These property managers used Airbnb tools to boost occupancy

When husband-and-wife team Angie and Chris first began renovating and renting artist lofts in Paris to travelers a decade ago, they struggled to attract guests. Despite listing with three online travel platforms and on their own website, occupancy rarely topped 50 percent.

But their fortunes changed five years ago, when, seeking a wider audience, they started listing their seven Artisan Lofts Paris on Airbnb. The platform’s global reach helped attract a steady stream of young, tech-savvy guests, and occupancy soared to what the couple estimates to be around 85 percent in the high season and about 75 percent in the winter off-season.

“Airbnb opened the hospitality market to new clients and new travelers,” says Chris, a former consultant at PwC. “It made the industry a model in terms of innovation, technology, and client experiences.”

For savvy hosts like Angie and Chris, Airbnb’s platform offered not only reach but also a medium for beautifully displaying photographs of their chic mini lofts, which are repurposed from old bakeries, fashion ateliers, and artist studios. A prominently displayed gallery allows them to showcase their aesthetic—art deco graphic posters, mid-century-modern chairs, and red checkerboard bedspreads. Airbnb also gives them a platform for sharing local tips with guests through custom guidebooks on where local Parisians shop, dine, and drink.

“We host because we love traveling,” says Chris. “We love traveling as locals, not as tourists. So we decided to host and help our guests live like locals when traveling.”

“Airbnb has created something that other platforms have never been able to create, and that’s a category for high-quality hosts,” he says. “It’s also an opportunity for the homeowner to improve himself and to try to get that reward.”

Prior to joining Airbnb, Chris and Angie struggled to manage their booking calendars across several platforms and their own reservation software. “It was a nightmare,” says Chris. Airbnb has allowed them to sync all of their calendars so that multiple guests don’t book the same dates. There are also help pages on the platform that provide the couple with information about how to optimize their business on Airbnb. After reading a tip suggesting they decrease their minimum length-of-stay requirements, Angie and Chris quickly began attracting more clients.

The couple has also benefited from the platform’s automated pricing tools, which indicate optimized rates a full year in advance based on factors like seasonality, days of the week, and special events. “Airbnb has given anyone who is running a smaller business the tools of a hotelier,” says Chris.

Thanks to their success in Paris, the couple is now expanding to Portugal. Airbnb’s co-hosting tools will enable them to hire someone who will help them manage their property from afar. “I think the co-host has changed the way that people are running their businesses,” Chris says. “I think Airbnb is always into innovation and anticipation.”

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.