[bctt tweet=”Airbnb hosts, if you don’t allow pets in your Airbnb, is it because of the pet or the owner?”]
Introduction: Be A Pet Friendly Airbnb Listing
Pet friendly Airbnb listings are so rare that it could net you some serious dough if you opened up your listing to allow pets, including dogs. Airbnb has even added a filter specifically for pet friendly listings.
According to TripAdvisor, 53% of travelers with pets, travel with their pets. That’s a missed opportunity for most Airbnb hosts.
According to US News, the second most desired amenity is pet friendliness at 18 percent.
And, again, pet-friendliness is the 4th most wanted vacation rental amenity, only behind free parking, a fully-stocked kitchen, and a pool.
In my experience, only about 5% of listings have truly valid reasons for not being an Airbnb pet friendly listing. On the other hand, many hosts cite owner control (or, lack thereof) as the reason they would not allow pets rather than the pet itself. This is interesting, but my recommendation is to make your home pet-friendly, and here’s why…
[bctt tweet=”According to TripAdvisor, 53% of travelers with pets, travel with their pets..”]
A Pet-Friendly Airbnb Has Less Competition
It’s no surprise that a minority of vacation homes are pet-friendly. It is surprising just how few actually allow pets and dogs.
We can get technical with analyzing the exact number of Airbnb listings that are pet-friendly by using data services like AllTheRooms Analytics or AirDNA, but I prefer to do something more basic. I want to do an experiment that anyone can do.
I did a quick experiment and searched Ubud, Bali with the following criteria:
- check-in one week from today for 7 nights
- one guest
- entire home
- I zoomed in until there was less than 300 rentals (the maximum Airbnb shows you)
After two zooms, I saw 124 listings. With the ‘Pets Allowed’ filter on, the number of listings dropped by 90% to 12 Airbnb listings in Ubud, Bali that allows pets.
I did a similar experiment in a few cities and the percentage of pet friendly Airbnbs that I got was somewhere between 2-9%.
The percentage of Airbnb pet friendly listings is market dependent and I encourage you to perform this experiment in your city (tell me what you find in the comments).
To be clear, this is obviously not an exact measurement. It’s a rough estimate. If your house needs significant upgrades to be suitable for pets on Airbnb, please do some more research with the Airbnb data analytics tools mentioned above.
Regardless, by allowing pets in your Airbnb you’re going to have less competition, significantly less competition when it comes to travelers with pets.
[bctt tweet=”About 5% of Airbnb rentals are pet-friendly in any given market. Have you considered a pet-friendly Airbnb?”]
You Can Increase Nightly Rates
It’s typical, even normal, for a pet owner to pay more when they bring their pet. I’ve even seen listings that specifically add an extra $50/night fee for guests with pets. At a minimum, the security deposit is increased.
As this is normal and expected, and the FPG (future potential guest) has few options to choose from, you can earn extra revenue from not doing much. Below I list a few things you want to consider before becoming a pet-friendly Airbnb and some extra amenities you may want to provide.
You are reading my blog post on creating an Airbnb pet friendly listing. Please comment below for any questions or clarifications.
Say Hello To Higher Airbnb Occupancy
This makes sense, right? If there’s less competition, you can charge higher rates and expect higher occupancy. You open yourself up to so many more FPGs when you accept pets.
About 40% of Americans own pets. Let’s assume this is accurate for the global average (maybe slightly high) and let’s assume that 25% of them travel with their pets semi-regularly. That’s 10% of travelers (25% of 40% = 10%) that you’re missing out on by not being pet-friendly. Additionally, this 10% of travelers are trying to fit themselves into 5% of Airbnb listings.
This is especially important when it comes to the dreaded Airbnb slow season in your area. If you’re able to get an extra five nights per month during these slow times, that’s a huge bump to your revenue!
[bctt tweet=”Looking for higher occupancy during slow season? Turn your Airbnb into a pet friendly listing.”]
Welcome To Longer Airbnb Reservations
There are those folks who travel with their pets 100% of the time. But for the rest of us, we’d probably only consider traveling with our pet if we are to be gone for an extended time, say a month or more. Do you know how much it costs to put your beloved furry friend in a dog hotel? It’s expensive!
This is the Airbnb host’s dream, to book a good Airbnb guest who needs a long-term stay.
Considering A Pet Friendly Airbnb?
There are a few things you should do to your listing if you decide to become pet-friendly.
If you don’t have any outdoor space, it would be wise to purchase some indoor potty pads. Ensure nothing edible is dog-head level or lower. Anything fancy or easily breakable should be moved above this level, too. Finally, you should invest in an indoor pet fence in case there is a room or two that is still off-limits to pets.
Anything other amenities a future pet-friendly host should purchase for their listing?
What else can we do to pet-proof our Airbnb listing?
