Are you tracking DIA (days in advance) of booking?

[Michael Greenberg]

I'm a data guy (nerd), and I like and I track anything that might help drive my STR business. One data point that helps me "Stay Calm and hold that rate" is tracking how far in advance my guests book and I thought I would share my results for (3) of my properties that were available for the entire year. I track it by OTA (ABB and VRBO) and Direct bookings. The interesting thing I find, is that the OTA's want you to believe that a high percentage of bookings happen a short time prior to the guest stay. I don't see that happening. Maybe I price my places too competitively early on, but since I'm a data nerd, I am constantly checking my competitors rates, so I think I hold the line pretty well. What are your DIA's and do you think this data point is relevant in your market?

Property	DIA AIRBNB	DIA VRBO	DIA DIRECT	AVG DIA
The Oasis	43	60	64	56
Opulence	46	73	0	40
Sanctuary	40	62	35	46

[John Underwood]

@Michael Greenberg I too keep up with my VRBO and Long term rentals in Excel. I do get bookings a year out for premium events but for the most part most of my bookings are in the 3 month to 6 month range.

Homeaway / VRBO as you know has some great analytic tools for see upcoming trends in increased demand and now even projected demand.

Most of my income comes from my long term rentals so I don't worry too much about my VRBO booking. If I don't block dates off to use they end up getting rented. So my problem is more of making sure I block off some dates for me to go to the lake and use my boat and jet skis or I'll not get any play time. I use this time while I'm there to take care of maintenance issues too.