A new trend has emerged: Guests are booking longer stays. Since Airbnb has gone public we now have access to their earning reports which hold a vast amount of data.
Last quarter, Airbnb reported that 25% of bookings were for 28 days or more. According to a Travel Weekly article written by Christina Jelski (who covered this in great detail), this is an 11% increase from 2019. That is why it’s important to remember that if your guests are staying longer, their expectations are going to be different. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky believes that, “[p]eople are discovering that they don’t have to be tethered to one location to live and work,” and that, “[t]hey are getting in cars and they’re traveling to small towns and rural communities, many of which don’t even have a hotel. People are traveling anytime, anywhere, and they’re staying longer.”
This is why right now – more than ever – it is imperative to choose quality. Sleeping on a bad mattress for two nights may not raise much concern, but sleeping on a bad mattress for one or two months is going to be untenable for a guest. When you invest in quality products, you save money and headaches in the long run. The longer your furniture, linens, and supplies last, the less of a hassle it is for you as a host and more money in your wallet. When you choose quality, your guests know the difference and you maximize your investment, and you’ll get better reviews and less guest messaging.
Choosing quality over price is not something that people do naturally. Yet, as a Host, delivering a quality experience for your guests is key to your continued success, especially in today’s market.
Don’t waste any time, lux out your units today! The Travel Weekly article also notes that Airbnb has bounced back faster than expected, “benefitting from a shift toward more flexible travel habits, fueled in part by the pandemic-era proliferation of remote work policies.” Airbnb is also actively recruiting hosts, meaning it is important to stand out with quality products. I will say, the most exciting part for hosts is that Chesky plans on redirecting users toward markets with more available inventory. This means bookings are only going to increase, therefore, don’t waste any time – get to updating!
That’s one of the reasons why we created HostGPO: for short term rental hosts’ to pool our collective buying power and get the best available deals – for the highest quality products – in the industry.
