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Selling Your Business? Know Your Tech Stuff!

By
Wendy Glover
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For any vacation rental company considering selling, there are many areas of preparation needed to realize a successful sales process. This article will discuss what types of technology-related data an owner should be prepared to provide based on the type of sale.

Technology in vacation rental companies ranges from simple to very complex, depending on the tools and solutions that are in use and the extent of digital transformation that has been completed.

For example, some VRMs have housekeepers using printed reports while others have a mobile application on their personal phones. A larger, geographically distributed company may have a wide area network connecting its systems while a smaller company may only provide wireless Internet access and leverage a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.

These examples can extend to all areas of operations in a VRM’s technology ecosystem. No two acquisitions are exactly the same, but there are common technology data requests depending on the sale type: contract buy (owner contracts/units), asset buy (stuff), or a stock purchase (company). One of the sticking points in a VR sale is the seller’s understanding of the technology systems involved. Frequently, VR owners do not have comprehensive documentation of the systems and assets that run the business.

The diligence an acquirer pursues will greatly impact his or her success in ongoing operations. In my experience, one deal included acquiring a proprietary system but not the add-on connector for distribution because it was not discovered or divulged in the diligence process.

Another purchase exposed the buyer to active network penetration and a resulting data breach because of a lack of focus on the current security in place. Failure to reveal a prior data breach resulted in fines that the buyer then had to recover from the seller in another deal. One website went dark for two days because it was not listed in the diligence data and lost connectivity to the PMS during system changes. Omissions can result in a financial loss to the seller, so it is important to provide all of the information available or requested.

Typical data requests in a diligence process are provided below. Depending on the size of the acquisition target and purchaser, the detail can be increased or flattened. Taking the time to develop this collection will prepare the target for a successful and productive engagement.

When an acquirer requests data from a target, the promptness and depth of the response signals a professional, well-run operation and provides confidence in the deal. While acquirers typically have a data request template, your prepared information can be easily pasted in or linked by reference. If there are questions that aren’t clear or understood, it is important to ask for clarification or help to ensure full transparency and data validity. It is important to note that this type of information should never be provided until a nondisclosure agreement has been executed. Deal brokers and consultants are available to help with this work, including data extraction and documentation if the seller wants assistance or needs to focus on other areas.

 

Contract Purchase Implications

In a contract purchase, the buyer typically does not need the current systems or technology services. The main focus is on the contracts and related data to be provided. Be ready to export data from your systems in a format the buyer can consume. The use of spreadsheets is common. Be sure to understand the scope of data the buyer will need and the date range. Two years of historical data is a common request.

Prepare a summary of all existing technology contracts to be used to terminate services no longer needed post sale. Plan to pay any early termination fees that may be required. Plan to maintain any systems or data needed to support any legal or financial reporting in the future, typically for three to seven years depending on the data type.

 

Asset Purchase Implications

For an asset purchase, the buyer purchases some or all of your assets, such as computers, websites, data circuits, and technology vendor contracts and services. In addition to these contract details, additional data related to the assets to be conveyed is needed. Compile accurate data for any assets or services to be transferred. Verify that existing agreements allow a transfer, and clearly detail any that have unique requirements for transferability.

 

Stock Purchase Implications

In a stock purchase, the buyer needs as much data as possible to sustain current operations and to support the staff, owners, and guests post sale. More detailed information about your technology ecosystem is needed to support the value and operations of the business. Collect all of your active technology-related contracts. These will include software systems (on-premise or SaaS); hardware support agreements; telecommunication products including voice, data, and cellular services; and any vendor support agreements.

The types of data needed are detailed below (but may not be fully comprehensive).

 

Tech Hardware

Computers, servers, network equipment, telephone systems, company cell phones with full detail of models, purchase date or age, and contract or warranty status. An inventory or all phone lines and data circuits should be included. A spreadsheet schedule is an easy way to track and share this information if no other asset inventory is available.

 

Software Systems

Include desktop software (Windows, Office, etc.), financial, HR systems, CRM, call center, PMS, housekeeping, maintenance, association management, collaboration tools, time tracking, payroll, point of sale, project management, website analytics tools, and source code of any proprietary systems. Be prepared to provide copies of all related contracts or proof of licenses, and verify the transferability of any that are needed.

 

Security Systems

These could include IT operating tools, antivirus software, firewalls, VPN, SFTP, application patching, and intrusion protection systems.

 

IT Support Structure

Provide current resource roles and reporting lines. If support is outsourced, supply the current agreement including the types of support it includes.

 

Network Diagram

Have a diagram that details your network, including all sites, major hardware, and IP addresses. This will visually represent how your systems connect and which data elements are passed between the systems.

Payment Systems

Provide details about your merchant identification, gateways, processors, and payment systems in use. This is an area many companies find complex to transfer. Leverage the vendors to support documenting this information.

 

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans

Document the processes used to maintain business operations in the event of a disaster or outage. In the event of a fire or hurricane, for example, detail how you communicate with owners, guests, and staff, potentially without access to all of your systems or data. If there was an Internet or network outage, provide your operating processes for maintaining standard services for all guest and owner interactions.

 

Prior Breaches

Provide full transparency on any data breaches that have occurred. This should include the scope of the breach, any notifications provided, and all corrective or preventative actions taken after the event occurred.

 

User Data

Export a list of all application users from significant systems. Provide detail on any super users and/or system administrators. Additionally, any shared accounts or service accounts should be highlighted.

 

Social Media

List all tools and accounts in use across your digital marketing tools. Include users and passwords.

 

Websites

Include a list of all owned domains, the domain registrars, and current status (active versus parked or redirected). Include relevant performance metrics that represent the level of engagement with the platform. If the platform is proprietary, provide full technology stack details along with support resources.

 

Channel Data

For all your sales channels (direct, web, OTA, etc.), provide the percent of revenue per channel. A full listing off all OTAs in use should be included.

 

Compliance Status

For PCI Compliance, present the prior four quarters of the required vulnerability scans, most recent Attestation of PCI Compliance, and inventory of all vendors with access to sensitive data, including credit card or personally identifiable information (PII).

 

Technology Projects

Any projects in progress, critically needed, or future planned projects should be supplied with details on the effort, the rationale, and the impact. Provide available budgetary data and timelines for these efforts.

 

Technology Spend

Present the total operating expense for all technology services in use, including systems, personnel, and vendors. Include the data as a percent of gross revenue. Provide historical and budgeted capital spending totals or percentages of gross revenue.

This is meant to be a guide to help VRs when selling their business. Each situation is unique and varies in complexity. There are consultants and deal brokers who are willing to help with this type of data development for those who would need that type of assistance.

 

Please Don’t Go: Vacation Rental Companies Surviving during the Pandemic

By
Steve Trover
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“Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” -Conrad Hilton

 

The vacation rental (VR) market is a powerful driving force in the tourism industry and is growing fast. Sadly, COVID-19 has impacted many VR businesses and professionals, and this controversial, global pandemic has been a game-changer in the vacation rental industry. It’s been a long, hard journey for many, but if you’re a VRM thinking of throwing in the towel, please don’t go!

Although the dynamics of the travel industry are changing, we’re seeing a huge shift and demand toward vacation rentals as the preferred lodging option, globally. Being able to offer a homestay at a time when many are concerned with self-isolation is a huge bonus—for both the homeowner and the guest. Trending predictions show short-term rentals (STRs) could be the fastest-growing sector in the hospitality industry and could finally have the upper hand and attention they deserve.

