By Joe Giannotti · Tampa, Florida
It's the right question to ask before spending money. Here's the honest answer.
Your listing photo is the only part of your property a guest experiences before booking. They can't smell the fresh paint or feel the breeze on the porch — they see a thumbnail, at phone size, in a row of competitors. Better photos don't make your property better; they stop it from losing to worse properties with better pictures.
Vrbo — a platform with every incentive to be straight with owners — puts it like this: "While the expense may seem high, professional photos could very well be the difference between booking 20 weeks a year and booking 30 weeks, which could amount to thousands of extra dollars in rental revenue."
And from my own work: the first property I ever photographed was a mountain chalet whose owner, Dee Turnage, also had me build her website. Her words afterward: "The pictures and website I had displayed in the past are truly night and day to what I have now! I can definitely say that bookings have increased since working with him."
The math is simple enough to do on a napkin: one extra booked week usually pays for the shoot several times over, and the photos keep working every night after that.
Quick answers
Do professional photos increase Airbnb bookings?
Photos are the primary factor guests use to compare listings, and platforms say so directly — Vrbo notes professional photos can be the difference between booking 20 weeks a year and booking 30, worth thousands in rental revenue.
How fast does professional photography pay for itself?
Typically within one to two extra booked weeks. Since the photos keep working for the life of the listing, the cost per booked night approaches zero over time.
What results have real owners seen?
After a professional shoot and new website for her rental chalet, owner Dee Turnage reported that the difference was "night and day" and that bookings increased.