Tools you can use to attract longer stays

The travel landscape is changing dramatically, as remote work gives many people the flexibility to spend more time away from home. Airbnb guests are part of this trend: Stays of 28 nights or more accounted for over 20% of total nights booked on Airbnb last year.*

Hosting longer stays can help you fill up your calendar, bring in steady income, and reduce turnover, making cleaning and communicating with guests more efficient. Here are some tools—and a checklist—you can use right now to help attract longer stays.

As more guests seek longer stays, finding a space that’s available for their whole trip can be challenging. A new feature called Split Stays, part of the Airbnb 2022 Summer Release, enables guests to divide a stay of seven nights or more between two places.

When a guest searches Airbnb listings using specific or flexible dates (a week or a month), comparable listings are automatically paired and presented as Split Stays for the desired dates. The guest books these reservations separately.

For Hosts, the Split Stays feature creates more opportunities to be discovered. In the past, if guests searched for a month-long trip but you only had availability for two weeks during that time, your home wouldn’t have shown up in search results. With Split Stays, your listing can be paired with another one to cover the guest’s entire trip.

To make sure your listing can be included in guest searches for monthly stays, check your listing’s availability in your calendar settings. Set your maximum stay to at least 28 nights for monthly guests. You can also set a minimum stay.

While you’re at it, consider updating other settings to support longer stays. Perhaps you could allow guests to book farther in advance or give yourself a little more time between bookings to prepare your space for the next guest.

Learn about adjusting your settings for longer stays

Guests who book longer stays typically search for listings that offer discounts. You can set a different price for each calendar month, or you can choose a flat monthly rate.

For example, if your place is in a beach town that draws crowds in the summer months, consider adjusting your price seasonally to meet local demand.

Lowering your listing’s nightly price may seem counterintuitive, but if your average vacancy is 20% (meaning you’re usually booked for 24 days each month), a 20% discount for a longer stay could help you earn a similar monthly amount.

It helps keep your listing competitive, too. More than half of all global listings provide discounts for stays of one month or longer.** You can set a discount or a custom monthly price in the Pricing & availability section of your listing settings, using a web browser.

Learn about pricing strategies for longer stays

First off, you’ll want to make sure your listing description mentions that you accept longer stays and notes your space’s accessibility features. Better yet, you could show everything off with high-quality pictures you’ve organized into a photo tour.

Next, think about how guests’ needs may vary with the length of their stay. To attract guests who stay longer, make sure you’ve added all the amenities your place offers to your listing.

Guests often search for popular amenities, like a well-stocked kitchen, reliable internet access, or pet-friendly accommodations. You can add amenities under Listing details by selecting Edit and checking the boxes next to all that apply.

If you’ve checked the box next to Wifi, it’s a good idea to verify and showcase your space’s connection speed to appeal to guests who plan to work or study remotely. You can do this by choosing Add details and taking the wifi speed test.

Learn more about hosting remote workers

*Based on internal Airbnb global data, stays of 28 nights or more accounted for one in five nights booked in 2021.

**Based on internal Airbnb global data as of December 31, 2021.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.