The costly mistake South African Airbnb hosts and Landlords are making

• Positive reviews boost trust, occupancy rates, and revenue, enabling hosts to charge higher rates and improve search rankings.

• South African hosts often neglect to request reviews, missing out on higher visibility and potential bookings.

• Automated, friendly follow-up requests increase review success rates, directly improving occupancy and profitability by up to 91%.

Airbnb specialist investor and manager for over 15 years Robin Booth says that, ‘Guest reviews are a crucial element for any successful Airbnb listing. They play a vital role in building trust, boosting occupancy rates, and increasing revenue. Positive reviews act as social proof, assuring potential guests of the reliability of your property.’

As a result, hosts can charge higher daily rates and improve their search ranking on Airbnb, leading to increased bookings.

Listings with consistently high ratings are more likely to appear at the top of search results, further enhancing visibility and attracting more guests.

But here in South Africa, hosts don’t ask for them! And if they do, I bet you they only ask once. Requesting reviews respectfully and without being too pushy is essential to overcoming this. One effective strategy is to ask multiple times in a friendly manner. For example, sending a follow-up message the day after checkout, then another at four days, and again at ten days, can significantly increase the likelihood of receiving a review.

In my own experience, I ask for reviews up to four times. I send my first request the day after checkout, followed by reminders on the fourth and tenth days, and a final reminder before the 13th day, just before the review window closes on day 14. All of this is automated for consistency.

I highlight the importance of reviews in helping future guests trust my property, especially in light of concerns about online scams. This approach has helped me achieve a 91% success rate in getting guests to leave reviews, which has had a direct impact on increasing my occupancy and boosting revenue.

By automating the review request process and framing it as a way to help future travellers, Airbnb hosts can overcome the common reluctance to ask for reviews, ultimately improving their business outcomes and ensuring higher profitability.

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