COVID-19 and the subsequent border closures and travel restrictions have wreaked havoc on the travel and hospitality industry, bringing it to a grinding halt and changing the face of travel forever. With the tremendous strain the economic fallout has put on the industry, it’s not easy to say “please don’t go,” when for many it may seem the only logical option.

As VRMs you’ve survived hurricanes, floods, fires, and so much more. With passion and purpose, the vacation rental industry rises stronger every time. There is good news and inspiring signs of healthy recovery for our industry. The following statistics show that the impact of COVID-19 has ultimately fallen in favor of the vacation rental and STR industry.

 

Technavio’s latest market research report, “Global Vacation Rental Market 2020–2024,” forecasts that the vacation rental market will accelerate at a CAGR of almost 7 percent through 2020–2024, with predicted growth of USD 62.97 billion.

Booking trends show that travel is up 127 percent from early April, with the number of bookings on Airbnb and VRBO booming from 916,000 to 2.08 million in only two weeks (AirDNA).

Since the COVID-19 low, global vacation rental occupancy has increased 60 percent, and the average daily rate (ADR) has increased by 23.2 percent.

North America is seeing the fastest rebound in the STR industry worldwide, with leisure destinations seeing a rebound in rates of 322 percent.

 

So, please don’t go!

While initial predictions were bleak, our industry is resilient and adaptable. With a change in consumer behavior and travel trends, and a “new normal” evolving, the recovery rate is faster in the vacation rental space than in the hotel industry, which is encouraging. There has been a surge in demand as travelers, work-from-home executives; and a new generation of digital nomads opts for destinations with more privacy and less risk, choosing staycations and drive-to destinations, avoiding crowded hotel lobbies, and opting to socially distance from the comfort of a vacation rental home.

STR Global and AirDNA compared the impact of the coronavirus crisis on hotels and short-term rentals from January 2019 through June 27, 2020, concluding that short-term rentals weathered the pandemic better than hotels, and ADRs were higher in July 2020 than in July 2019.

 

Are you prepared for change?

In an industry based on relationships, hospitality, and creating lifelong memories, it’s imperative to keep up with the shifting market, stay innovative and anticipate higher guest expectations. Smart technology, promotional strategies, and staffing play a huge role in these positive industry predictions. As a successful property manager, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse, which right now is beating fast.

Now is a time of great opportunity for VRMs: a time to determine a game plan, monitor your data with solid data-driven decision-making, and plan for the future through strategic forecasting.

This is a time to build your brand, grow your inventory, add new homeowners, and find the right talent to build a strong team.

In this time of uncertainty, with industry rollups, small businesses shutting their doors, and staff layoffs, the need for experienced and passionate VR professionals is now greater than ever, and the available talent pool is overflowing. In the vacation rental industry, the best teams win, and it’s vital you’re all rowing in the right direction.

Although things may never be the same again, our well-loved industry will make a strong return, and a strong band of vacation rental managers will have weathered another storm successfully and triumphantly.

Although there will no doubt be a return to the office for some, the work-from-anywhere trend has been accelerated by this pandemic. Vacation rentals make for the perfect remote work environment. The extension of the summer season into the fall that we are seeing across the industry may not be a one-year anomaly. This could in fact be an inflection point for the industry we know and love.

If you are in leadership in the vacation rental industry, this is the time to acquire the talent to take advantage of perhaps the greatest growth period in our history. Take this opportunity to see who is available in the talent pool. It’s the deepest it’s ever been.

Alternatively, if you have been laid off or furloughed, or you’re just considering an industry change . . . we kindly ask you to reconsider, as a time of unprecedented growth is just around the corner.

Please don’t go!

Professionalizing Rental Operations in Travel’s New Landscape

By
Jeremiah Gall
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0

Roughly six months ago, I wrote for VRM Intel from quarantine in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. The article offered predictions on how the pandemic would change the way in which travelers interact with physical space, and how their behavior would impact the approach to vacation rental property preparation and client communication. We also discussed the opportunity these changes presented and how rental managers who prioritize professional and responsible operations will separate themselves from the occasional, “on-the-side” operator and grow along with the market.

Over the course of this most unusual and challenging year—which still has over two months and untold surprises in store—many within the vacation rental industry have navigated waves of cancelations, furloughs, executive orders, reopenings, and zero-to-sixty demand swings. While Airbnb passed the million booked-nights mark on July 8th for the first time in over 120 days, the predictability of future bookings is unclear; we aren’t out of the woods just yet with this global pandemic.

What is becoming clear, though, is an acceleration of the shifting focus on quality within the vacation rental market and the lasting operational changes that come with it.

We surveyed hundreds of vacation rental managers to take the pulse of how professionals plan to strengthen processes across guest and owner communication, housekeeping workflows, compliance with cleanliness and safety standards, and internal tracking and reporting. This article analyzes the results from our survey and discusses how 2020 has solidified the trend towards quality in vacation rentals and the resulting need for controlled property operations and client services.

 

Cleanliness Beyond Reproach

While professional vacation rental operators have always been focused on ensuring high cleaning standards for their units, cleanliness has taken center stage since March. This isn’t a surprise, and 97 percent of managers we surveyed think that COVID-19 has increased guest sensitivity regarding vacation rental cleanliness.

In fact, 66 percent think this sensitivity will change booking behaviors, and that cleanliness and safety will be more important considerations than location and price.

Guest hypervigilance as to property preparation and cleanliness start well before check-in, pulling travelers towards professionally managed rentals with predictable and trustworthy brands; we see this trend across hospitality, as well, by the way companies are promoting and branding cleaning standards.

The new traveler persona has compelled nearly all (99 percent) of vacation rental managers to make changes to their property care programs concerning housekeeping protocols, internal communication, time allotted for cleans, items cleaned, and products used. Strictly adhering to comprehensive cleaning protocols between each stay has become an even more critical component of property care, given the health implications.

Customizing checklists for each property is a popular way to help housekeepers cover the unique elements in the home and follow brand standards. Prior to COVID-19, 49 percent of vacation rental managers were using customized checklists and protocols, and an additional 30 percent of managers plan on doing so going forward, allowing them to add more control over how properties are prepared.

Better yet, 75 percent of managers are augmenting the items on their checklists to include guidance from health authorities.

 

 

For those who smartly assign cleaning jobs to in-house and contracted housekeepers (even with prescriptive instructions for each property), having confidence in the quality of work is still not a given.

The managers we surveyed agree. Over 83 percent are strengthening their quality assurance programs, with the majority of operators independently inspecting every unit before the guest arrives. Using digital checklists for quality control not only ensures property preparation complies with brand standards but also makes it easier to store data on historical issues, conditions, appliance attributes, access codes, and Wi-Fi passwords. Rental managers have this granular property information at their fingertips on mobile phones to drive more predictive asset management and quickly diagnose issues, reduce repair time and costs, and prevent emergency maintenance issues.

 

COMMUNICATING Property and Guest Safety

Safety was already a trending topic in the industry before this year, with managers paying more attention to physical safety features such as smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and trip-and-fall hazards. Now safety—in terms of both cleanliness and property condition—is front and center for rental managers, guests, property owners, municipalities, and internal staff.

Over 84 percent of managers we surveyed are taking steps to improve safety and maintenance procedures; these changes include increasing the frequency of safety inspections and routine preventative maintenance.

