Direct Booking Success podcast. I'm your host, Jen Boyles, and I am delighted to have you here with me today. Let's get right into it, shall we AirBnB bust? This is affecting us all this year. Even if you are a hundred percent book direct, this Airbnb bus will affect your bookings.

It actually already is affecting your booking. I was reading someone's post the other day on social media that was saying that the Airbnb bust is not a real thing, that it is only being used to sell stuff and that the market is just correcting itself after the past few years back to 2019.

I don't believe it. Really, that is not what's going on in my opinion. Last year, 2022 was more of a course correction. This year, 2023, we are dealing with the aftermath from the effect the pandemic had on the hospitality industry. You could almost think of 2020 and 2021 as the gold rush era for short term rentals.

I'm serious. Let's look at these two situations. And see if you agree. The Klondike Gold Rush saw a migration of over a hundred thousand prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon between 1896 and 1899. Now, for those that geography isn't your strong point, the Yukon is Northwest Canada Near. This was a stampede of people descending on this very remote part of the world to accommodate all of these prospectors.

BoomTown sprang up along all the roots. Take Dawson City before the Gold Rush. It had a population of 500 in 1896. It grew to 30,000 people by the end of the summer of 1898. That's less than two years. No wonder they were called boom towns. How did all these people find out about the gold that was first discovered in the summer of 1896? Why? It was the media, of course, the newspapers started encouraging everyone to head up north and get rich. So let's compare that situation with what happened in 2020. The pandemic hit the world shut down.

No one knew what was gonna happen next, and we were all trying to get through it. So that's not the same. But listen to this. When lockdowns and restrictions began to ease, none of us really knew what was going on or how safe we would be as we'd been cooped up in our homes for too long. We needed to get out, but we wanted to be safe and have our own space to enter short-term rentals.

Even for those who had never stayed in one before. This was a perfect solution. More and more bookings came, and most places were booked solid. Plus, with the guidance that you shouldn't have back to back guests with all the cleaning needing. There just wasn't enough places for all the guests.

The supply of short-term rentals couldn't meet the demand needed. The media saw what was happening and started reporting on this boom in short-term stays that there just wasn't enough places and they were reporting on people who just started to rent out properties that were booked up right away.

It was the modern day get rich message. So people came in their droves to open up their short-term rentals without any thought of the future or what is needed to make a business out. 2021 was like living in one of those boom towns in the Yukon. In the first few years of the Gold Rush. Everyone was getting bookings.

Everyone was happy, everyone was making money. Now I'm generalising here, of course, but it really was a great year for the sector. So what happened in 2022? Kind of like what happened to the boomtowns of the Klondike Gold Rush. Once the prospectors finally made it to the Yukon, they found that it really wasn't a solution that they would be getting rich quick.

The Canadian authorities required each to bring a year's supply of food with them in order to prevent starvation, and they had to carry all of their own equipment, which weighed close to a ton. It was a long way to go. They had to deal with mountainous terrain and cold. So a lot didn't even make it there, but for those who did, they made it all the way to the Klondike.

Were met with boom towns with very high prices, sickness, gambling, booze, and not much gold. In fact, most left empty handed. Finally, the newspapers lost interest. There was actually gold found in Alaska. So many went there. The boom towns declined, and the populations fell. So let's skip ahead to 2022 here.

Hotels were opening back up. International travel was opening back up. Life was getting back to normal. However, there were still many jumping on to our short-term rental. Get-rich bandwagon. Booking started to fall, guests had more choice, which brings us to 2023. The gold Rush is over. There will be lots of people who have made some money and now the bookings have stopped.

They will move on to their next get rich quick scheme, and I really think this will be a lot of people that will move on. Managing short-term rental properties is not for the fainthearted. There is nothing passive about it, and it takes some work and those who can't or don't want to do it will leave.

And that's exactly what happened in 1899 in the Klondike. However, if you love your business, love hospitality, love what you do, then hold on. If you are working in and on your business, you will be fine. This year might be rocky. Booking patterns are definitely different than previous years, but hang in there.

So how can you avoid being like one of those boom towns that dried up after the gold? Here are three tips. Number one, diversify. Okay? Stop getting all your bookings from one platform, one online travel agency like Airbnb. Look at where else you can get bookings and use marketing to promote your own direct booking website.

Number two, make your property a destination. Give guests a reason to come to you and book with you. Don't be the place where they stop one night and move on. They can use a hotel for that. Look at what add-ons you can offer and what's happening in your local area. Number three, invest in the experience guests have with you.

Your guests will tell others about their stay, and you want them to talk about how amazing it was, how great your communication was, how great their accommodation was, how much they enjoyed their time. If you work on these three things, then your outcome will not be the same as the boomtowns of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Those who don't work on their business will go the same way, and there are guests out there. There are plenty of places that are seeing good bookings, repeat bookings, and welcoming new guests. 2023 is the year where you need to roll up your sleeves and get to work, and I know you can do it.