Coronavirus - is it affecting your bookings?

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moray_cottages
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Coronavirus - is it affecting your bookings?

Post by moray_cottages »

Is it just me or is anyone else experiancing an effect on bookings with the coronovirus outbreak? We are in the very North of Scotland and have already had 2 cancellations this week and NO bookings when we would expect to be quite busy.......
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

Hard to say - the last year has been all over the place. We might have suffered from the uncertainty over Brexit or it could be that the likes of ABB are taking over and changing the way people book.

There seems to be more demand for short stays which is a mixed blessing for us. We're off site and rely on cleaners who can only do particular days so short bookings can be a problem. If we manage to get 2 in a week then we do well out of it, but sometimes we could end up with 1 short stay making the whole week unavailable. Recently we've had a few Thursday to Sunday stays which leave gaps that don't get filled. They're OK off-peak, but I suspect more people are looking for those type of breaks year round. If that's the case then we might be losing out to places that are more flexible.

We haven't had any cancellations. I notice ABB are offering to refund guests who have to cancel because of Coronavirus - meaning the owners will have to refund even if they don't manage to rebook those dates.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
Gazpacho
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Post by Gazpacho »

Without a doubt, people who rely on guests flying from overseas are going to be badly hit this year. Looking at internet forums, people are more worried about catching the virus at airports and on planes than whether the actual destination has been affected. Also people are concerned about being quarantined. Our house is in Spain and we've noticed a huge drop-off in enquiries already. My theory is that some guests who've already booked flights and paid deposits will travel anyway, while others will cancel even if they lose money.

We get a lot of big family groups which include older people, who might understandably be particularly nervous about the virus. I think some younger couples, for example, might be more inclined to risk travelling.

It's possible that if everything has calmed down later in the year, people might start booking again, but who knows what will happen?
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

We shouldn't have to act as insurance for guests. Would BA?

Bookings SLOW.
It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.
Drax
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Post by Drax »

Our bookings/queries do appear to have slowed since the Coronavirus started making the news.
I suppose the fear factor, prompted by lurid headline news every day regarding the illness, has 'kicked in' for a lot of people fearful of contracting it.
If the situation continues to worsen and more people are infected world-wide, then tourism will be adversely affected.
Keep your powder dry.
Jenster
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Post by Jenster »

I actually took a booking due to coronavirus yesterday! They were booked for Lanzarote, but got cold feet and cancelled, and booked with me in Cornwall instead.
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

I was wondering about that - and if more remote places might do OK if people try to avoid crowded resorts.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

We already have all the bookings we need for this year but I fully expect some to cancel. In fact our first visitors are friends and he is 80 - being in a flying petri dish for 2 hours doesn't sound like a good idea!
Normally for our paying guests I ask for the remaining 75% six weeks in advance. As they are all (bar one) returners and I trust them, nearer the time I will reassure them they can make their decision whether to come or not right up to the last minute.
I think it will be a tough year for everyone who relies on guests who fly in. Those of you in the UK, hope you do benefit from our discomfort!
Martha
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Post by Martha »

Joanna wrote:I notice ABB are offering to refund guests who have to cancel because of Coronavirus - meaning the owners will have to refund even if they don't manage to rebook those dates.
I couldn't find a reference to this on ABB - only that they would cover it under their insurance IF the guest had taken it, in case of travel to South Korea or China.
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/270 ... ces-policy

I'm looking hard because our next guests are from ABB and have gone very quiet, they are supposed to arrive on Saturday.
Chalet la Foret, Chamonix
Joanna
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Post by Joanna »

I've had an email from ABB today - it seems that it's not applicable everywhere:
We want to help our community stay safe and well-informed. That’s why we’ve activated our extenuating circumstances policy in mainland China, South Korea, and certain locations in Italy.
What does this policy mean for hosts?