Safety inspections are a growing trend that we expect to continue into 2021, and 13 percent of managers are taking additional steps to protect the safety of their owners’ assets by leveraging independent programs to certify rentals for safety and regulatory compliance.

The current environment has also stretched the meaning of “vacation rental safety” to include the hygiene and well-being of guests.

The most direct strategy for protecting the safety of guests is adding a buffer period between stays. Implementing waiting periods has been a hotly debated topic in the industry in 2020, and 42 percent of operators surveyed in June planned to implement a buffer to comply with guidance from leading regulators and authorities.

Vacasa, for example, automatically blocks time between reservations to prevent last-minute bookings for locations where “rest periods” are required. The company has added waiting periods to their standard protocol and suspended early check-ins and late checkouts to afford housekeepers adequate time to complete enhanced cleaning programs.

Performing work to safeguard your properties and guests is just half the battle, though. Communicating all the precautions you’ve taken is necessary to put guests at ease and sets the stage for a great in-stay experience.

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the managers we surveyed plan to adjust their communication strategies before arrival and throughout the stay. This includes promoting enhanced programs on company marketing websites, sending details about contactless check-in procedures before arrival, communicating changes to in-stay concierge and maintenance services, sharing restrictions and closures in the area, and detailing safety and cleaning items provided for guest use (e.g., cleaning products, hand sanitizer, gloves, masks).

 

Popularity of Service Technology is on the Rise

We’ve spilled ink in other articles on the rise in guest expectations and its impact on the service demands placed on vacation rental managers. Vacation rental operators are well aware that the days of guests bringing their own bedsheets and toilet paper) are behind us.

But service is much more than the baseline essentials; as guests gravitate to more full-service rentals, managers are increasingly focused on how to optimize their service operations. Hotel operators, who have been forced to meet the ad hoc demands of room service and concierge, have long since adopted service optimization software separate from front desk, booking, and reservation management software.

Now, as this same service is needed at vacation rentals, devoting detailed care and service across unique properties is a major challenge with many moving pieces and increased demands.

In fact, more than 42 percent of professional managers we surveyed are manually plugging gaps in property care by scheduling tasks from reservation reports, using paper checklists to perform quality assurance, and communicating internally through ad hoc systems, phone calls, and text threads. Another 40 percent are using a combination of tools which include their PMS systems, and workarounds that increase the likelihood that work will fall through the cracks.

For many of these managers, though, COVID-19 has marked a shift in their technology priorities, driving the need for purpose-built property care tools to the front. In fact, the majority of managers feel that cleaning and operations are the most important areas of focus for their business over the next year, and 49 percent feel that property operations software will be the most helpful technology moving forward. The data show that the demand for service optimization is on the rise and demonstrates the continued evolution from “property manager” to “hospitality provider.”

Once again, the market for vacation rentals is going through a shift, one partially accelerated by the demands placed on travel and hospitality by a global pandemic. Facilitating the booking process has taken a backseat to servicing and preparing the property and building more confidence in safe and high-quality properties has become the focal point of travelers, property managers, and regulators. Our survey results from this summer illustrate this trend and outline the enhanced approach that rental managers are taking to crafting predictable and service-first experiences as true hospitality providers.

And once again, the push for professionalism presents an opportunity for managers to meet the changing demands of their clients. Using smart programs and internal workflows eases the complexities that vacation rental managers navigate—high tough, rigorous compliance, fast turnover, and unique space—and can create scalable property operations for growth and a stronger brand within their market.

Employee Retention Ideas for 2021 and Beyond

By
Sue Jones
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Since the emergence of COVID-19, we have seen a massive shift in the way business is conducted. Each day brings a different situation to navigate, without much clarity. What is clear is the coronavirus pandemic will have a lasting impact on the future of work and how it gets done. Just think about how your business processes and policies have changed over the past 10 months:

• Businesses were put to the test when they closed their offices and employees began to work from home. Figuring out who does what, how it gets done, and what gets measured is complex, to say the least.
• Seasonal staffing has plagued everyone. For some property managers, federal unemployment and stimulus packages seemed to deplete the workforce during times when several markets had record reservations.
• The CARES Act and FFRCA Leaves remain in place through December 31, 2020. Coordinating the leaves is challenging and further complicates staffing for operations.
• Property managers across the United States have been affected by floods, fires, hurricanes, mudslides, and tornadoes. These disasters, along with the pandemic, have expanded managers’ roles to include supporting their employees’ financial, physical, and mental well-being.
• Business owners have become human resource managers, creating new policies, processes, and procedures to protect employees, guests, and homeowners to contain the spread of COVID-19. This has been no easy feat.

The events of 2020 have taught us how important it is for businesses to be flexible and agile to adapt and thrive. The events have also taught us how valuable our employees are and the importance of employee engagement and retention. Retaining talent today means three things:

1) Creating flexible ways to manage performance
2) Investing in training and development opportunities
3) Increasing remote-work capabilities

 

Creating Flexible Ways to Manage Performance

Managers and supervisors in all industries have become more agile managing performance. They are finding that managing performance is not one-size-fits-all and are placing a greater focus on the overall well-being of their employees. Conversations are no longer limited to key performance indicators, performance metrics, and goals; they now include dialogue about employee experiences.

Managers are having real conversations with their employees, keeping lines of communication open, and building trust through real-time feedback. Whether working in the office or remotely, employees want to know when something is off or when they do something well.

Throughout 2020, successful managers have learned that managing performance expectations with more flexibility, empathy, and leniency is key to keeping up employee morale, engagement, and productivity. Every day, they have been finding ways to recognize and show appreciation for their employees.

Today’s work environment is nothing like anything we have experienced. Quarantines, lockdowns, office closures, and working from home all require different performance measures. Today, managing performance requires redefining performance measures and their purpose.

 

Ideas to Positively Influence Employee Morale and Engagement:

Simplify your performance process

Keep responsibilities realistic

Encourage frequent conversations between managers and employees

Provide ongoing informal coaching and feedback

Adjust goals and objectives during “significant” business interruptions

Focus on continuous improvement

Develop future skill sets and competencies

Describe how you will invest in your employees

 

Investing in Training and Development

Focusing on continuous improvement and staff development is key. By 2022, no less than 54 percent of all employees will require significant retraining or reskilling. (Future of Jobs Survey, 2018 World Economic Forum) Of these, 35 percent will require upskilling and training for up to six months. Finding ways to engage employees who know your systems and internal processes and also understand your brand is critical for employee retention.

The cost of reskilling employees is considerably less than the cost to replace them. For example, it may cost $6,000 to hire an employee or $3,000 to provide additional training and education for an engaged employee who will bring more relevant skills to your business.

Companies are starting to identify new skills their employees might be interested in and providing them with the educational assistance and time to obtain those skills. Additionally, they are creating internal programs to develop the talent they cannot find.

1) Continuously focus on the talent you currently have in your workplace, and create opportunities to grow their careers and develop their knowledge and skills.
2) Keep employees engaged with varied, flexible responsibilities so they acquire cross-functional knowledge and on-the-job training.
3) Find ways to encourage more diverse thinking among employees.

With learning and professional development, investing in your employees is a win-win proposition.

 

Increasing Remote-work Capabilities

This year has provided firsthand experience for many on the responsibilities and effectiveness of a remote workforce. While some tasks require someone to be onsite at your properties, laundry facilities, or offices, there are several other responsibilities that can be completed remotely before, during, or after standard work hours. Businesses now have greater insight into the responsibilities and effectiveness of a remote workforce.

