For anyone running a minpaku (private lodging) business—or planning to start one—deciding which booking sites (OTAs: Online Travel Agents) to use is a critical business decision. Among them, **Airbnb** stands out as the pioneer that brought the concept of minpaku to the mainstream, and thanks to its name recognition and ease of use, many hosts rely on it as their primary channel for attracting guests.

“Airbnb alone brings in plenty of bookings, and the fees are low, so it’s efficient.”
“Expanding to other sites seems like too much hassle…”

Quite a few hosts think this way and end up adopting a **”single-platform strategy” of listing exclusively on Airbnb.** It’s true that Airbnb’s fees tend to be lower than those of other OTAs, which can make it look attractive from a profit-margin standpoint.

However, did you know that this “Airbnb-only strategy” carries an enormous—and frankly unacceptable—risk? In the worst-case scenario, your account could be suddenly suspended (banned), wiping out all of your revenue overnight.

In this article, we’ll take a close look at why relying solely on Airbnb for guest acquisition is so dangerous, covering the following points in detail:

• Why the Airbnb-only strategy seems appealing
• Why relying solely on Airbnb is dangerous: the hidden serious risks
• The reality and examples of account suspensions (bans)
• Countermeasures: listing on other OTAs and diversifying
• Benefits and cautions of managing multiple OTAs

Please read through to the end so you can stabilize your minpaku operations and protect yourself from unexpected trouble.

Why the Airbnb-Only Strategy Seems Appealing

First, let’s break down why so many hosts default to Airbnb and end up relying on it exclusively—and understand the appeal behind that decision.

1. High Brand Recognition and Guest-Drawing Power

Airbnb is one of the most famous minpaku platforms in the world. Its overwhelming brand power and name recognition make it an extremely powerful tool for attracting new guests. It’s especially popular among international tourists, making it indispensable for capturing inbound demand.

Thanks to high search engine rankings and aggressive marketing efforts, Airbnb can reach far more users than an individual host could on their own—leading many to think, “If I just list on Airbnb, the bookings will come.”

2. Relatively Low Fees

Airbnb’s fee structure is a major factor that makes it appealing to hosts. Airbnb offers two types of host fees: **”Host-Only Fee”** and **”Split Fee.”**

• Host-Only Fee: Under this common structure, the host pays a fee of roughly 14%–16% of the room rate. Guests aren’t charged any fee, so they pay exactly the price displayed.
• Split Fee: Here, the host pays about 3% of the room rate while the guest pays a service fee of roughly 14.2%. This keeps the host’s fees very low. This used to be the more common structure, and some accounts can still be set up this way.

Either way, compared to other major OTAs like Booking.com or Expedia, which typically charge hosts commissions of 15%–25%, Airbnb’s fees are relatively low, making it easier to maintain healthy profit margins.

3. A User-Friendly Platform

Airbnb’s website and app are designed to be intuitive and easy to use. From creating listings to managing bookings and messaging guests, the everyday tasks hosts need to perform are simple and straightforward, allowing even hosts who aren’t particularly tech-savvy to operate fairly smoothly.

Airbnb’s review system is also robust, and positive guest reviews tend to lead to more future bookings—creating a virtuous cycle that makes it easy for hosts to focus their efforts on the platform.

Given all these advantages, it’s easy to see why many hosts feel “Airbnb alone is enough” and end up relying exclusively on it rather than putting in the extra effort to list on other OTAs.

Why Relying Solely on Airbnb Is Dangerous: The Hidden Serious Risks

As appealing as the Airbnb-only strategy may seem, it hides serious risks that can shake the very foundation of your minpaku business.

1. The Risk of Unexplained Account Suspension (Ban)

This is the risk you should fear most. On Airbnb, **numerous cases have been reported of host accounts being unilaterally suspended (banned).** What’s worse, the reasons are often never clearly explained, leaving hosts feeling that the decision was completely unjustified.

Possible reasons for suspension include the following, though the actual explanation given to hosts is often vague:

• Terms of service violations: Violating Airbnb’s policies (e.g., operating without proper permits, false listing information, discriminatory behavior, exchanging contact information in violation of the rules, etc.).
• Guest complaints or low ratings: Repeated complaints from certain guests, or a string of extremely low ratings.
• Suspected fraudulent activity: Manipulating bookings improperly or exploiting the system.
• Security concerns: Account hijacking or suspicious login activity.
• Neighbor disputes: Complaints from neighbors, such as noise, reported directly to Airbnb.
• Automated system errors: There have also been reports of Airbnb’s automated detection system mistakenly flagging an account as suspicious and suspending it in error.

