EP009: Airbnb Legal Guru Pieter Schols Talks About Hosting In Amsterdam
Summary
This article discusses the importance of having a strategic approach to revenue management in short-term rentals, rather than a reactive one. It also highlights the core differences between hotel and STR revenue management and the challenges of the "Hectic Host" stage. Hosts should implement structured pricing routines and analyze their operations to increase revenue.
Key Insights
- •The article emphasizes the importance of scheduled revenue management and reviewing every booking for pricing and demand signals.
- •STR businesses can get stuck in the 'hectic host' stage, where everything feels urgent, hindering growth. This stage involves constantly shifting priorities and a reactive approach.
- •STR pricing is dramatically harder than hotel pricing due to factors like product uniqueness (each listing is its own 'mini hotel'), shorter booking windows, and the impact of operational constraints.
- •Hotels can rely on last-minute demand, while STRs cannot. STR rate drops must be deeper near arrival.
Action Items
- ✓Implement structured daily and weekly pricing routines to stay ahead of the market, reviewing bookings as data for pricing signals.Effort: mediumImpact: medium
- ✓Focus on identifying and solving root causes in your STR business rather than just reacting to symptoms.Effort: lowImpact: medium
Tools & Resources
- →Get Paid For Your Pad: Get Paid For Your Pad podcast.
Watch Out For
- ⚠Making reactive pricing decisions and not having a scheduled revenue management routine.
- ⚠Trying to fix everything at once when experiencing operational overwhelm, which slows growth.
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