A recent Gartner poll shows that 48 percent of employees will likely work remotely, at least part of the time, even after the COVID-19 crisis is over. (Nine Future-of-Work Trends Post-COVID-19, Gartner, June 8, 2020)

Think about what percentage of your workforce is currently working remotely, and ask yourself what percentage of your workforce will work remotely on a more permanent basis. While some employees want to return to the office, a significant number of employees are finding it beneficial to work from home.

When COVID first hit, many employees began to work from home (for the most part), but with the same responsibilities as in the office. Now, businesses have learned to be more intentional about the work that can be done remotely in new ways:

Identify which responsibilities and tasks can be completed remotely and which need to be completed on-site in person, regardless of department, position, or individual.

Focus less on roles and more on skills. Group similar responsibilities and tasks together by critical skills (e.g., problem solving, collaboration, and agility).

Assign responsibilities around outcomes to increase agility and flexibility and to keep pace with changing processes and procedures.

Maximize remote-work capabilities to provide greater access.

Head into 2021 with employee retention top of mind. Implementing flexible performance measures, investing in training, and increasing remote-work capabilities will go a long way toward retaining your workforce.

Dynamic Pricing: To Adjust Rates or Not to Adjust Rates

By
Cliff Johnson
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0

We just had an excellent and lively discussion at the Data and Revenue Management (DARM) conference hosted by VRM Intel last week about what strategy works best for pricing vacation rentals. The answer was decidedly equivocal: It depends.

Like many decisions, determining whether to handle vacation rental pricing in-house or to outsource depends largely on three factors: time, passion, and skill. If you have the time, passion, and talent to do it yourself, you should. Suppose you don’t have all three of those things. In that case, you should be supplementing your work at a minimum with additional support, whether that involves hiring someone to do it in-house or using external tools or consultants to support your efforts.

 

Time

The cruel reality is that there is no substitute for time when it comes to pricing vacation rentals. The data in this industry is highly fragmented. There are some major holes in data quality and relevant comp sets that make it impossible to automate optimized pricing for a single property fully. Unlike our friends in the airline and hotel industries, our vacation rental properties are snowflakes, and each one carries its own unique qualities. These qualities include attributes like reviews that change over time—to move this snowflake analogy even further. Even the snowflake itself is constantly changing shape. Can you imagine if each room in a Four Seasons had its own unique reviews? The pacing of each property, as well as bookings, changes daily.

Our estimate based on managing pricing for thousands of properties is that optimizing pricing tends to take an average of 30 minutes per property per week. The more commoditized the property, the more time savings you can get through automation. Even in highly commoditized property types, there is always incremental value to add through manual intervention.

Most managers deprioritize this relative to guest issues and owner communications. With good reason—if you don’t have happy owners and happy guests, you are unlikely to have properties to price! All too often, we see pricing treated as one of many tasks assigned to a team member who doesn’t always give it the attention, and indeed time, that it requires. Are you dedicating 30 minutes a week per property of a team member’s time to pricing? If not, you should consider outsourcing or hiring someone with dedicated time focused on this activity.

 

Passion

Do you enjoy geeking out over analytics and data and using those insights to make pricing adjustments? If the answer is no, you shouldn’t be doing it. You should either hire someone who enjoys that or outsource to a company or consultant focused on that. Like many endeavors, people tend to perform much better on pricing when they get excited about getting the right rate at the right time to capture that perfect booking. Most managers get excited when they see that booking, but fewer tend to get excited about the work it takes to get the price right to enable that booking to happen.

Remember why you got into this business, and remember that it is yours. If you find yourself doing things you do not enjoy, change the things you are doing! This does not mean your company should or can stop that work entirely. It just means that you need to fill your days with the things you are passionate about, not ones you dread doing, and find others to take care of the work that is still necessary but that you no longer want or need to perform.

Depending on the market you are in, you may have a more challenging time finding someone passionate about pricing. If you have the passion yourself and the time and patience to train someone, that can be a viable option.

When we launched Vacasa, Eric and I were obsessive over rates and spent a bunch of time every week, really every day, focused on this critical task. As we grew, and the company’s demands changed, so too did the demands made on our time. At that juncture, it was important for each of us to focus on those things only we could do and to hire and train people to take on things, including pricing, that required the time and attention we could no longer give it. Depending on your own size and stage of your business and your personal passions, such a transition may be overdue.

 

Skill

This may be a slightly more sensitive topic in that it requires you to take a clear-eyed and objective look at your own skill sets. The reality is there are things that we may have and make time for, and which we are passionate about, that we just are not that good at. The proliferation of amateur bakers during COVID-19, and the dry and misshapen creations they post on social media with such pride, is a perfect illustration of this. You may love it, you may have the time for it, but in truth, you may not be very good at it.

This is not to say anything bad about you as a person. In fact, recognizing and accepting your limitations are essential to building, scaling, and maintaining a successful business. The fortunate thing is that each of us has our own skills. Building a successful management company is less about you possessing all the requisite skills than your company delivering on all the requisite skills for your owners and your guests.

Depending on the skill itself, and your location, it may be more or less difficult to find and efficiently hire for the skill set internally. The truth is there are only so many data scientists, revenue analysts, data analysts, and so on in many vacation rental markets. Simultaneously, hiring full-time employees for each of these functions rarely makes sense for anyone managing fewer than 1,000 homes. This is not the end of the world. Fortunately, many companies, such as Rented, can outsource business-critical, but not in-house critical, work.

 

This gives you the best of all worlds:

1. The time to do the work you need and want to do

2. The ability to fill your time with what you are passionate about

3. The ability to efficiently access talent and skillsets you would not otherwise be able to tap into

 

As a vacation rental manager, you always have a lot on your plate. As more travelers choose vacation rentals in preference to hotels, and the competition increases, these demands are likely to do anything but decrease. Understanding that your business must do more, and do it better, is not the same as defaulting to you having to do more and more. Following a structured approach to focusing on your own trifecta of time, passion, and skill sets you and your company up for long-term health and success. Good luck!

Data-Driven Customer Segmentation

By
Melanie Brown
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0

Customer segmentation is the foundation for hotel revenue management, but it’s not talked about as much in the vacation rental industry. Although most vacation rental guests fall into the “leisure” category, hotels now segment far past the traditional transient/corporate/group categories we’ve seen before—and we should, too. Below are a few ways to segment your customer base to better target pricing and marketing:

• Booking window
• Booking channel
• Feeder markets
• Length of stay (LOS)
• Seasonality

Using 2019 data for a variety of destinations, let’s take a look at each of these segments, how they interact, and what they mean for your revenue management decisions. You may not find clear distinctions for each category in your market or company. For example, some destinations only have one primary season, while others see visitors coming mostly from one large city. Regardless, this should give you some ideas for how to segment your company’s customer base.

 

Booking Window

How far before their stay is a guest booking their vacation? The answer to this question likely influences a number of other factors, such as rate and stay length.

In Breckenridge, a popular ski area in Colorado, 39 percent of 2019 stays were booked within 30 days of arrival. For those stays, the average daily rate was $217, and the average stay length was 3.5 days. Compare that to stays booked more than 60 days in advance, whose average daily rate was $370 and stay length was 5.1 days. Many of those more last-minute trips were weekend ski trips with smaller groups looking for smaller units, rather than long getaways with extended family or friends.

Understanding which potential customers are searching for rentals at which time allows you to target marketing campaigns more effectively.

