Updated on 14/05/2024
Listing your Vacation Rental Properties on multiple sites is a very common and effective distribution strategy to attract more bookings and get more visibility, but where do we start? Which sites are best?
Managing your rental property on multiple sites is a difficult task, even for experienced hosts and managers. Discover the benefits, tips and challenges of this strategy.
What are OTAs?
Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are websites or platforms that facilitate the sale of travel-related products and services, including airline tickets, car rentals, accommodations, experiences, and more. They serve as intermediaries between travelers and travel service providers, offering a convenient platform for booking. OTAs allow vendors, such as vacation rental owners and managers, to list and advertise their products, often free of charge. These platforms earn revenue through a commission-based model, wherein they take a percentage of each sale made through their platform. Popular OTAs catering to vacation rentals include Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor Rentals, HomeAway, Vrbo, Expedia, and FlipKey. Commission rates on OTAs can vary widely, typically ranging from approximately 3% to 25%.
Benefits
- Increase Visibility: OTA’s give you access to segments which would be hard to reach directly.
- Maximize Bookings: more exposure, higher number of bookings you get.
- Drive Traffic: OTA’s can drive traffic to your website. Guests often get curious and check out the website to explore the services.
- Market Information: many of these platforms offer options to compare your performance with other competitors.
Leading OTA’s
We are facing a saturated property rental market, there are many options and solutions to choose from. But first, it is important to think about the combination of sites that best suits your business.
Here are some of the most popular options to consider:
Booking: is the most popular platform used for hotel bookings, and other vacation rentals. It attracts more than 430 million monthly visitors. It is completely free, they take a commission on each booking, between 10% and 25%, depending on the country, type of property and location.
Airbnb: the fastest growing platform in the world. It offers an excellent opportunity to reach a massive audience. It has more than 650,000 active hosts and about 7 million listings in more than 220 countries. It is 100% free to publish properties, but you will be charged a commission between 3% and 5% per booking, once the booking is confirmed.
Expedia: it is another world leader. In addition to stays, it offers flights, travel packages, and many other products. It is a platform more focused on hotels, although it has more and more accommodations.
Vrbo: is another major vacation rental platform. It has more than 70 million travelers per month, making it an excellent way to reach new customers. This platform uses a pay-per-booking ad model. However, you need to post a minimum of 5 properties if you want to connect with a Channel Manager.
Work Smarter
Managing your listing on multiple vacation rental platforms is especially difficult if you are not using the right tools. Most of these obstacles could be overcome by using a channel manager and a PMS.
– Time: uploading listings, descriptions, managing pricing and customer communications on multiple platforms, bookings and setting up all the automations you can imagine.
– Overbookings: there is no worse nightmare for a host than having to deal with double bookings. The only way to avoid these situations is to use a vacation rental software that synchronizes all your channels.
– Productivity: manage your teams more efficiently by setting up tasks and automations for your employees.
Why is using multiple sites important for your properties?
Leveraging multiple online travel agency (OTA) platforms to list your properties offers several key benefits. Firstly, it significantly enhances the visibility of your properties. Different travelers prefer different booking platforms, so by diversifying your presence, you can tap into various audiences, thereby increasing the likelihood of securing bookings.
Moreover, employing multiple OTAs allows for more flexibility in pricing strategies. You can tailor your rates based on factors like demand, competition, and seasonal fluctuations across different platforms, ensuring that your properties remain competitively priced and attractive to potential guests.
Another advantage is the access to valuable market insights that each OTA provides. By listing on multiple sites, you gain access to a broader set of data and analytics, which can offer invaluable insights into booking trends, guest preferences, and market demand. This data empowers you to make informed decisions regarding pricing, marketing efforts, and overall property management.
Furthermore, diversifying your presence across multiple OTAs helps mitigate risks associated with relying solely on one platform. Changes in policies, algorithms, or market dominance of a single OTA could negatively impact your bookings. By spreading your listings across different channels, you reduce dependency on any single platform, thereby mitigating potential risks.
Additionally, utilizing multiple channels also opens up opportunities for direct bookings. While OTAs are excellent for reaching new customers, they often charge commission fees on bookings. By driving traffic to your own website or booking platform through various channels, you can encourage direct bookings, which can help save on commission fees and foster customer loyalty over time.
How to manage everything?
Easy! The automations is the key. The benefits linked to the use of a vacation rental software, allows you to empower your business, synchronizing and managing all your bookings, messages and tasks, through a centralized platform.
Publishing your rental properties on several sites is a great strategy. And also a big step, even for experienced hosts and property managers. That’s why it’s important to consider all aspects and make sure you use the right tools to streamline the process.
Hostify is the all-in-one solution for Vacation Property Management. An advanced and easy-to-use management platform that offers a wide range of excellent functionalities. This allows you to streamline your business management and communication flows so that you never miss an opportunity for a booking.
The ultimate tool to help you organize and keep track of all your properties, increase your revenue and performance, while investing much less effort! Book your free demo now and discover all it can offer to your rental business.
Choosing good platforms for listing your properties
When selecting the ideal platforms for listing your properties, it’s essential to consider their compatibility with channel managers, which streamline the management of your listings across multiple platforms. Channel managers play a pivotal role in efficiently managing your property listings across various online travel platforms. When choosing the right platforms for listing your properties, it’s crucial to ensure compatibility with your channel manager.
Firstly, assess whether the platforms you’re considering integrate seamlessly with your channel manager. Compatibility ensures smooth synchronization of property details, availability, and pricing across all channels, minimizing the risk of overbookings or discrepancies.
Additionally, consider the breadth of channels supported by your channel manager. Opt for platforms that align with your target audience and property type while also being supported by your channel manager. This ensures that your listings reach the right audience without compromising on management efficiency.
Evaluate the features offered by both the platforms and the channel manager. Look for platforms that offer robust listing features and tools while also providing comprehensive integration options with channel managers. This includes features such as instant booking, calendar synchronization, and real-time updates.
Furthermore, consider the level of customer support provided by both the platforms and the channel manager. Prompt and reliable support can be invaluable when troubleshooting issues or optimizing your listings for maximum visibility and bookings.
Lastly, factor in the cost implications of using both the platforms and the channel manager. While some platforms may offer competitive commission rates, ensure that the overall cost of using the platform in conjunction with your channel manager aligns with your budget and business objectives.
