Average Airbnb occupancy rates in 2022 (by city)

Airbnb won’t fruit you if you simply put up a rental property and wait for it to be booked. You need to treat this as a business and generate the profits out of it. 

Occupancy rates are a measure used to determine the success of a vacation rental business. It is observed by the number of days a property is booked for in a month. If you have most days booked in a month, you are earning well. But what occupancy rate is ideal for you? What makes good occupancy rates?

To figure this out, we sampled a few cities from the US and other countries of the world. We will also discuss a few tips on improving your occupancy rates. 

Average occupancy rates by cities (The US, 2021/2020)

Let’s take a look at the 20 cities in the US by the listings.

From this, we can see how complicated it will be to define ‘good’ occupancy rates. We recommend you search for your ideal occupancy rate using the AllTheRooms website which has a ready calculator that will analyze the best estimate for you. 

Determining ‘good’ occupancy rate in the US by the data

While we cannot get an answer for your business specifically, we can analyze the city in the US that has a good occupancy rate. From the data, we estimate a good rate to be around 65% and max out at 75%. However, these are just anomalies. Our average estimate is somewhere around 48% in the country for part-time properties. For full-time ones, it needs to be 50% and anything lower than that will mean the business isn’t performing well. 

However, if you want to determine a benchmark, you will have to compare it with the market. 

Average occupancy rates in 8 sample cities (2021/2020)

We picked 8 sample cities and studied their occupancy rates. The graphs below show how the rate differs from one place to another. Notice how the graphs also show the seasonality of occupancy in each city. This is majorly driven by climate change, popular events, etc. 

Average occupancy rates by cities (Canada, 2021/2020)

We recorded the average occupancy rates of Canada to be 27% in 2021. We ranked the top 5 cities of Canada in the table below by the number of active listings in every city. 

Average occupancy rates by cities (The UK, 2021/2020)

The United Kingdom had about 23.8% occupancy rates in 2021. The average eof top 5 cities in UK are listen below with their 2021 and 2020 occupancy rates. 

Average occupancy rates by cities (India, 2021/2020)

In India, the average occupancy rate was 9% in 2021. Below are the top 5 cities of India and their respective rates. 

Average occupancy rates by cities (Australia, 2021/2020)

The average occupancy rate in Australia was recorded to be 26.4%. Let’s take a look into the top 5 best-permorning cities of Australia. 

Impact of Covid on average occupancy rates 

The Pandemic moved everything we called normal. It significantly altered the face of vacation rental market as well. We could visibly identify these effects in March 2020 when the average occupancy rates dropping to 11% in the United States. 

However, we saw a recovery in June 2020 with the rates climbing up. There was a surge in the demand of short-term rentals. This was the effect of change in accommodation preferences to rural areas instead of urban cities to avoid restrictions. This rebound also led to the Airbnb IPO.

Highest v/s lowest occupancy rates in the US (by cities, 2021/2020)

We ranked the top 500 cities of USA to filter the highest and lowest occupancy rates by cities. 

Cities with highest average occupancy rates in 2021:

Cities with the lowest average occupancy rates in 2021:

Occupancy Rates, Adjusted Occupancy Rates, Vacancy Rates, and Booking Rates

Going by the traditional way of lodging, your property can either be booked or stay vacant. However, with the modern ways of vacation renting, there is a third state. Hosts can now temporarily block their property on the listing. This happens mostly when they themselves are staying at the property.

This state brings about a minor change in how the occupancy rates are calculated. 

1. Occupancy Rates: This is the traditional method that we have been discussing uptill now. The number of days the place remains occupied in a given period gives us the occupancy rate. For example, if the property is booked for 12 days out of 30 days in a month, the occupancy rate will be 40% (12/30*100)

2. Adjusted Occupancy Rates (Booking Rate): This is the time when the property was on the list and available for customers to book it. Assume that a property was on the listing for 12 days in a month of 30 days, blocked for 6 days, and vacant for 12, then the booking rate would be 12/(12+12) = 50%.

3. Vacancy Rates: Inverse of occupancy rates, the vacancy rates are the number of days in a given period when the property is not occupied by anyone while it is available. For example, if the place is available and vacant for 5 days in a 30-day month, then the vacancy rate would be 5/30 = 16.7%.

How to improve your occupancy rates?