Pro Question: Looking at your data, does it make sense to advertise a small rental for a weekend stay 30 days in advance and a large rental for a week-long stay at least two months before arrival?

 

 

 

Booking Channel

Not only are different customer segments booking at different times, they are also booking on different platforms.

The Alabama Gulf Coast vacation rental market in 2019 demonstrated the importance of understanding differences in consumer behavior on different booking channels.

Guests who booked through Booking.com did so, on average, 16 days before their arrival date in 2019. In contrast, guests who booked directly through the property management company booked almost eight weeks earlier at 71 days before arrival.

The average stay length for reservations made through Booking.com was two days (mostly weekends), compared to almost a week for direct reservations.

As a result of rate and stay length differences, the average stay value more than doubled with direct bookings versus Booking.com.

Pro Question: Do your value proposition and your unit descriptions on different channels reflect the different consumer segments?

 

Feeder Markets

Where your guests are arriving from is also important. For example, out-of-state guests may stay longer and spend more than in-state guests.

This is the case for Telluride and Mountain Village, a ski destination in Colorado. In 2019, 32 percent of guests for this market came from within Colorado.

However, these in-state stays contributed only 16 percent of total rent because the guests stayed only for a long weekend and booked at a lower rate.

On the other hand, guests from Texas formed 12 percent of arrivals but contributed 18 percent of total rent because their stay length was almost two days longer, and their average daily rate was more than twice as high.

Pro Question: Are you marketing to close-drive-to feeder markets differently than to guests traveling longer distances?

 

 

Seasonality

In many markets, your guest profile may vary by season.

For example, beach markets in the Southeast may see large numbers of families arriving for a week-long stay for Spring Break but may rely on snowbirds staying for three or more weeks during the winter.

Marco Island, Florida, shows the seasonality of guests.

For vacation rentals in the area, 28 percent of guests arrived during the winter. They booked their trips an average of 158 days before the arrival date, and they stayed for an average of 20 days.

In contrast, during the summer, 26 percent of guests arrived after booking an average of 78 days before arrival, and they stayed for an average of eight days.

In 2019, summer guests traveling to Marco Island were more likely to stay in a house than in a condo: 62 percent of summer stays were in houses compared to only 41 percent of winter stays. Though winter and summer guests contributed to a similar number of reservations, winter guests stayed for 2.5x as long and booked 2.5 months earlier.

Pro Question: Are you paying attention to seasonal booking windows and adjusting your messaging to target the correct audience? In the case of Marco Island, marketing for the winter season should begin the previous July.

 

 

Length of stay (LOS)

As we’ve seen, LOS is one reason it’s helpful to segment by booking source, booking window, or season. However, as a metric for customer segmentation, it also stands on its own.

On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, 47 percent of 2019 stays were between five and eight days long—unsurprisingly, as it’s a long trip for many. That renter segment booked an average of 82 days in advance.

In contrast, stays between one and four days formed a substantial segment of reservations, 26 percent, but were booked much closer to arrival at 48 days away on average.

The biggest bombshell here is that 42 percent of stays between one and four days long were made for houses, compared to 18 percent of five-to-eight-day stays. At other destinations, you may see couples booking weekends relatively close to their trip dates, while extended families book a full week six months out. The rates, type of units, cancellation policies, and amenities they’re interested in are all influenced by these factors.

We’ve covered segmenting your guests by when they’re booking (booking window), how they’re booking (booking channel), where they’re arriving from (feeder markets), when they’re arriving (seasonality), and how long they’re staying (LOS).

There are market-specific relationships between these variables that will guide your marketing and pricing strategies. Dive into your historical data and compare it to what is currently going on in 2020 to determine which way works best for you. A good rule of thumb is that a group should form 8–15 percent of your guests before it is segmented on its own. Once you understand your customer segments, you will be able to more effectively market, price, and drive more bookings for your company and for your homeowners.

Repurposing Space: Broadening Your Vacation Rental’s Appeal

By
Amy Bradac
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0

Work From Home Fatigue

As shelter orders persist across the country, many have started to experience fatigue associated with working from home. Similar to the “cabin fever” that has prompted parks, beaches, and other public spaces to swell to capacity on weekends (and sometimes weekdays), we’re finding that while there are many advantages to working from home, the monotony of our streamlined routines is starting to present challenges—both mental and physical.

Not only that, but background noise and Internet bandwidth challenges can also make focus and connectivity more difficult during crunch times and important meetings. In a reversal from the initial excitement that surrounded the prospect of working from home more frequently, it is becoming clear that some of the disadvantages are hard to overcome.

Whether because of lost productivity arising from other occupants or family members sharing the space, loss of motivation from living/sleeping/working in the same space, or simply an innate desire to add variety to a daily routine, alternatives to the individual home office are quickly gaining traction. And with recent announcements of further delays in reopening by large organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, creative solutions will be needed sooner rather than later.

 

Broadening Your Rental’s Appeal

If you own a short-term rental property, you may want to consider options for catering to the daily rental needs of remote workers desiring a workspace outside of their own homes. Depending on the market, travel patterns have changed rapidly in response to quarantine orders. Many rental properties—as well as hotels—are sitting empty, representing significant losses for commercial and private owners alike. However, owners of short-term rental properties are well-positioned to capitalize on changing travel habits by broadening their target audience, thereby potentially offsetting losses.

While those traveling for pleasure might be fewer and farther between, rental owners have an opportunity to attract the “business traveler” who is seeking either long- or short-term respite from the home office. Whereas these types of vacation spaces might have once seemed a luxury for the typical worker, they are quickly gaining traction because of their many advantages.

 

Planning Upgrades and Amenities

These days, nearly all vacation rental properties provide the most basic infrastructure to support a remote workplace—Wi-Fi. With some additional planning, though, properties can be taken to the next level by layering on specialty amenities targeted directly at this new breed of remote worker. While cost may be a factor when determining just how far your upgrades go, even just a few unique details can make a difference when it comes to a remote workflow.

Knowing where to start and what questions to ask before implementing any changes can be made easier by consulting a Project Manager (PM) who can guide both your initial exploration and ultimately manage implementation of any changes you wish to make. With their industry knowledge, they can quickly advise on suitable upgrades that would appeal most to someone looking for an extension of their office. Consider how the following technologies and amenities could be enhanced or incorporated at your property:

 

Connectivity

Wi-Fi is the foundation of any remote office. Ensuring that connection speeds are adequate for seamless video conferencing and accessing remote workstations or servers is key. Do you need to install a repeater, extender, or other equipment to ensure connectivity in all corners of the space?

 

Video Conferencing

A dedicated space with a webcam, mic, and neutral background will enable professional-level video conferencing suitable for casual work calls or more formal interviews.

 

Power

Availability of several outlets for charging and powering devices is critical. Outlets with integrated USB connections provide even more convenience. Given that remote work can occur from many places within the property, look to incorporate enhanced power throughout—office areas, living rooms, bedrooms, and even the kitchen.

 

Desk Stations

Consider installing ergonomic and adjustable chairs, keyboard trays, sit-stand desks, large counters or workspaces for spreading out papers and larger projects, or any other equipment to improve the comfort of guests as they do their work.

 

Shared Spaces

If your property is part of a community or resort, learn how communal spaces can be utilized to increase remote work productivity. Whether these are larger, dedicated meeting spaces, a clubhouse with food and beverage services, or a pool or gym, each amenity expands your potential audience and increases your property’s attractiveness.

