Mr. Patrick Robinson:

We can see when a host has declared he or she is available for booking. That does not mean the host is going to accept all of those bookings. In some cases, for example, a host could decide to make their calendar available on the basis that if they got a booking the host could go and stay at a girlfriend's flat instead. Or, they might not be keeping their calendar up to date. This means that when somebody tries to make a booking they are told "I am sorry it is not available". Availability and occupancy is very complex for Airbnb to track. We are talking about individual human beings who are switching on and off their calendars. Sometimes they would deactivate their listing completely. They might decide that they are done for six months, they are going to be in their property for a while and not take any more bookings. The listing becomes inactive and people cannot find it anymore. Some hosts like to keep their listing active. On the off chance they get a booking they might choose to go on holiday that weekend because it would be quite lucrative for them to have a guest then. It is actually quite a dynamic picture, which is why whenever we have got to talking turkey with governments about how to figure out who is doing what, nights booked is a much more accurate depiction of what is going on as opposed to what could potentially be going on.