Brands: HostAStay

5 Practical Tips For Airbnb Hosts To Survive MCO And Its Aftermath, From Industry Experts

In 2019, the Malaysia tourism industry brought in 26.1 million tourists who spent around RM86 billion, an increase of 2.4% compared to 2018. 

However, with the pandemic, Malaysia’s tourism industry is expected to make a loss of RM3.37 billion within the first two months of the year, and experts are predicting that it will take the nation at least 10 months to recover too.

To negate some of the damages, Airbnb offered guests refunds on their service charges via coupons for cancelled bookings in hopes that people will book through the platform again once MCO lifts.

With that in mind, HostAStay, a platform that helps connect vacant property owner to host and assists Airbnb hosts with training, consultation and management, hosted an online conference on March 30.

They brought in several key players from the tourism industry such as Rohan Raghavan (Industry Manager for Google Malaysia), Michael Tan (Director of Freemen Education), and Dato’ Sri Gavin Tee (President of Swhengtee Group) to give their insights on how a host should operate during the MCO and also after the MCO is lifted in Malaysia.

1. Get Side-Gigs Or Temporarily Pivot The Purpose Of The Unit

The panel advised short-stay hosts to try and transition to do something else instead, as they see the demand for short-stay units lowering in the coming months.

Michael said hosts could try to convert their units into quarantine centres, so the people who are infected can choose to isolate themselves and have a place to stay. You could also think of providing food and medical support for the guests.

Dato’ Sri Gavin Tee chimed in and said that hosts should also potentially look into providing staycation type units as he believes local travelling will increase this year.

Jordan Oon, the CEO of HostAStay later added that hosts can potentially even transition into offering their units as video shooting studios and virtual offices to get some cash rolling in.

2. Convert Your Unit Into Long-Stay Units

Hosts that can transition their units into long-stays can capture a new market that they’ve not explored before as the experts can see the shift coming. 

Michael then shared that some of the guests might not be looking to stay in shared units anymore, to keep themselves safe from being infected.

So long-stay units might entice young adult workers looking for a unit to stay in the city.

Jordan brought up companies like Tujia in China, who are already looking into long-stay units.

“[Current] short-stay units have a huge advantage over existing long-stay units as they are more well-renovated and have better quality. This will give the tenants more reason to move from their existing units into previously short-stay units.”

3. Use Data Collection To Build Brand Loyalty

Rohan mentioned that in most of the places that he stayed in, the hosts weren’t even there to greet him in person, and they didn’t ask anything else other than his purpose of visiting.

But during this period, he believes building brand loyalty is important. By putting the customers first, it’ll show that you actually care, and when they’re thinking of travelling, they’ll keep you in mind.

He advises hosts to contact ex-guests as a start.

A simple survey can be all you need to collect data on your ex-guests. In the survey, you could ask questions about what can be improved or what they liked about their stay.

With the data you collected, you can then tweak your unit accordingly after MCO lifts.

Adni M. Fauzi, the CEO of Tawakkal Homestay agreed with the statement saying that if you want to continue in this business, you’ll have to keep learning and during the MCO, it is the best time to learn.

Jordan added that as a host, you must adopt a hospitality mindset instead of having a property mindset of looking for a profit. Thinking of how to ensure your guest would get a memorable and good stay is important in building brand loyalty.

4. Check Out The Competition

Eric Wong, one of the co-founders of Sync Academy also advised attendees to learn from experienced hosts. Before he joined the industry, he stayed in other Airbnbs to get some knowledge on how to run a successful unit.

“Try renting a unit in the area that you’re trying to start. If your property has 3 rooms, try to rent a unit with 3 rooms and experience how other hosts manage their unit.” 

He said that if you experience something you’d like to have in your unit, you can try and replicate it in yours. If there’s something you dislike, you can avoid doing so in your unit.

With this knowledge, you can then make smarter decisions on the renovation of your unit.

5. Keep An Eye Out For Potential Collaborations

“In times like these, everyone should work together instead. Work out how to collaborate with people outside your industry and get something going,” Michael insisted. 

For example, if your unit is located nearby famous eateries, you could try and strike up a partnership with them and offer guests that live in your unit a discount on meals. Alternatively, the eateries can offer their customers discounts on your unit if they wish to stay nearby.

By collaborating with more local players, you’ll build a sense of community and you can then provide better deals and discounts for your guests. 

Jordan stressed that collaboration is needed because everyone is already suffering from the effects of COVID-19 and working together will allow everyone to maximise their gain and reduce risks.

He hopes to see other like-minded players in the industry join hands and collaborate, especially during the crisis.

