Ep 68: Stargazing Domes and Building Host Port, with Tristan Kavanagh

Ray Yee (0:00)

Great. All right. Welcome to this week's episode of Superhosts Down Under. This week, we have Tristan on the show. Welcome to the show.

Tristan Kavanagh (0:08)

Thanks for having me.

Silvia (0:10)

Welcome, Tristan.

Tristan Kavanagh (0:11)

Thanks for having me, guys.

Ray Yee (0:13)

And before we get into your story, we're going to discuss our topic of this week. Silvia, what do we have this week?

Silvia (0:21)

I thought we could discuss how hosts can stay ahead of major local events to maximize yields.

Ray Yee (0:29)

Great.

Silvia (0:29)

So a couple of podcasts ago, I mentioned how on Airbnb, on the calendar, you'll notice these red circles. And when you click on it, it tells you what the event is, what the local event is. And I, I found out that in 2028, I know it's a long way ahead. But on Saturday, July 22nd of 2028, there will be a rare total solar eclipse over Sydney.

And my calendar is open that far ahead. And I assume other people's are as well. So I thought, let me see if Airbnb has put a red circle around that date, because it will bring in a lot of people to Sydney. And I had a look and it wasn't red circled. So I thought, you know, these big events are very important because as a host, I could have taken a booking for that date, not realising that it's going to be huge. Sydney hasn't experienced this for 171 years. And what will happen is the sky over Sydney metropolitan area will darken dramatically.

In the middle of the day for approximately four minutes, which is double the time the recent eclipse over the Northern Hemisphere darken the sky. So it will trigger an influx of travellers. And this is what I'm talking about. How do we stay on top of these local events? Because had I accepted the booking request that I got, which I didn't, I would have been shortchanging myself. Like I can earn a lot more. I can put in a custom setting of a minimum of three nights during that time. You know, there's a lot I can do to have that extra revenue. So I just wondered how the two of you deal with it, how hosts should deal with it.

Ray Yee (2:39)

I deal with it with my co-host. And I think because they manage quite a lot of properties, they look at events that are happening in the city or in the area.

And we've tested Price Labs before and beyond pricing. And I think it's with those things, we're still doing some manual override. And I think our calendar is not open that far in advance, several months so that we're not stuck. We don't get caught out, because someone can plan an event with, and then it throws all your bookings out if you had your schedule out for a year, and someone puts a new concert in the schedule, and then you've already sold your nights at a lower rate. So I think for that reason, without knowing, I can't predict the future, I don't have the calendar open that far in advance. But we also look at some external sources. What do you do, Tristan?

Tristan Kavanagh (3:35)

Um, yeah, similar.

I don't have the calendar that far open in advance. I usually have about a 12-month window.

One of my Airbnbs is on the beaches, so it means like long weekends and stuff. Obviously, bookings like similar to that, like people go to the beach, especially during summer. And yeah, just trying to be on top of that. Like I manually try and be on top of that. A lot of the stuff I do miss. And yeah, I do miss revenue because of it. It is kind of a bit of a shame, but I've just got to be more on the ball. That sort of thing. I have Pricelabs. I've tried Pricelabs before. I find that all right. But yeah, it is something that I'm probably not fully across completely. And I'm definitely leaving a bit of money on the table, which probably isn't the best idea. So 28 But Taven, your calendar must be like two years in advance.

Silvia (4:24)

It's two years in advance. But I also, as we discussed in a recent podcast, I also think that you're missing out on, if you're not opened in advance, you're missing out on the guests who have a behavioral way of booking well in advance. And so my bookings, I find the people that are booking in advance, it's about a year and a half.

And those people will always book in advance. They're forward planners. They love to have something to look forward to. That's what I hear that they're saying. So my point is that you're missing that market all together. So yeah, I may miss an important event. But at the same time, I don't have to decrease my prices closer to the time because I've missed out on those people who book well in advance.