Turning high demand into high earnings

Holidays, big events and favourable weather conditions can spike interest in your listing. Airbnb hosting tools help you make the most of these high-demand periods. Consider these steps for maximising your earnings.

One way to prepare for a high-demand season is to open additional nights in your calendar. This helps your listing appear in more search results and can increase your earnings.

Go to your listing’s calendar and look for blocked nights, which appear in grey. Open any blocked nights that you’re able to host.

Extending your availability window lets guests book further ahead. This strategy is particularly effective for areas with predictable periods of high demand, like annual big events and snow and beach seasons.

Your calendar opens one day at a time regardless of your availability window. For example, if your window is 12 months, guests can book your place up to one year ahead of today’s date, and your availability will update daily.

Check the prices of similar listings in your area to stay competitive during high-demand seasons. To compare similar listings, go to your listing’s calendar and select a date range of up to 31 days.

You’ll see the average prices of similar listings on a map of your area. The factors that determine which properties are similar include location, size, features, amenities, ratings, reviews and the other listings guests browse while considering yours.

Listings with prices lower than similar listings nearby tend to rank higher in search results.

If you offer the same price every night, consider varying your pricing on weekdays and weekends to match shifts in demand. Pricing dynamically can help maximise your bookings.

Adding discounts is another way to stand out to guests. You can cater to a variety of travellers by offering:

• Weekly and monthly discounts. Offer weekly discounts for stays seven nights or longer or monthly discounts for stays 28 nights or longer. This can extend the average length of stay across your listings and reduce turnovers.
• Early-bird discount. Add a discount for bookings made 1 to 24 months before check-in, and build a strong base of bookings ahead of busy seasons.
• Last-minute discount. Reducing your nightly price as the check-in date gets closer can help you appeal to spur-of-the-moment travellers. Discounts for bookings made 1 to 28 days before check-in can help fill your calendar and boost your earnings.

Guests see a special callout in search results and on your listing page for weekly, monthly and last-minute discounts of 10% or more and for early-bird discounts of 3% or more. Your discounted price appears next to your original one, which is crossed out.

Note that the early-bird discount isn’t available when Smart Pricing is turned on and that lengths of stay discounts need to follow local rules and regulations.

Great photos attract attention, help set clear expectations and give guests more confidence to book your home. Consider updating your listing’s photos as you prepare for high-demand seasons.

• Plan your images. Focus on getting pictures that showcase your home’s unique details, popular amenities and accessibility features. Capture each room and area guests can use from various perspectives.
• Upload horizontal, high-resolution images. Photos should be at least 800 pixels by 1,200 pixels. Bigger file sizes are better, up to about 10 megabytes.
• Go pro. Consider hiring a professional photographer to help. Airbnb can connect you with a pro in select cities worldwide.
• Create a photo tour. Airbnb’s tool automatically sorts your uploaded images by room to help guests understand the layout of your home. You can move, remove and add photos, add details to each room, and write captions for each photo.

Another way to make your listing more appealing is to simplify check-in and checkout.

• Add self check-in. Installing a smart lock, keypad or key safe allows guests to unlock the entrance with a code. Many guests prefer the convenience and flexibility of self check-in, and it can save you time. Whichever method you select, it’s important to give each booking guest a unique access code.
• Provide checkout instructions. Include clear and simple steps, like where to leave the keys and what needs to be shut off.

‘It’s important to not overload guests for those tasks because the last thing I want them to remember is how long that list was before checkout’, says Katie, a Host Advisory Board member and Superhost in Palm Springs, California, USA. ‘You might earn yourself a five-star review just because you don’t have a long checkout list.’

Hundreds of Host clubs around the world help Airbnb hosts connect and learn from one another. We’ve seen that members of these local clubs earn twice as much as hosts who are not club members,* and they’re nearly three times as likely to be Superhosts.**

Popular club activities include:

• Exchanging hosting tips that could boost earnings
• Discussing short-term rental regulations
• Sharing reliable local services (cleaners, plumbers, etc.)
• Attending exclusive networking events

*According to internal Airbnb data, when comparing average earnings and average ratings of global Airbnb Host club members versus the entire global host population from September 2022 to September 2023. Earnings data vary depending on location, seasonality and listing type.

**According to internal Airbnb data on Superhost status for hosts who joined from July 2023 to July 2024.

You control your pricing and other settings at all times. Your results may vary.

Hosts were paid for their participation in interviews.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.