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As a company in the tourism industry, Jordan said that HostAStay has several plans moving forward, as he sees MCO as a chance to digitise their knowledge and share it to the world. And this online conference is one of the ways they can do just that.

He foresees the company as an information hub to drive tourism back to its peak. Then after everything has normalised, they will then turn their focus back on the hosts to assist them in generating better income and operate efficiently.

• For more info on the HostAStay Short-Stay conference here.

Also Read: 3 Ways On How HSBC Is Helping SMEs To Get Through These Tough Times

M’sian Short-Stay Hosts Will Appreciate This, Because Some Guests Just Can’t Have Nice Things

You probably remember the viral incident last year involving a guest who left a host’s house with RM50,000 worth of damage.

It’s any host’s nightmare brought to reality to find most of their furniture smashed with garbage strewn about all around.

This isn’t the first time incidents like this have been reported. There have been numerous cases globally involving loss and damage happening to short-stay homes which adds a burden to the host when renting out their property.

And despite the increasing demand in the short-stay market in Malaysia, there aren’t a lot of options for hosts to protect their property and themselves from such occurrences.

This is where HostAStay comes in, a homegrown short-stay management platform. Just today, they announced a partnership with a leading insurance player to bring a solution to the market called HostProtect.

Covering For Unfortunate Incidents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb_QE6iM_U4

HostProtect is a one-of-a-kind insurance plan curated for hosts who utilise the HostAStay platform to manage their short-stay businesses.

The product was created from a collaboration between HostAStay and Tune Protect Malaysia, a licensed insurer with a comprehensive range of general insurance solutions to serve multiple consumers.

“Tune Protect Malaysia is proud to work with a progressive company such as HostAStay to offer another innovative value added insurance plan to customers, giving them peace of mind,” said Khoo Ai Lin, CEO of Tune Protect Malaysia.

During the development phase, the two companies worked closely and gathered some valuable insights on two main concerns that hosts face in the industry:

• Fear of loss and damage to home contents.

Many hosts worry that bad things could happen inside their property whilst they’re not around, which holds them back from investing in better quality furniture or fixtures. This impacts the desirability of their short-stay properties and also prevents them from participating in the short-term sharing economy altogether.

• Safety of guests and other third parties.

Although the main concern involves items being destroyed or lost, they’re at least replaceable.

With guests, anything could happen. Hosts have to prepare themselves for the possibility of facing lawsuits from accidents or unintended oversights that could lead to more trouble than gain.

“When our surveys showed that 81% of people are very worried about their unit after renting it out, myself among them, I realised it was important to bring a risk-free experience to the properties using our platform,” said Jordan Oon, CEO of HostAStay.

The Whats And Hows Of HostProtect

To address these concerns, the HostProtect service includes coverage for any loss or damage to the contents in your properties of up to RM30,000 per household. This includes theft, fire damage, flood damage, accidental damage, and general loss or damage to property.

Aside from that, the plan also covers for legal liability to guests staying in the properties of up to RM50,000 per incident that are managed by HostAStay’s host. This includes accidental death, accidental bodily injury, food and drink poisoning, accidental property damage, and loss or damage to guest’s content.

As this service is only available for all properties managed by HostAStay, it can’t be purchased separately from the HostAStay system platform.

But as long as you’re paying for the standard package which has a one-time lump sum payment of RM599 for a year’s subscription to their management platform, the property is automatically eligible for the HostProtect service.

“Our end goal is to give all our clients peace of mind when it comes to their property. We’re very proud to be Malaysia’s first short-stay protection and solutions provider,” said Jordan.

The Future Of The Short-stay Market

Travellers, tourists and guests have many choices when it comes to insurance plans protecting them. It was only a matter of time that a viable option for the other side, i.e. the hosts themselves, would appear in the market.

HostAStay believes that with this added coverage, more hosts would be keen on exploring this sharing economy model to further improve the short-stay industry here in Malaysia, which HostAStay estimates to be worth between US$10 to US$14 billion by 2025.

For Jordan, this launch is another stepping stone into the big goals he has set for HostAStay. He is looking forward to the possibilities of expanding into the rest of Southeast Asia while also focusing on building up the short-stay experience in Malaysia.

“We are committed to delivering exceptional experiences and want to provide hosts and travellers the best service. There is no doubt that HostProtect adds incredible value to all parties involved.”
– Jordan

• For more information on HostProtect or to consult with HostAStay on their large range of services, you can visit their website here.

Also Read: Is RM1k Too Much To Attend M’sia’s First Major Blockchain Event? Maybe Not.

Feature Image Credit: HostAStay