In Colombia, Airbnb hosts face a challenge during the slow seasons, typically from March to June (excluding Easter’s Semana Santa) and September to November. While the busy season, like December, can be lucrative even for average hosts, the slower periods require more strategic planning to stay ahead.
Many hosts make the mistake of simply lowering prices during these off-peak times. A more effective approach involves advanced planning, aiming to adjust prices about 90 days ahead to anticipate future occupancy rates.
This article isn’t focused solely on pricing strategies. Instead, it offers a comprehensive guide with several tactics designed to minimize or even eliminate the impact of the slow season. The underlying goal of these strategies is to enhance flexibility and expand the potential guest pool for your Airbnb property.
By adopting these strategies, you can differentiate yourself from competitors who may not be as proactive, ensuring a smoother experience through slower periods. Some strategies require planning up to six months in advance, and while the specific approach depends on your situation, implementing a few of them is advisable.
Additionally, for those considering investing in a property for Airbnb purposes in Colombia, I’ve compiled nine tips based on my experience to attract long-term guests. These insights are crucial for making an informed decision before becoming an Airbnb host in the region.
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Strategies for Airbnb Slow Season in Colombia
Here are seven strategies for Airbnb slow season in Colombia based on my experience as an Airbnb host.
1. Lower Your Night Rate
Lower the price more than you think. Hotels generally lower prices up to 40 percent during the slow season and they are professionals with numerous marketing channels and teams devoted to getting the pricing right.
You need to understand your fixed costs (expenses paid regardless of a guest occupying your space like rent or mortgage) and variable costs (expenses paid only when a guest is in your space like electricity) to know what your true minimum price should be.
To clarify your minimum, it represents the amount you would accept for a reservation that allows you to profit instead of keeping the place vacant.
As mentioned above, there is math involved to get to this number. It should equal your fixed costs plus variable costs for that reservation plus how much you value your time.
A minimum is not what you would like to get. A lot of hosts make this mistake and price their minimum way too high during the Airbnb slow season.
In rare situations, like during the coronavirus pandemic, your minimum actually decreases to cover only your variable costs in order to lose less money.
For example, if your variable costs (water, electricity, gas, etc.) are $25 per night and your fixed cost (mortgage, internet, taxes, etc.) are $75, your minimum during desperate times like coronavirus should be anything above $25 per night. That’s because you will lose less money having it rented. Even at $30 per night, that extra $5 ($30 minus $25) will go towards decreasing your fixed costs or net loss.
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2. Adjust Calendar Availability
In general, I recommend Airbnb hosts in Colombia should keep their calendar open three to six months into the future.
This is because you can charge a premium to guests booking 3+ months out, but a guest booking 6+ months in advance probably knows something that you do not (upcoming conference, concert, etc.).
With this strategy, I recommend you open your calendar availability to 12 months at the start of busy season. Three months later, adjust your availability to 9 months. Three months later, adjust to 6 months.
This strategy, though not perfect due to Airbnb limitations, essentially allows guests to book through next year’s slow season where price maximization is much less a concern than occupancy rate.
Here’s an example…
Let’s assume Airbnb slow season starts in February and ends in October. In this case, you would open your calendar to 12 months of availability in August so that a guest can book throughout next year’s slow season (starting February of the following year).
Around January, you would change your calendar availability to 9 months. And around March, you would change to 6 months. Around June, you would change to 3 months until next August when you open your calendar to 12 months and repeat.
The concept behind this strategy is to secure some bonus reservations from the guests who are planning ahead six or more months in advance of Airbnb slow season in Colombia. If you have 5 days booked on a few of your slow season months, this relieves a lot of pressure.
3. Add the Word “Discount” to Your Airbnb Title
Specifically, for the slow season, you can add verbiage into your title like ‘Extra 10% Discount’. I see this so rarely on Airbnb in Colombia, that it will get future potential guests clicking on your listing, at the very least.
The idea is that a guest has already narrowed down your listing to their ideal budget and then seeing you offer an extra 10% discount, they would be crazy not to have a look, at the very least.
Be sure to specify the details of this discount in your listing description. If thi9s works well, you might consider increasing your pricing to offset the discount a bit … or, using it as one of your busy season strategies.
The downside to using this strategy is that it will require you to manually send the future potential guest a special offer.
4. Offer a ‘Friends + Family’ Airbnb Discount
This strategy is 100 percent automated.
If you use a service like Smartbnb , you can send out an automatic message to the guest a few days or a week after check-out letting them know that you offer an extra percentage discount to the guest and any of their friends or family (as long as they mention the guest by name) during the slow season.
You can get creative and offer the discount for only midweek stays, for stays of four nights or longer, for stays on any day in particular months, etc.
5. Increase Percentage Discounts
To attract longer-term guests in Colombia, increase those monthly and weekly booking discounts.
In general, a week-long reservation in Colombia typically gets a 10 percent discount and a month gets a 20 percent discount.
Filter the search for your city in Colombia, price range, and the number of beds to see how much competitors are offering for a discount and beat the competition out by 5 percent or more.
6. Remove Extra Person Charges
An extra person charge is an aggressive pricing strategy for Colombia. Most Airbnb hosts in Colombia incur limited additional work or wear and tear on the home with an added guest, yet most charge for an extra person simply because it is an option.
An aggressive pricing strategy is best kept for high season. Remove the extra person charge during your slower months.
However, add a significant extra person charge for any guest over your maximum. For example, if your maximum occupancy is set for 4 guests, add a $100 charge for guests after 4. This accomplishes two things.
