There’s no getting around the fact that the COVID pandemic was probably the most devastating (aside from a global nuclear war, but if that ever ends up happening, I think our guest numbers will be the least of our problems!) thing which could happen to our short term rental and travel industry. However, as the world starts opening up, we’re still faced with a rather difficult reality.
People aren’t going to be traveling as much as they were before, and the standards which we’re going to need to adopt as a short term rental industry are going to have to be much more stringent than they ever were. However, for the creative and tenacious host, this situation has provided an incredible opportunity to grow, to drive tons of bookings, and work towards building a long-lasting short term rental brand.
There are many ways to get creative in the current circumstances. People want to get out. They want to travel. And most of all, they want to put the current crisis behind them, unwind, and distance themselves from the problems, issues, and difficulties they’ve been faced with in the past four or five months.
There are many types of people who are using short term rentals nowadays. We’ve outlined a few different categories which you can creatively capitalize on to boost your revenues and booking rates as the economy and travel opens up.
People who are fed up with working from home, but they are still going to be working from home for the foreseeable future.
There are a lot of us in this boat. Pretty much anyone who does their job on the computer has been working from home from March, and many companies have decided that employees who don’t need to be in the office can work from home indefinitely.
Working from home is a huge change of pace, but after a certain amount of time (for many this amount of time is rather short), the patina of working from home starts to wear off. You’re stuck in the same rooms all day, mostly by yourself or with a few roommates or family members, and you start missing the variety and dynamic lifestyle which is associated with working in an office.
We’re all on zoom all the time, so that social aspect we’ve all come to expect from an office setting is generally present. What isn’t present is the constant change of scenery and pace which we’ve all gotten used to from working in offices. The easiest way to remedy this is to pack your bags for a week, and go work from a new place. Our whole team went remote in March. It took a few days to get used to the new tempo, but eventually we adapted. What I couldn’t get used to was being stuck in the same small apartment for weeks on end. So, when AirBnB’s started reopening in Massachusetts and New Hampshire a few weeks ago, I decided to take a few days every week, go to a new place, and work from there.
Making the decision to spend time elsewhere and change the scenery relatively frequently is something which many of the people I talk to and work with are doing as well. Whether people are working in tech, finance, accounting, marketing, etc., their jobs are primarily digital, and they need a change of pace.
What can you do as an AirBnB host and short term rental host to capitalize on this workcation (work+vacation) demand? Make sure your rentals really cater to what these travelers and visitors want to see. In reality nobody is going to have something super exotic or exclusive, but, if you present it correctly and effectively, it just might be tempting enough to get one of the workcation crowd to book.
Highlight how close it is to the city, and highlight the fact that they can be there with an hour or two of setting out. Highlight that it’s sunny. And near nature. And that it’s close to hiking trails, beaches, etc.
The pictures should all be light. Edit them to make the colors pop (like this one):
And really use the pictures to paint a picture of tranquility! I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have great pictures and colorful pictures. At the end of the day, that’s what people are using to make their decisions.
Pricing isn’t nearly as important compared to this change of scenery. Being competitive on pricing will help you draw in some budget conscious travelers, but anyone who is truly budget conscious probably won’t be traveling much anyway.
Here are a few examples of some great pictures to use for inspiration. Bring the goods, buy flowers and other decorative stuff, and really make it stand out!
Offer longer term rentals
Because the lines between weekends and weekdays are blurred, and because so many people can work from home indefinitely, there’s a lot of appetite out there for medium term rentals. People are getting out of town for weeks at a time, looking for options that are four weeks or longer. Similar to the workcation crowd, these people are fed up with being in the same room for months at a time, and want to go away. But not for a weekend or for a few days. They want to leave for months at a time. Many professionals from Boston, NYC, etc. are looking at cabins and locales in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Colorado, etc. as places where they can go to unwind, continue working in the same way that they were before, but just in a new place, without the pressure of having to pack or organize to make the most of a short trip.
Homads, a platform for medium term rentals, is a great place to list your rentals if you want to have people for a month or more.
Spikes all around the USA are still forcing a need for quarantines, traveling nurses, and other caregivers.
While most of us in the northeast and Europe are in a state of steady reopening, much of the United States is still suffering from pretty serious outbreaks. There’s still a huge demand for traveling nurses, caregivers, and doctors who are moving around to deal with local outbreaks. In addition, places like New York are demanding that travelers who come from highly infected areas take 14 days to isolate before they rejoin the general population. People who deal with high risks also want to isolate themselves to prevent their families and loved ones from getting sick.
If you have rentals in large population centers, make sure the description and copy reflects the fact that you’re willing to cater to traveling nurses, doctors, people who are quarantining, and people who are purposefully self-isolating to protect those closest to them.