The core issue is that Airbnb makes a unilateral decision, often without giving hosts a fair chance to appeal, and the account gets suspended abruptly. Once an account is suspended, all listings are naturally taken offline, and existing bookings may be cancelled as well. In that instant, you’re looking at a complete loss of revenue.

2. The Crisis of Zero Revenue and the Struggle to Keep Your Business Running

If you’ve been operating solely through Airbnb and your account gets suspended, your minpaku business’s revenue drops to zero in an instant.

• Loss of bookings: If suspended, even confirmed reservations months into the future could all be cancelled. This doesn’t just mean an immediate loss of income—it can also lead to guest compensation issues and damage to your reputation.
• Difficulty recovering: Reinstating a suspended account is reportedly very difficult. Since Airbnb rarely provides clear reasons, hosts often have no idea what to fix, leaving them stuck with no clear path forward.
• Ongoing fixed costs: Even with zero revenue, fixed costs like rent, utilities, cleaning, and management fees keep piling up. Continuing to pay these expenses with no income makes it extremely difficult to keep the business afloat.

In ordinary business terms, this is comparable to having your main client suddenly cut ties with you, with no backup plan in place. This is a risk that no business owner should have to accept.

3. The Risk of Platform Dependence

When you become completely dependent on a massive platform like Airbnb, you expose yourself to the risk of being at the mercy of their unilateral decisions—whether it’s changes to their terms of service, fee structures, or search algorithms.

For example, if fees are suddenly raised, or if the algorithm determining listing rankings changes overnight, hosts have no choice but to adapt. When your entire lifeline for guest acquisition rests in someone else’s hands, you have little room to negotiate, and your business plans can be thrown into disarray.

The Reality and Examples of Account Suspensions (Bans)

Stories from hosts who have actually had their Airbnb accounts suspended can be found scattered across the internet.

• “I was suddenly banned for reasons I still don’t understand. All I get back from support is a canned response.”
• “A series of minor guest complaints piled up, and before I knew it, I was suspended without any explanation.”
• “It seems an anonymous complaint from a neighbor led to my account being suspended without any investigation.”
• “Once suspended, it was nearly impossible to create a new account, and I essentially had to give up on my minpaku business altogether.”

Of course, it’s understandable that Airbnb needs strict rules to maintain a healthy platform and crack down on bad-faith hosts. However, when that process is unilateral and opaque, it creates real problems for honest, hardworking hosts who end up losing their businesses for unjustified reasons.

Cases like these are far from someone else’s problem. This is a risk that could strike any host at any time, and it needs to be taken seriously.

Countermeasures: Listing on Other OTAs and Diversifying

Now that you understand the risks lurking in the “Airbnb-only strategy,” what specific steps should you take? The answer is to list your property on other OTAs as well and diversify your guest acquisition channels.

1. Listing on Multiple OTAs (Diversifying Sales Channels)

The most basic and effective countermeasure is to list your property on OTAs besides Airbnb. Major OTAs include the following platforms:

• Booking.com: One of the world’s largest accommodation booking sites, popular with business travelers and guests who prefer a simple, fast booking process.
• Expedia Group: Operates multiple brands including Expedia, Hotels.com, and Agoda, giving you access to a wide range of guest demographics.
• Rakuten Travel / Jalan: Leading booking sites for domestic Japanese travelers, particularly strong with Japanese families and business travelers.
• VRBO: A site specializing in vacation rentals, popular among families and group travelers.

By spreading your listings across these sites, you build a kind of **”insurance policy”—if something goes wrong on Airbnb, you can still maintain income through your other channels.**

2. Strengthening Your Own Website and Social Media Presence

To further reduce your dependence on OTAs, it’s also very effective to launch your own website or leverage social media platforms like Instagram and X to attract guests directly.

• Your own website: Enables direct bookings, completely eliminating OTA fees, and helps you build a base of repeat guests.
• Social media: Sharing attractive photos and videos of your property lets you reach potential guests directly. This works especially well for properties with a niche selling point—like the “pet-friendly” angle we covered in our previous blog post—which tends to shine on social media.

