Expand your strategy – List on Airbnb now and generate more bookings

Update on October 6th – Airbnb guide for hosts

We have developed a full guide about hosting on Airbnb. In this Airbnb guide for hosts you will find all reasons you should list your accommodation on Airbnb.

Update on June 4th – Airbnb is introducing 100+ changes

Airbnb is making some key updates to the platform. From a new hosting homepage to a faster inbox, Airbnb claims they are introducing about 100+ changes. Watch the official announcement here:

ORIGINAL ARTICLE BELOW:

Let’s start by admitting the last few months haven’t always been easy. Due to COVID, many vacation rental owners had a hard time maintaining their occupancy rates. With this said, now is the perfect time to expand your strategy and make yourself independent of specific portals.

1. Add your accommodation on the portals with the largest international reach.
2. Optimise your own website.

Booking portals where you should have your accommodations listed:

1. Airbnb
2. Booking.com
3. Expedia
4. VRBO

Many of you already have accommodations listed in the above mentioned portals, but our data shows that almost 40% of all our connected units are not listed on Airbnb. And almost 65% of all connected accommodations are not listed on all those core booking portals.

Our data clearly shows that combining all booking portals together with your own website, is the silver bullet strategy to maximise occupancy rates. In certain circumstances there are other more relevant portals, but in our opinion these 4 portals are indispensable for any vacation rental owner. Get started and list your accommodation. Preferably now, so you can attract guests looking for accommodations this summer.

We start today by looking at Airbnb, how to list your accommodation and how easily is connect to with Smoobu.

By the way, if you want to generate direct bookings first and “activate” Airbnb later, you can also automate this through Smoobu.

What is Airbnb?

Airbnb is an online accommodation and rental booking portal founded in 2008 in Silicon Valley, California. Both private and commercial hosts rent out their “home” or part of it, under the mediation of the company. According to the company, since its founding in 2008 until April 2020, more than 500 million stays have been booked through Airbnb.

Airbnb now manages more than 5.6 million accommodations in over 220 countries and within 100,000 cities. In contrast to Booking.com or Expedia, Airbnb is a provider with a clear focus on the sharing economy within the vacation rental market. Hotels can only be found in very few cases.

How do I advertise on Airbnb?

You can advertise directly on Airbnb’s website at https://www.airbnb.com/host/homes

Ultimately, all you need to do is upload your pictures and descriptive texts. You can then upload your prices, restrictions etc. directly from Smoobu. With Smoobu you can also easily transfer your prices from Booking.com or VRBO to Airbnb at the push of a button. You can also get more tips from Airbnb, in the webinar below.

How much does it cost to advertise on Airbnb?

The insertion on Airbnb is free of charge, so you don’t have any risks. Airbnb usually charges a commission of 15% of the total price. Since Airbnb does not charge any fees for payment processing, it is slightly cheaper than Booking.com.

We generally recommend adding these fees to your desired net revenue. At Smoobu, we automate this process centrally for you with our mark-up logic for rates synchronisation, so you always have full transparency of your earnings. With Smoobu you always work with the Host Fee Model. Read more here.

How do I connect Airbnb with Smoobu?

Connecting to Smoobu is easy and you can add an unlimited number of Airbnb accounts to your Smoobu account. Once your listings are “uploaded” to Airbnb, you can map them in you Smoobu account.

Here are the full instructions and all the tricks you can use to benefit from connection Airbnb with Smoobu.

Get started with Airbnb now and generate more bookings