Do Better Photos Earn More? What the Research Says About Vacation Rental Photography

Owners and property managers ask us some version of the same question: will better photos actually earn more? It is a fair question, and it does not need a sales pitch. Researchers and the booking platforms have studied it. Here is what they found, with the caveats.

The best study: about 9% more occupancy

The most careful work comes from researchers at Carnegie Mellon, published in Management Science in 2022. They followed 7,423 Airbnb properties for 16 months and compared demand before and after hosts switched from their own photos to photos taken by Airbnb’s professional photographers. Properties with professional photos had about 9% higher occupancy than comparable properties with host photos.

They also measured what made the professional images work: composition, color, and how clearly the subject of each photo stands out. Those are exactly the things a photographer controls on every frame, which is why a phone snapshot of the same room underperforms.

Airbnb’s own numbers point the same way

Airbnb reports that listings using its professional photography service saw 19% more bookings and 21% higher host earnings over 2024 and 2025, comparing more than 14,700 listings with professional photos to more than 62,300 without.

Two caveats. Airbnb sells that service, and its figures are a comparison, not a controlled experiment. Hosts who invest in photos may also invest in other things. Even so, the direction matches the academic result.

The cover photo does the most work

Research by Weiming Zhu of IESE Business School looked at which photos, in which order, drive bookings on Airbnb. The cover image had a much larger effect than any other photo. In the study’s model, a listing that switched to the best photo layout (the right room on the cover, the strongest images, in the right order) earned about 11% more bookings on average, or two to five more booked nights a year.

That result is about choosing and ordering photos well, not only shooting them well. It is why we plan the cover image before the shoot, and deliver a recommended order with every rental gallery.

Most listings leave this on the table

A 2026 PriceLabs review of more than 10,000 short-term rental listings in nine cities found that almost 70% had poor images: blurry photos, bad lighting or a weak order. Only 12% of listings met its standard for a well-optimized listing, and those listings were 35% more likely to outperform their local market. Photos are one part of that score, alongside titles, descriptions and amenities.

A separate 2026 analysis by IntelliHost and Key Data of about 360,000 active US listings found that listings with the fullest galleries earned far more per available night than listings with only a handful of photos. The authors are clear that this is a correlation: better-run listings tend to have more photos. But it is consistent with what guests want, which is to see every room before they book.

What it means for a luxury rental

In Telluride and Mountain Village, nightly rates are high, so small percentages are real money. As a simple illustration: if better photos lifted bookings by 9% at the same nightly rates, a home grossing $150,000 a year would earn about $13,500 more. Your numbers will differ, but the math is why professional photos usually pay for themselves quickly at this end of the market.

The research also tells you where to spend the effort: a cover image that stands out in search, a full gallery that shows every bedroom, bath and amenity, and photos that match the season guests are booking.

How we shoot rentals

Every rental shoot starts with the cover image. We photograph every bedroom and bath, the kitchen, the living spaces, the hot tub, the views and the details guests ask about. We deliver the gallery sized for Airbnb, Vrbo and direct booking sites, with a recommended order, and we can add aerials, video and vertical cuts for social. For properties booked year-round, we recommend a summer set and a winter set.

If you own or manage a rental, send us the listing link. We will tell you honestly whether new photos are worth it.