The travel and hospitality industry as a whole has taken an absolute battering this past year, but there are signs of things picking back up again. More flights are available especially internationally, and with vaccinations and testing becoming more widespread, we are starting to see tourism destinations open up again too. For Airbnb and hotel owners, business is slowly picking up again and offering new opportunities. Airbnb was a popular way of generating income without actually owning property before the pandemic, and now we are seeing this trend return. Below are 4 tips to running a successful Airbnb.
1) Get to know your areas
Many Airbnb landlords consider their properties as just another piece of their portfolio, but when you truly understand and get to know your area, you can have so much more success. The best rated accommodations are the ones where the owners have a hands on approach when dealing with visitors, from personally greeting them at the start of their stay to offering them advice on what to do or where to eat in the local area.
2) Automate or outsource as much as you can
If you plan on having a successful Airbnb rental business, the chances are that you will have multiple properties or units on your hands and will need much of your operations automated. We’re talking about automatically booking in a cleaner for when a visitor checks out, using automated room scheduling, providing guests with contact-free check-ins, and more.
By automating as much of the menial tasks as possible, you can dedicate more of your time to sales-generating tasks such as marketing. If you are unable to fully automate, consider hiring a virtual assistant who can help you remotely for very competitive salaries. These people will often be very qualified to help you in various areas of the business, allowing you more time to focus on what you believe will benefit it the most.
3) Don’t be afraid to put in the work
Successful businesses in any industry, not just Airbnbs, take time to build, and as much as you want to believe the targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram about how some were built seemingly overnight, the truth is a lot of hard work goes into them. If you aren’t ready to work hours longer than a normal workday (at the beginning at least), then why bother? Statistically you won’t be getting anywhere and you should focus on something you are willing to go the extra mile for. As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
4) Give the best possible service
One advantage hotels can have over Airbnbs is their ability to offer a human service. The concierge will be more than happy to help a guest get around town by booking them a taxi, recommending places to eat, or by helping with the bags. If you can bring some of those human services to an Airbnb situation, you will have a much better chance of grabbing that 5-star rating!