Open your eyes to what your Airbnb competition actually looks like.

Back in the day, the early adopters who put Airbnb on the map were primarily mom-and-pop hosts who had just one unit to list on the platform. But once the concept had been vetted and investors knew that travelers would indeed book short term rentals, the composition of the hosting community began to shift.

As of May 2023, according to AirDNA’s research, only 1 in every 4 Airbnb hosts has just one listing. (This chart from Nerdwallet is very helpful to see the full breakdown.) That means 75% of hosts on the Airbnb platform have more than one listing. And a quarter of those hosts have 21 or more Airbnb listings. These are the Airbnb megahosts, and these investors control a vastly disproportionate percentage of listings on platforms like Airbnb.

So if you are part of the 50% of short term rental hosts who have just 1 to 5 units listed on Airbnb, what does this mean for you?

1) You have to be clear-eyed about who your competition truly is.
Are the statistics above surprising to you? It’s so easy to assume that our personal experience mirrors the majority. As travelers, we tend to be drawn to hosts with fascinating stories behind creating their place. And it’s easy for us to assume that since we cherry pick these types of places, that this represents the typical Airbnb travel experience. The same may be true for you as a host. When you picture the competition, some fuzzy version of your own experience comes to mind. This is why staying up-to-date with the general state of the short term rental industry matters. The reality check might be a little shocking, but a proper understanding of the market will make an enormous difference when it comes to implementing strategies that will actually help you reach your financial goals.

2) You have to build an online Airbnb listing that can actually compete.
Gone are the days when mediocre photography and a sloppy description could keep your place booked. The investors and management companies saturating the Airbnb marketplace have a rinse-and-repeat marketing plan they implement with each listing. And you better believe that plan includes professional photography, good copywriting, intentional search engine optimization, and data-driven marketing strategies. Individual hosts can absolutely do all of these things too! These tactics are all way simpler than they might initially sound. But you have to actually engage with the strategies to stay afloat in this ever-more competitive market.

3) You have to lean into what makes your place unique: you!
So yes, you need to implement some of the same tactics in your online listing as the big management companies in order to compete. But your listing should have one definitively different element that big business can replicate: your personal story. Here’s the good news. The more rentals a host or management company has, the worse their ratings tend to be. Guests like traveling with individual hosts they can visualize and interact with as real people. Which means you, your story, and your personal brand of hospitality will set you apart from the Goliaths on the platform.