In many cases, these unique workspaces can offer privacy and other conveniences, as well as a safer environment than a crowded office, at least until an employer is able to safely reopen. Combined with a vacation property’s existing advantages, such as online booking and management, parking, and overnight accommodations, the benefits are numerous. And given that many of these spaces are found beyond the city center, they are even more convenient for those who do not wish to travel far from home.

While it may require some work to properly transition a property to accommodate a more business-minded “traveler,” the advantages to both owners and guests are clear. Planning for upgrades, or at least exploring the feasibility of them, can be made easier by working with a PM.

A PM’s access to industry contacts, as well as their budget and schedule expertise, will provide you with the necessary resources to evaluate how best to make use of your vacant or dormant space. Such spaces are bound to increase in popularity as many look for ways to supplement their home office experiences during the extended reopening period.

How Email Helped Save Vacation Rental Companies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By
Justin Jones
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0

“Email is dead,” we’ve heard this, but it’s simply not the truth. In fact, most companies that are making enormous revenue increases are leveraging the exact email strategies in this article. This advice will help get you more revenue from your emails right away. Email marketing is critical to your vacation rental business – you just have to know how to use it.

We were all impacted by COVID-19 in the travel and tourism space, and so we all needed ways to save money while generating revenue in a bad market. A tough task.

A high-quality email database is pure gold on any day, but even more so when you need to save cash. Email should be one of your lowest acquisition costs for direct bookings and one of the highest converting marketing assets. When those two variables meet, you can generate huge revenue returns with very low expenses. 

At IMEG, we have a client who has been dedicated to building a very strong email marketing asset. By leveraging these strategies, they were able to grow revenue by 41.7% (equating to over $1 MILLION in direct bookings!) even through a pandemic. It works!

   

Deliverability is key!

To get started on deliverability, here are a few questions to ask:

• Do we have proper SPF records set?
• Have we completed any type of domain verification?
• Am I blacklisted with any email provider?

Finally, check that emails sent will land in the inbox – not a spam or promotions tab. For this, we use a tool called Glock Apps to find out how deliverability will be before sending emails.

Now that you have a high-quality list that is growing and solid deliverability, you want to make sure you know what users want.

How do you find out what your web visitors want? Watch their behavior. Figure out what THEY want and give it to them. Website traffic stats, search term activity, blog or content activity, social media interaction, and email open and click-through rates are a few good guides for understanding what your customers want. Once you know what they want, go get it and give it to them!

 

I could write a book on this topic alone! If you have any questions, you can always email me directly at justin@imegonline.com. I offer a free 30-minute call to all VRM Intel members to give any advice that I can. If you want professional help developing an email list or content strategy, we have an amazing team available to help you tackle your marketing challenges. 

Building a New Website: Lessons We Learned While Rebuilding our VRM Website

By
Heather Bayer
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1

 

We knew our website had passed its sell-by date.

It was looking old and tired and did not show well on mobile devices. In the years since it was built, mobile use has grown exponentially, and we were seeing an increase in the bounce rate by those users.

There was a lot about it we still liked because, like an old mattress, it was comfortable; and, despite its being worn and having seen better days, we just kept putting off the change. All that shopping around and research just felt too time-consuming and counterproductive.

Then the pandemic arrived, and the prospect of having to shut down for an extended period meant we would have the opportunity to really explore some options.

And . . . we got wind of a community grant for small businesses, which would pay a proportion of the cost for a marketing project, provided it was completed within a set time frame. That cemented the decision, and our website re-do got underway.

Although the process was relatively issue-free, we learned a few things along the way that made the process smoother, easier, and less stressful.

 

Know Your TARGET Avatar

Creating a website is not about what you like and don’t like. It is what your avatar likes and does not like—it’s what your target market, or personas, will find attractive and appealing that’s more important. If you know them intimately, you can create a site that speaks directly to their dreams, needs, and wants.

Spending the time to identify the types of visitors who will come to the site, hang around, and then book is worth every minute. It helps to create a customized experience for the user.

UK-based customer experience consultancy Foviance defines the nature of this type of focus: “A persona is a fictional character who communicates the primary characteristics of a group of users, identified and selected as a key target through use of segmentation data, across the company in a usable and effective manner. This ultimately enables the company to design the best user experience for its customers at all touchpoints, which is a key success factor in today’s business environment.”

For property managers, personas are created based on what you know of your potential guests’ behavior when they are searching for a property. This knowledge comes from your current website’s analytical data as well as through observation of the needs, goals, and behaviors of your own or your competitors’ target audience groups.

 

You will want to know:

Do your avatars live on their phones and do all their transactions that way?

Are they too busy to read? What other media do they use?

Do they like to spend time researching a vacation or do they book on the fly?

How do they navigate around a website?

What do they enjoy most about a vacation?

What frustrates them about booking a property?

 

Getting to know this person will make decision-making for your site much more focused and accurately targeted.

 

Research thoroughly

One of the first questions your web developer will ask is what you like about other sites. They should provide you with a range of websites they have created and encourage you to share aspects of others that you find appealing.

From these, create a clear wish-list with screenshots of all the things your avatar will love, from such elements as the way the listings and photos are displayed to the way the content is organized and presented, to fonts, spacing, text colors, and headings. You cannot expect the web developer to get inside your head or know your avatars, so this detailed research allows you to drill down to the finest detail.

Create a wish board in a media of your choice depending on whether you prefer digital or written planning. Identify the different parts of the site that will populate the navigation bar then drop the content pages below the headings. For visual creators, a sticky note system can be useful.

 

Assign one person to be project manager

“Too many cooks,” and all that. Creating a new site by committee is likely to lengthen the process as you sit through interminable meetings. Everyone will have their own opinions on what they like in a website, which is why creating the avatars is so helpful.

Once these are defined, it makes the process easier for one person to map out and create the site based on the jointly created personas.

Share the plan as it progresses and ask for feedback, but keep it focused. Set up a Google doc or other shared space for other team members to comment and be disciplined about this system.

Just like trying to please all your end users, some of your team will not be happy with changes to a site they are familiar with. Some will have developed methods of using the current site to speed up their work processes and will demonstrate resistance to change, so it’s worthwhile considering this at the outset and finding out what works really well for them now and what could be incorporated in the new site.

 

Accept there will be compromises

There are probably things you love about your current website. For us, it was the calendar that showed every property on one large chart. Our guests have always liked being able to see all our cottages’ availability in one spot, and the calendar ranked highly on pages visited.

This was the one thing we would not compromise on, and we were thankful our web developer had already done a similar page for other sites.

While you may have features you don’t want to give up, there may be others that you will be happier to sacrifice; and it’s important you identify both of these at the start. Finding out in the middle of the development stage that something you relied upon in the past isn’t going to be available any more can be a tough blow.

To put it into perspective, imagine you have lived in the same house for 15 years. When you moved in, you bought everything new, but now things are getting old and ready for an upgrade. Your children tell you it looks like Grandma’s place and you agree, but it is tough moving on from what’s comfortable and known.

Now you decide to build a new house and start afresh. If there was something you really loved about the old place you could try and recreate it, but in general you’d look ahead to all the upgraded features and amenities and over time find the changes were vast improvements. After all, if you wanted your new place to look and feel like your old one, why would you move out anyway?

Accept there will be some sacrifices to be made, and there will be users who let you know how much they hate the new site because it’s unfamiliar and doesn’t perform in the way they are used to. Over time they will come around.