Eligible reservations can be canceled without charges, including:
  • Hosts who are hosting in—or welcoming guests from—severely impacted areas
    Guests who are traveling to or from severely impacted areas
    Anyone who can’t complete their trip due to travel restrictions
What happens after a reservation like this is canceled?
  • The guest will receive a full refund (including any fees)
    Hosts won’t incur any cancellation fees
    Hosts can accept new reservations for those dates
    Superhost status will not be affected
I guess that they might extend this to other countries in future.
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

This policy, which no doubt Homeaway will follow, shows complete disregard for the rental owner.

It proposes that a renter will be fully reimbursed if they are unable to travel due to a government-level travel advisory or restriction. But this is the same condition under which travel insurance will cover cost of travel and accommodation, so it is not necessary as long as renters have travel insurance. If the renter has travel insurance, then neither renter nor owner need lose out. But with this policy airbnb is erasing the possibility of owners getting paid when there is a travel advisory in place, even if all renters have travel insurance. It is basically saying to its customer base (which is not owners): don't bother with travel insurance, the property owners will cover you.

This could mean we owners will make very little money this year, while renters will be untouched.
Paolo
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apexblue
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Post by apexblue »

Can't remember any guest having insurance when TRYING to get refunded.
It is better to remain quiet and have one think you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt....

The biggest mistake we make in life is thinking we have time.
DivineMrsM
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Post by DivineMrsM »

paolo wrote:This policy, which no doubt Homeaway will follow, shows complete disregard for the rental owner.

It proposes that a renter will be fully reimbursed if they are unable to travel due to a government-level travel advisory or restriction. But this is the same condition under which travel insurance will cover cost of travel and accommodation, so it is not necessary as long as renters have travel insurance. If the renter has travel insurance, then neither renter nor owner need lose out. But with this policy airbnb is erasing the possibility of owners getting paid when there is a travel advisory in place, even if all renters have travel insurance. It is basically saying to its customer base (which is not owners): don't bother with travel insurance, the property owners will cover you.

This could mean we owners will make very little money this year, while renters will be untouched.
I agree, Paolo. You probably don't remember (it's a long time since I was on here!) but I run my sister's London and France holiday rentals. That ABB email filled us with dread.

We have guests due at the end of March from the US and she has no travel insurance (as usual, it seems). If the policy extends to London (which is probably likely) then she'll get all her money back and we'll get nothing.

How are owners meant to survive under those circumstances? Our insurance is with Boshers who say that they won't cover this sort of cancellation.
Lynne
for Metropolitan Retreat in London https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/6712284
and
Le Cheval Blanc in France https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/6714302
Pengman
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Post by Pengman »

Our bookings have slowed right up over the past 4-6 weeks. We're actually booked for 25 nights in March which is better than I expected, but currently not a single booking for April and few bookings beyond that (and most of these were made several months ago). That said, our prices rise on 1st April, and again over Easter), so are we simply too high? (we're not if you compare the competition). We're in our second calendar year and didn't kick off until mid-April 2019, so have no experience of taking bookings in February and March, although I expected them to be higher than they've been, and possibly much higher - when do people book their summer holidays these days anyway? We did well last year and thought we'd do even better this year, but I'm beginning to get quite nervous. One thing I'm thinking of doing is confronting the issue head on and kicking off the description of our property with a list of the precautions were taking to maintain the safety of our guests, but as you can imagine these don't amout to much as there's only so much you can do. Any comments on this approach?
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ianh100
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Post by ianh100 »

Hi Pengman

We are inland in Dorset and have a 2 and a 3 bed. We have quite a few bookings for our 2 bed but almost none for our 3 bed going into the summer. We have been operating 8 years and every year is different, I recently looked back at bookings that had been made by this point in the year are there are very few patterns to be seen, we are actually up a tiny bit based on the same date last year.

I am finding bookings are made much later but then we have moved to different OTA like booking.vom and ABB. As much as we hate them they do bring in bookings. I think with the current situation people will risk booking later and perhaps prefer a self contained property rather than a big hotel mixing with others. I think this year could be bumpy and much more last minute bookings.
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