Book Direct Vacation Rentals

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Comprehensive Guide On How To Increase Vacation Rental Direct Bookings

When you just getting started with a vacation rental business, having direct bookings might seem like a pipedream. For most owners, getting a direct booking website set up is the first them they have created a webpage. It can be hard enough to build a website that is attractive for guests and provides all of the necessary information, but there is also an entire other series of challenges for getting people to your site to begin with. When there is a will there is a way, as the old saying goes. Having a good website builder helps too. Attracting direct bookings isn't impossible, you just need to learn how to do it. We can help you with that. We will be discussing what owning a direct booking website means, the advantages, and the exact steps you need to take to create your direct booking site.

What are direct booking websites?

First, let's go over the basics: What exactly are direct booking websites? New owners of vacation rentals may be confused about exactly what is involved in a direct booking website. Professionals are going to tell you whenever you start a business that you need to have a website. However, if your product happens to be a vacation rental, what uses does a direct booking website provide?

Direct booking websites provide a space for adding a listing description, displaying property photos, and a booking engine that can be used by guests to make their reservations. Having a direct booking website gives you the chance to introduce your property to visitors, convince them to sign up for a booking, and secure their reservation safely without needing assistance from a third-party listing website.

So what does a direct booking website contain exactly? You can add whatever you want to! A good website builder will provide you with customizable tabs for organizing information the way you want to. The following is some standard information that is contained on direct booking websites:

• Directions/How to get there

• Photo gallery

• Bio or "About Us" page

• Discounts and Deals

• Attractions guide/Things to do

• Blog

The following are a few examples of things that can be added to a direct booking website. Just keep in mind that it is up to you ultimately. Your website is a place where you can show off or advertise whatever you consider to be relevant for your business and to help attract more direct bookings.

Why it is important for vacation rental owners to have direct booking websites

Let's be honest: it takes more than five minutes to build a quality direct booking website. You can get a great website created in a few hours, however, time will still need to be dedicated to doing it. So the question is: what benefits does a direct booking website provide?

There are many! The advantages definitely outweigh the initial costs and effort, which is reassuring. What are these benefits, you may be wondering? Below we have outlined the top benefits. However, when you own your reservations, there are endless options.

Added value

One of the major benefits that direct bookings provide is that they add value to your bottom line and business. When direct bookings are compared with OTA bookings, a reservation is worth much more.

Save on commissions

You have completed the work, your vacation rental is spruced up, the property is staged to a pristine level, and you have done a few hours of administrative chores, only to discover that the payout you will be receiving is much lower than you were expecting. You may be confused if you have a $100 average daily rate, but you are only getting paid $74. This is where the disadvantages of OTAs come into play.

All listing websites have some surcharge or fee that must be paid. That is what keep these websites operating. The fees are used by these websites to fund marketing efforts, customer support, and resources for both guests and the host. So more is paid to list a vacation rental property. It costs less when booked directly. All listing websites have their own fee structures. Our vacation rental sites guide lists them.

Although OTAs can provide bookings and lots of exposure, extra expenses are eliminated when you have your very own direct booking site. You can use the money that you saved on OTA commissions and instead invest it into things like providing your guests with a welcome pack or breakfast at the property. Small details like this can help you get more positive reviews and create loyal guests, which will also motivate others to make a booking at your website.

Any experienced host will say that more guest turnover means more work that must be done. If you manage check-outs and check-ins yourself, you are aware that half of your day's time at least needs to be blocked off to clean and prepare for your next guest.

To eliminate those kinds of problems, usually hosts try targeting travelers wh book longer stays. With longer stays, there is less disruption to the flow of your reservations, and it helps to minimize your vacancies as well, which saves you a lot of time and money.

There are many different ways that long-term stays can be promoted. However, offering the option for booking directly does have a tendency to attract longer stay due to the nature of these types of reservations. The numbers really do speak for themselves!

In 2021, the average length of stay for direct bookings was about 5.9 days, while the average for VRBO and Airbnb was about 4.5 days. When your guests are booked directly you gain an entire extra day at least.

Let's take a look at it from a profits perspective. Say you have about four bookings per month with a $100 per night value. You will net about $1,800 per month from these bookings before paying OTA fees. If your four bookings are direct bookings with the same value, you could earn $2,360 from each booking have a day's increase. That would be an increase of $560 per month from your guest staying a little while longer due to your direct bookings.

Having control over your property

Third-party websites all have their own set of standards and rules that they expect hosts to follow. When guidelines are kept consistent, it helps with setting expectations for guests. For example, when you book with Airbnb, you pretty much know what you can expect, whether it is house rules or travel insurance. The guidelines can help guests get a feeling for a property. However, for the host, they can be quite limiting.

You have made the decision to list your property yourself. That means you should also be able to manage it as well. When guests are obtained from your own direct booking website, that means you control the whole reservation, from the beginning to the end. It is completely up to you how you want to handle things like reservation requests, check-ins, and payments.

Also, it helps you develop services for your guests that are more personalized. Overall, you have complete control over the entire process.

Improved relationships with your guests

Also, you are bound to have better relationships with your guests. Since you will be having direct contact with guests, it will allow you to develop a better rapport with them. Having great guest-host relationships will provide your business with amazing side effects. They include word-of-mouth referrals, glowing reviews, and repeated reservations. Those things can all help you with scaling up your vacation rental business free of charge!

As the owner, your aim can also be to offer the best deal to guests when they book direct with you, offer special pries so your calendar is kept full even during the slow seasons, and capitalize on certain events (like Christmas or Valentine's Day). They won't be able to compete with you on these things.

When your guests and you have a direct relationship via your booking website, you can completely control the guest experience. You can message your guests ahead of time to see if they have any special needs so their requirements can be satisfied. They might need to have a lactose-free or gluten-free breakfast. Or they might have a baby they are traveling with and need a changing table and high-chair.

Going the extra mile to make your guests' stay perfect means you will gain their appreciation instantly. As a result, they will praise their guest experience and your service later on in reviews which can then be showcased on your website.

Developing Your Brand

When you create a vacation rental website, it not only provides you with a specific location for defining your brand - including your company values, color scheme, and logo - it also helps with establishing a solid reputation ad trust with future, potential, and past guest. When guests visit your website and see your logo, it will help them remember your brand. Also, when your branding is consistent, it demonstrates to guests that you are a real professional. Your vacation rental business will have more legitimacy when your vacation rental brand is solid and you have an outstanding direct booking website.

Perhaps you were this traveler in the past: you stay at a beautiful vacation rental that was booked with Airbnb. When thinking about vacation, what did you tell your friends? Did you refer to your accommodation by the name of the property or did you say the Cape Cod Airbnb that we stayed in? Your brand is simply a commodity with online travel agencies and not your own.