That said, building and running your own website or social media presence takes time and effort. For most hosts, starting with multiple OTA listings is the more realistic first step.

3. Partnering with a Property Management Company

Listing on multiple OTAs and centralizing booking management can be a huge amount of work for an individual host. This is where a minpaku property management company can help.

Property management companies typically offer services such as:

• Registration and management of listings across multiple OTAs: Using specialized knowledge and tools to efficiently manage listings on multiple sites.
• Centralized booking management (channel manager): Implementing a system (a channel manager) that prevents double bookings and syncs availability in real time for efficient management.
• Inquiry handling: Responding promptly to inquiries from each OTA as well as questions from guests.

This allows hosts to diversify their guest acquisition channels and reduce risk, all without the added burden.

Benefits and Cautions of Managing Multiple OTAs

Operating across multiple OTAs offers a range of benefits beyond just risk mitigation. However, there are also some important points to keep in mind.

Benefits of Managing Multiple OTAs

• Maximizing guest acquisition opportunities: Exposing your property to a larger pool of travelers directly translates to higher occupancy rates.
• Reaching different guest demographics: Each OTA tends to attract a different type of guest (e.g., Airbnb skews toward individual travelers, Booking.com toward business travelers, Jalan toward domestic Japanese families). Using multiple sites lets you capture a wide range of needs.
• Ability to compare fee structures: You can compare the fees and promotional programs offered by each OTA and strategically leverage the channels with the best profit margins.
• Flexible revenue management: You can adjust pricing and discount campaigns to fit the characteristics of each channel, maximizing overall revenue.
• Building brand reputation: Earning strong reviews across multiple platforms strengthens the overall brand power of your minpaku property.

Cautions When Managing Multiple OTAs

• Risk of double bookings: Managing inventory manually across multiple OTAs increases the risk of **”double bookings,”** where two reservations get made for the same dates. This can not only damage guest trust but also lead to compensation issues.
  • Solution: Be sure to implement a channel manager to centrally manage your booking status.
• Increased management workload: Managing listing updates, pricing, and guest messaging separately for each OTA adds to your workload.
  • Solution: Consider using a channel manager or partnering with a property management company.
• Understanding fee structures: Since each OTA has different fee structures and payment cycles, be sure to thoroughly understand these details in advance.
• The importance of review management: Earning positive reviews on each OTA is essential. Make sure to treat guests with care and attentiveness so reviews accumulate naturally.

Summary

There’s no doubt that Airbnb is an appealing guest acquisition channel for many hosts, thanks to its brand recognition and relatively low fees. However, relying exclusively on Airbnb through a “single-platform strategy” carries extremely serious risks that could threaten the very survival of your business.

In particular, the risk of an unexplained account suspension (ban) can instantly wipe out your revenue and even force you out of the minpaku business entirely. This is a risk that no business owner should have to accept. To keep your minpaku operations stable, taking steps to mitigate this risk is essential.

• Diversify your guest acquisition channels by listing on major OTAs besides Airbnb, such as Booking.com, Expedia, Rakuten Travel, and Jalan.
• Implement a channel manager to prevent double bookings.
• If possible, strengthen your direct guest acquisition through your own website and social media.
• Consider partnering with a property management company to reduce your administrative workload.

By taking these steps, you build a kind of “insurance policy”—even if trouble arises on one platform, you can maintain your income through other channels, protecting your minpaku business. Rather than fixating solely on low fees, adopting a diversified, risk-conscious guest acquisition strategy is the key to long-term success in minpaku management.

Get in Touch with Stay Buddy for Diversified Guest Acquisition Strategies and Operational Efficiency

“I want to list on OTAs besides Airbnb, but I don’t know how to get started.”
“I’m not confident about setting up or managing a channel manager.”
“I want to build a diversified strategy to achieve stable guest acquisition and revenue.”

Do any of these concerns about minpaku guest acquisition or operational efficiency sound familiar?

At Stay Buddy Inc., our specialized team provides comprehensive support for your minpaku operations—from helping you list on multiple OTAs and set up and manage a channel manager, to developing effective guest acquisition strategies and handling unexpected trouble. Let’s work together to build a minpaku operation that minimizes risk while maximizing revenue.