 

Establish easy and effective lines of communication with the development team

You will need to build a good relationship with the development team and create some ground rules for communications.

If you don’t deliver content, text, photos, and anything else that is asked for on time, you could be holding up the project for weeks— even months—if the developer has other clients who have scheduled projects in progress. Most web design companies will have methods of sharing timelines, showing the different tasks that need doing and their due date, and it is important you meet those commitments.

Find out how your web designer wants to receive your ideas and suggestions. Random emails every time you have an idea may not be the way to go (Spoiler alert: That is what I did, and I am glad my designer was very patient and responsive). In retrospect, we could have utilized a better method of communication—a Slack channel would have been ideal.

Finally, never blame the designer for a project not being completed on time because you failed to communicate your needs effectively or meet deadlines.

We launched our website on time, without much project creep, and on budget, and we credit good organization and planning for getting us there, together with a great web development team.

The CottageLINK Rental Management website was designed and developed by RealTech Webmasters. Our huge thanks go to Sean McNeal for his patience and his ability to translate our needs into a polished and impactful site.

Tours and Activities: The Time is Coming for VRMs to Provide a Comprehensive Guest Experience

By
Matt Loney
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1

In life, the only constant is change. This year has seen disruptive changes and challenges for many, but none more so than the travel and tourism industry. Emerging business trends show evidence of the speed at which our industry is transforming and indicate that travelers are now searching for more personal, emotional, and immersive experiences as part of their vacation package. To successfully meet the evolving expectations of their guests, VRMs must embrace their local tours and attractions and be seen as more than simply providing a place to stay!

 
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86 – 89% 

An estimated 86% of travelers between the ages of 18 and 34 and 89% of international travelers participate in tours and activities while traveling.

85%

Outdoor activities top the charts with 85% of families making it a priority on vacation. (Short Term Rentalz)

90%

90% of travelers say they expect a personalized experience when they book their travel (Medium), and 67% of high-income travelers would rather spend their money on activities than a nicer hotel room. (Skift)

2018

Hostfully found that tours and activities were the number one service vacation rental managers wanted to add.

$183 Billion

It’s predicted that the tours and activities segment will grow to $183 billion. (Phocuswright)

62%

A recent report by Arival shows that 62% of travelers consider private tours the most appealing as they look to travel again

45%

Google searches for “staycation” have jumped 45% YoY (Google 2020), and 56% have taken a staycation recently. (YouGov)

83%

A survey conducted by Zapwater shows that 83% of Americans preferred to travel within the US for their first trip post-COVID-19.

Revenge Spending

Post-pandemic “revenge spending” indicates travel will be among the first to recover. (Forbes)

 

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A New Age of Travel

COVID-19 has redefined travel and shifted the landscape of the industry. Although many people have been affected on professional and personal levels, the good news is vacation rentals are now leading the recovery for travel and tourism.

Our new normal reveals a shift in both consumer behavior and needs because guest expectations have never been higher thanks to post-lockdown cravings for freedom and experience. The focus is no longer on accommodation alone but has shifted swiftly to a combination of a safe place to stay and a complete guest experience. With endless COVID-19 restrictions in place, guests are looking to plan their experiences online, book in advance, avoid lines, and reduce contact.

Vacations that are contactless by nature are on the rise. Travelers are choosing outdoor activities over indoor attractions while opting for workcations and staycations: local travel, drive-to destinations, and remote locations such as mountains, lakes, and beaches.

 

Tours, Activities, and Experiences

Tours and activities have, until recently, experienced consistent but slow growth when compared to many industry counterparts yet now stand proud as the third-largest and fastest-growing sector of global travel and tourism. According to Phocuswright, 80 percent of US travelers participated in a tour, activity, or ticketed attraction on their last vacation.

Although the success of tours and activities has generally been predicted by the market and location, in the midst of a global pandemic, there has been a shift in the types of tours and activities that are thriving and in how they are being booked.

Trips that offer a naturally isolated experience, such as fishing charters, dolphin cruises, kayaking, horseback riding, wilderness adventures, and wellness travel are leading the way.

Tours and activities are moving quickly to implement online booking with digital ticket redemption, enabling them to manage capacity limitations and social distancing by avoiding overcrowding and guests waiting in line. With attractions starting to open and road trips on the rise, are you, as a VRM, able to offer your guests not only a safe home but a memorable vacation experience?

 

Why Tours and Activities Should Be Important to All VRMs

Tours and activities are transforming the vacation rental industry as we know it, and value adds are playing a larger role in our industry than ever before. Property managers must use their knowledge of the market, guest behavior, and local travel trends to enhance the guest experience with customized offerings and personalized service.

Return on experience is the new ROI, and although offering your guests tours and activities as part of their stay will not drive substantial direct revenue, the ability to increase your ADR and occupied nights (through both new reservations and extended lengths of stay) represents one of the best opportunities to increase your bottom line.

 

Building Your Brand

Connect YOUR brand to your guest experiences. As many as 97 percent of millennials share their travel experiences on social media, with two-thirds posting at least once a day. These posts of “best-in-life” moments and experiences are made throughout their vacations, as opposed to pictures of their rental homes, which are typically posted on the day of arrival. Are you part of their daily experience? Offer your guests incentives to tag you and let social media do the rest.

 

A One-Stop Shop

Are you a one-stop shop for your guest? Ultimately guest experience remains at the heart of our industry, and customer loyalty lies in meeting all your guests’ needs. It’s time to take stock of your local treasures, tours, activities, and attractions to ensure your guest experience is complete. Take it one step further with a virtual concierge tailored specifically for each home and revolutionize your guests stay. “Alexa! Book me a sunset dolphin cruise, please.”

 

Repeat Guests and Referrals

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of offering tours and activities to your guests is that it drives more bookings. Customer loyalty and positive experiences can drive your bookings and lead to repeat guests and referrals while simultaneously reducing your guest acquisition costs. Although a vacation rental home offers comfort, an experience promises memories.

 

A Safe Stay

With PPE becoming a necessity and new procedures for increased safety in place, offering your guests an experience with a preferred vendor gives guests peace of mind during the uncertainty of COVID-19.

One needs to look no further than Googles’ recent entry into both vacation rentals and tours and attractions to confirm this is a hot topic, and vacationers are looking for added value now more than ever when planning their vacations. Xplorie works together with VRMs to build the best guest experience programs in the vacation rental industry, with products ranging from a virtual concierge service to complimentary activities each day of a guest’s stay. In a recent guest feedback survey, 72 percent of travelers said attractions were a factor in their decision when booking accommodations. It’s time to join the guest experience movement!

 

Be more than a place to stay.

Guests are seeking a seamless and hassle-free vacation experience to enjoy the best that their destination has to offer with no extra effort. The era of offering accommodation only is coming to an end. It is time to move with the shifting tide, enhance your customer experience, build your brand, boost your bookings, and transform your accommodation by offering memories and moments that will last a lifetime.

After all, the experience is why we vacation.

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Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement

By
Amy Hinote
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0

For the last two years, Booking.com has been working steadily to ensure the quality of short-term and vacation rentals listed on its platform with initiatives like the star-based classification system it implemented in 2019.  

However, today, Booking.com is taking a giant step toward guaranteeing quality stays in home rentals with the launch of a new required Minimum Cleanliness Score Commitment for short-term rental listings.