Ideal Pricing

If you don’t set the prices as per the property, you will face low occupancy. You prices shouldn’t be too high nor too low. You need to have a strategic pricing plan. You can formulate your place by studying the average Airbnb prices in your city. This will also help you study your competition and understand your market better. If your prices are too high, customers will turn to your competitors and if they are too low, there will be an automatic distrust with your property. Hence, you need to stay on the middleground. 

You can have seasonal discounts, coupons, offers, etc running around. Peak seasons will need a raise in prices and higher discounts on off-season bookings. This is the common method followed everywhere. You will need to have a 12-month calendar open to the customers so they can plan off-season trips well ahead of time. You can also become super-host with opening off-season bookings. 

Instant Book 

Airbnb has a feature called Instant Book. Enabling this feature will mean your customers can book the property without waiting for a confirmation from you. This feature is known to improve your occupancy rates. 

Many travellers are now searching properties that have enabled this feature. Hence, using it can also improve your visibility. This is suggested especially for new hosts. 

Photos and descriptions 

The first thing that people will see about your property is the photos and description that you have put up. They will create the first impression and hence, you need to make sure they are impressive. If they aren’t good quality photos with polished language description, it will not seem appealing to the customers. It is reported that people who use professionally captured photos on Airbnb tend to have 40% more earnings and 24% higher occupancy rates. 

Your language also matters a lot. Customers don’t know anything about the property other than what you tell them. Using appropriate words is important. For example, a cabin in the woods of Aspen would be ‘cozy’, ‘comfortable’, etc. But a property in New York will be more ‘chic’, ‘modern’, etc. Hosts can also outsource the writing with GuestHook and get copywriters to do the job. 

Stay with the trend 

You need to constantly keep revamping your place and stay with the modern trends to attract customers. When people are scrolling through the listings, their eyes will stop at something that appeals them. Hence, your place needs to have good interior designs and modern touches. 

If you aren’t able to do this yourself, you can always get inspiration at Houzz. This site is loaded with interior and exterior ideas. They will help you create a super cozy and Instagrammable place for your audience. 

Encourage reviews 

Authentic customer reviews are a very lucrative element for new customers. They want to listen from the people who have had the experience. Hence, you need to encourage your customers to leave reviews.

To encourage customers to leave reviews, you can introduce host reviews. Customers can see the reviews you have left for them only after they leave you a review. 

You can als provide incentives with leaving reviews. For example, a 10% discount on food and beverages with one review. 

Personalized and local experience 

Customers come to vacation rentals to experience the local lifestyle of the place. Many travellers pick Airbnb over hotels for this reason only. Hence, you need to give them a taste of what the locality is like. Offer them welcome baskets filled with native fruits, add local refreshments, etc. 

You can also have an information brochure that can guide them through the city and enlighten them about things a local loves to do. This experience will be personalized and something new as compared to hotels and famous tourist spots. This will earn you brownie points. 

Maintain genuine communication with the guests and be active with them. Stay in touch to know of their needs and provide them with the same. 

Know your market 

You need to stay aware of what is happening in the market around you. This is a crucial step when you are identifying the trends of the market. You can keep tabs on the Occupancy trends and much more using the Airbnb statistics. 

Get a property manager

Once your business is expanding, you cannot be everywhere to manage everything. Consider hiring a property manager who will look after all the formalities. This manager will be dedicating all his time behind reaching the projected Airbnb revenue potential. 

Property management software 

Technology is growing fast and it is making a lot of businesses easier. You can also adapt the Airbnb property management software that will help you establish profiles on various platfroms and synchronize your reservation calendars from all different places. This will increase your exposure and coordinate all your bookings.

Earn the Superhost title

Being a superhost on Airbnb has a lot of benefits. When you fulfil certain levels of being a host, you are promoted to being a superhost.

How to do this?

You must excel in the following four criterias:

• Guest ratings: To meet this criteria, you need to maintain a 4.8 guest rating in the previous year. Customer satisfaction is a prime requirement. 

• Host cancellations: This is the amount of time the host cancels the booking. When this happens to a customer, they aren’t very likely to return. Hence, host cancellations should be less than 1%.

• Booking frequency: Of course if you have higher booking frequency, you are in demand! You need at least 10 stays in a span of 100 days.

• Response rate: You need to respond to the customers to make business. Hence, your response rate should be above 90%.

Advantages of being a superhost 

• Airbnb promotes the properties of superhosts. 

