Since the start of 2017, the number of Airbnb bookings coming through SuperControl has more than doubled. It is one of the most recognised booking websites and it is continuing to grow.
The increasing popularity of booking websites like Airbnb, Booking.com and HomeAway has transformed the self-catering industry. Almost half (45%) of all Airbnb bookings are made by guests from outside the UK¹, so our advice is to advertise your holiday rental on the best-known travel sites to get seen. Embrace the change and go international!
SuperControl is the only UK property management system with a full two-way integration with Airbnb. It’s easy for SuperControl clients to add a listing and keep it up-to-date via the channel manager. Photos and descriptions are pulled from SuperControl, along with pricing and availability, so calendars are always up-to-date and the risk of double bookings is removed. Follow this guide to get started.
More properties are listing on Airbnb every day. So how can you make your holiday cottage stand out and appear early on in the search results? Here’s our top tips:
1. Set your prices at least 12 months ahead
It’s simple – guests can only book your property if you’ve added prices for the dates they are searching. Prices are taken from SuperControl to display on Airbnb so make sure you’ve got them set well in advance. If you don’t, your properties won’t show in the results when someone searches by date. Guests have so much choice at their fingertips, if they can’t book your property easily they will just move on to the next one.
2. Tick all the right boxes
Make sure all amenities are ticked in SuperControl so they can pull through to Airbnb. It doesn’t matter how small or simple, these really do help with booking conversions on Airbnb. So if you have hangers in your wardrobes and baby monitors on hand for guests to use, tick them. It really is important.
3. Ask your guests to post reviews
In addition to helping future guests decide which property to book, the number of reviews your property gets on Airbnb determines where it appears in search results on the site. When you sign up to Airbnb you get a 30-day grace period where your property will appear high on the search results to help you gather bookings and therefore reviews. If you add your listing at a time you know there is traditionally a busy few weeks ahead (ie. January), you will optimise your chance of getting more bookings – and therefore reviews – securing a higher ranking in the search results.
Keep an eye on the Events page to see when there’s a SuperControl and Airbnb event happening near you. We run them regularly throughout the UK, to keep you up-to-date with any new developments and share best practice tips to keep your property performing well.
¹Source: Airbnb