First, it allows Airbnb to let you charge the guest if they are caught bringing more than is allowed for based on the reservation guest count.
Otherwise, Airbnb will agree that there were more guests, but will not send you any extra money because you do not indicate any charge for additional guests (yes, I learned that the hard way).
Second, it disincentives the guest from bringing extra people.
In the high season in Colombia, when demand is highest, you are able to be more aggressive with your pricing by adding in an extra person charge. There are a few important notes involving math if you choose to do this.
Let’s say you rent your home to 4 people at $100 per night. Effectively, each person is paying $25 per night. If you add in an extra person charge for a 5th guest (add a floor mattress or pull-out sofa), this fee should be a maximum of $25 on the high end. Otherwise, the incremental cost will go up.
I recommend you charge around 50 percent of the cost per person without an added guest (in this case 50% of $25 is $12.50).
Another important note is to understand that if you are hosting an entire home and you are not on-premise, adding an extra person fee incentivizes a certain type of guest to bring more guests than indicated.
Instead, I recommend you price your space for maximum occupancy which is what most guests are looking for anyways.
7. Lower Minimum Nights
If you have a 2+ night minimum, the Airbnb slow season would be a great time to test out a single night minimum, even if it is just for weekdays. Most cleaners would gladly accept the additional work.
See our article about things to know before investing to become and Airbnb host in Colombia.
Make sure your property permits short-term rentals. For example, in Medellín, it’s legal to rent your apartment short-term (less than 30 days) only if you’re in a building whose by-laws specifically allow for short-term rentals.
Are you looking to buy or sell Real Estate in Colombia?
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Medellin Guru Real Estate Service
Our reliable partner, a leading real estate company, offers a wide range of services:
- Transfer funds to Colombia
- Legal analysis property background checks
- Sales agreement
- Deed registration
- Legal representation
- Investment visa
Medellin Guru’s Airbnb Series
Medellin Guru now has a series of several articles about Airbnb in Colombia:
- 9 Strategies to Find Killer Deals on Airbnb in Colombia
- 15 Things to Know Before Investing to Become an Airbnb Host in Colombia
- 10 Airbnb Best Practices for Airbnb Hosting in Colombia
- 9 Tips to Attract Long-Term Airbnb Guests in Colombia
- 7 Strategies for Airbnb Slow Season in Colombia
- How to Identify Problem Airbnb Guests in Colombia Before They Book
- 15 Ways to Increase Your Airbnb Search Rank In Colombia
- How Safe is Airbnb in Colombia? Is it Safe to Use Airbnb in Colombia?
- Airbnb Travel Itinerary for Your Airbnb Guests in Colombia
- How to Get Started on Airbnb in Colombia: A Guide
Medellin Guru's guide to buying, selling and renting apartments and choosing a neighborhood
On the Medellin Guru website, we have a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to buying, selling, and renting apartments and choosing a neighborhood in Medellin found in several articles, including:
Buying and Selling Apartments
- Medellin Real Estate: Property Buyer’s Guide for Foreigners
- Selling Real Estate in Colombia: A Guide to Selling for Foreigners
- Mistakes Foreigners Make When Buying Real Estate in Colombia
- Current Costs to Buy New Apartments in Medellin
- Rent vs Buy: Downsides of Renting and Buying Property in Medellin
- 13 Things Real Estate Agents in Colombia May Not Tell You
- How to Obtain a Colombia Investment Visa
Renting Unfurnished Apartments:
- Apartment Rental Guide: Renting Unfurnished Apartments in Medellin
- Guide to Finding Unfurnished Apartments and Casas in Medellin
- Guide to Overcoming the Fiador Requirement in Colombia
- Unfurnished Apartment Rental Costs in Medellin
- 6 Inexpensive Neighborhoods for Unfurnished Rentals in Medellin
- Furnishing Apartments: A Guide to Furnishing Apartments in Medellin
- Apartment vs Casa (House) Rentals in Medellin: Pros and Cons
Renting Furnished Apartments:
Choosing a Neighborhood in Medellin:
Also, we have several articles that can be used to help foreigners choose a neighborhood in Medellin:
- Laureles: The world’s coolest neighborhood for 2023 by ‘Time Out’ is in Medellin, Colombia
- What are the Safest Neighborhoods in Medellin and the Aburrá Valley?
- 5 Best Neighborhoods in Medellin: A Guide to Choosing a Neighborhood
- 9 Downsides of El Poblado: Living in Medellin’s Expensive Neighborhood
- Estratos: A Guide to Understanding Estratos in Colombia
- El Poblado vs Laureles: Which is the Better Neighborhood to Live in?
- El Poblado vs Envigado: Which is the Better Neighborhood to Live in?
- El Poblado vs Sabaneta: Which is the Better Neighborhood to Live in?
- El Poblado vs Belén: Which is the Better Neighborhood to Live in?
- 2018 Unfurnished Apartment Rental Costs in Medellin in 5 Neighborhoods Popular with Expats
- 6 Inexpensive Neighborhoods for Unfurnished Rentals in Medellin
The Bottom Line: The Bottom Line: Strategies for Airbnb Slow Season in Colombia
In summary, excelling as an Airbnb host in Colombia’s slow season requires strategic pricing adjustments and marketing tactics. Key strategies include significantly lowering nightly rates, adjusting calendar availability for early bookings, offering competitive discounts, and simplifying pricing by removing extra charges. Additionally, making your listing stand out with a ‘Discount’ title and offering special ‘Friends + Family’ discounts can attract more guests. Remember, success in Airbnb hosting in Colombia, especially during slower periods, demands adaptability and strategic planning.
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