• You will be ranked higher in the listings. This will improve your visibility.

• There is a special superhost search filter on Airbnb. 

• Superhosts receive $100 travel coupon each year.

• They are eligible for $100 referral bonuses.

Disadvantages of being a superhost 

• It takes some efforts to maintain the title. Yes, you have to maintain it. 

• There are high expectations from you interms of property and services. 

Utilize social media 

The power of social media in incredible in today’s market. Utilize the power to market your property. You can have pages on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or even your personalized property website. 

With social media, you can keep marketing your property throughout the year and especially during the season of festivals. You can also gain traction by offering exciting deals with social media audience. 

Reach a larger audience

As we talk about social media, let’s talk about marketing as a whole. You need to market your property to the right customers. For example, if you have a sea-facing property, it can appeal to young groups of friends and it can be fit for romantic getaways as well. 

Hence, you need to market it to such audience who will want the place. Marketing is all about understanding the customer personas and driving a campaign that appeals to them. 

Focus on local guests as well 

Just because it is a vacation rental doesn’t mean you have to focus on international customers only. You can also host local guests as well. In local festive seasons, people are looking for a change and that is exactly what you can give them. Offer them a place to stay and relax without going too far from home. 

Airbnb amenities that boost occupancy rates 

Amenities are what the audience is going to look for the most. You need to add exceptional amenities to attract more audience. But you need to select the right fits. While one amenity can be perfect for a location, it can be downright bizarre for another. Hence, pick wisely. 

AllTheRooms analytics also study the effect of certain amenities in the properties in the market and tell you which ones are attracting the most customers. 

Analytics Methodology 

To understand which amenities are performing the best in various places, we studied the data we had for the cities and amenities over the last 12 months (May 2018 - May 2019)

7 most famous beach districts in Sydney:

• Bondi

• Coorgee 

• Palm Beach 

• Avalon beach 

• Cronulla beach 

• Watson’s bay 

13 most popular Alpine ski resorts across France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria (Europe):

• Courchevel

• Zermatt

• Val D’Isere

• Tignes

• Cortina D’Ampezzo

• Chamonix

• St Anton

• Meribel

• St Moritz

• Courmayeur

• Val Thorens

• Verbier

• Cervinia

• Alpe D’Huez

Germany’s 8 most iconic and lesser-known cities:

• Frankfurt

• Hamburg

• Cologne

• Dresden

• Leipzig

• Heidelberg

• Dusseldorf

• Stuttgart

For ease of understanding, we have represented the data in the chart below:

Have strong foundation 

You need to keep your basics strong. While extra amenities make your property attractive, you will need to stay strong on the foundation as well. This will include providing good quality linens, basic cooking essentials, toiletries, etc. we have observed that properties that have good basics have 7.1% higher occupancy rates. 

Additionally, the hosts that didn’t have Wifi, hot water, refrigerator, etc suffered 7.7% loss on occupancy. While these are overlooked by some people, they are considered as basic in today’s market. 

Going just a mile extra

Providing just a little extra comfort will cost you a little. And hence, each addition should be paired with a marginal increase in price. This will help you maintain the amenities. For example, adding a microwave (1.5% increase), an iron (3.7% increase), a coffee maker (1% increase), a hairdryer (3.9% increase), etc. All these amenities are basic requirements that will appeal to clients traveling for business. 

Advertising can also increase the prices based on the adjustments that the host can make. For example, a family-friendly place will add a 2.9% increase, included parking will have a 3.5% increase in occupancy, etc.

Area-specific factors 

Undoubtedly, the factors along the area count a lot. One needs to give amenities according to the area. For example, if the property is in the beach district of Australia, you can provide the customers with beach essentials (3.1%), barbecue grill (3.9%), etc. All these will add value to your property. A flat path to the front door can give you a strong boost of 7%.

If we are talking ski resorts in the Alps, your picks can be hot tubs (5.3%), first-aid kits (3.7%), ski-in and ski-out entrances (3.6%), German dishes and silverware (2.1%), pet-friendly (9.7%), and so on. 

Talk about countryside provinces that have stoves (2.1%), pools (4.7%), etc. All these features will make your property super attractive and raise the occupancy by a staggering 19.8%!

Conclusion 

When we think of what consists of a good Airbnb property is, think of all these key features and throw in some remarkable ones to stand out. Think beyond just individual prospects and focus on enhancing the value of the property and watch your business grow.