The phased initiative will require rental managers and homeowners to maintain a Minimum Cleanliness Score of 6 out of 10 in order to remain on the platform. After a successful pilot program launched earlier this year, Booking.com is partnering with Properly to provide guidance, standards, tools, and technology to help rental providers improve the quality of the home and the guest experience. 

According to Booking.com, a property’s cleanliness score is “an average of the cleanliness review scores you receive from all your guests. It’s an indicator of the comfort you provide guests, which is why we require all our partners to score at least a 6 on cleanliness. A property that’s doesn’t meet these cleanliness standards will be notified and put on a warning list.”

The partnership with Properly serves to coach its rental providers as they work to improve and maintain their cleanliness score using detailed guidance which includes Properly’s best-practice cleaning protocols. These custom checklists are designed to give rental managers and owners easy-to-implement directions to meet Booking’s guest expectations for cleanliness and create actionable guides to help improve guest experiences.

The resources draw on Properly’s experience providing quality management frameworks for property managers and hosts around the world. Additionally, through the partnership Properly offers Booking.com partners an exclusive discount on access to its mobile app that allows hosts to distribute, monitor, verify and certify the use of standard operating procedure protocols. Booking.com partners can also find qualified cleaning providers through Properly’s global network of service providers.

According to Eric Bergaglia, global head of Booking.com’s homes and apartments business, “Cleanliness and comfort have always been important factors in a great stay, and today even more so than ever. With use of the words ‘clean’ and ‘hygiene’ increasing by over 60% on our platform since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and alternative accommodations representing one third of all new bookings during the third quarter, the introduction of our Minimal Cleanliness Score Commitment reflects our continued commitment to ensure traveler peace of mind.”

 

How it Works

Properties that do not maintain a Minimum Cleanliness Score of 6 out of 10 will be notified by Booking.com and put on a warning list. Once on the warning list, rental providers are required to agree to the Minimal Cleanliness Score Commitment. They will have six months to give guests a better cleanliness experience and earn better reviews that raise the cleanliness score to a 6 or higher.

If a rental manager/owner will not commit to improving their cleanliness score Booking.com will remove the property from Booking.com. According to the site, “This is in accordance with our General Delivery Terms, which give us the right to restrict or suspend properties for repeated poor ratings or reviews.”

If the rental manager/owner doesn’t respond, the property will be deranked in search results.

“During the six-month probation period, we’ll be monitoring guest feedback for clear proof of cleanliness improvements. Once your new cleanliness score reaches an average of 6, we’ll remove your property from the warning list. If it doesn’t improve to at least 6, we’ll remove your property from our platform.”

 

A Win for Guests and the VR Industry

This Booking.com initiative is a strong move in the right direction for the professionally managed vacation rental industry that is consistently working to maintain superior quality and provide top-tier guest experiences. Weeding out low-quality rentals helps everyone.

“As many travelers begin to choose alternative accommodation for the first time, it has become even more important that they find quality and comfort,” said Alex Nigg, Properly CEO and longtime advocate of establishing cleanliness standards in the short-term rental industry. “A recent survey of Properly partners found that when hosts are provided with long and complex protocols, the result is often low compliance. With this highly targeted and responsive program, Booking.com focuses on those partners that can most benefit from help and provides them with tools to help them succeed.” 

Booking.com’s Bergaglia added, “Alongside other key product updates made this year to make it simple for properties to navigate evolving traveler preferences, we are excited to work with Properly to bring this tailored support to alternative accommodation properties as they commit to improve their cleanliness score.”

Airbnb is Finally Going Public: Takeaways for Property Managers from IPO Filing

By
Amy Hinote
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1

Airbnb filed for its long-awaited public offering on Monday, shedding light on its past performance and trajectory.

According to its S-1, Airbnb has 4 million hosts in 220 countries listing 5.6 million “active listings” on its platform, with 29% of its “Nights and Experiences” and 41% of its revenue coming from North America.

As of September 30, 2020, Airbnb has 5,465 employees in 24 cities around the world after reducing its workforce by approximately 1,800 in May 2020.  

Airbnb is the third US company in the short-term rental industry to go public, preceded only by ResortQuest (1998) and HomeAway (2011). Both companies were purchased within 6 years of their IPOs. 

The filing provides a highly anticipated show-and-tell of Airbnb’s performance, including its financials, listing counts and calculations, risk assessment, and strategic position. 

 

The Numbers

Airbnb’s revenue dropped 32% between January and September 2020, losing $697 million through the first nine months of the year, more than twice as much as it lost in the year-earlier period. However, Airbnb reported that it was profitable in Q3 2020 largely due to the seasonal nature of the industry and after COVID-19 forced it to slash expenses and cut a quarter of its staff. Q3 revenue fell 18% to $1.34 billion from the same period a year earlier, with a profit of $219 million.

Without breaking out fees, Airbnb’s Gross Average Daily Rate by Month shows an 18 – 21% YOY increase in Q3. 

In 2019, Airbnb generated Gross Booking Value (GBV) of $38.0 billion. Its GBV of $38.0 billion in 2019 consisted of $31.3 billion in host earnings, $5.3 billion in service fees for Airbnb, and $1.4 billion in taxes, consisting primarily of lodging taxes. 

 

5.6M Active Listings; 76% booked at least once in last year

While Airbnb has boasted over 7 million listings for the last year, its filing shed light into its listing calculation.

“Our hosts had 7.4 million available listings of homes and experiences as of September 30, 2020, of which 5.6 million were active listings.”

Airbnb defines an active listing as a space or experience that “is viewable on Airbnb and has been previously booked at least once on Airbnb (excluding Hotel Tonight).”

Note: Airbnb combines stays and experiences in all of its reporting. In January 2020, Airbnb shared that it has 40,000 experiences on the platform. 

Its $31.3B in host earnings translates to an average of $5,589 in annual host earnings per active listing on Airbnb. In comparison, a 2019 survey by HomeAway found the average owner who rents out a second home collects more than $33,000 a year in rental revenue on Vrbo. 

Additional listing insight from Airbnb

  • Approximately 76% of active listings had been booked in the twelve months ended September 30, 2020.
  • To flip this KPI, 24% of active listings (1.27 million) did not have a single booking in the previous year.
  • As of December 31, 2019, 90% of Airbnb’s hosts were individual hosts, and 79% of those hosts had just a single listing.
  • As of December 31, 2019, 72% of nights booked were with individual hosts.
  • While the category of one to 27 nights (short-term stays) was down 81% year over year in April, long-term stays were down only 13% year over year and saw year-over-year growth from May through September 2020.
  • In 2019, 63% of revenue was generated from listings outside of the United States. 
  • Active listings are available listings that have been previously booked at least once at any time since Airbnb’s inception. 

 

Potential Risks

Airbnb’s filing detailed a long list of potential risks facing the company, including competition, Google, safety, regulatory issues, legal challenges, racial discrimination, and many others. 

Regarding safety, Airbnb stated, “In addition, we have not in the past and may not in the future undertake to independently verify the safety, suitability, location, quality, compliance with Airbnb policies or standards, and legal compliance, such as fire code compliance or the presence of carbon monoxide detectors, of all our hosts’ listings or experiences.”

If reference to Google, “How Google presents travel search results, and its promotion of its own travel meta-search services, such as Google Travel and Google Vacation Rental Ads, or similar actions from other search engines, and their practices concerning search rankings, could decrease our search traffic, increase traffic acquisition costs, and/or disintermediate our platform. These parties can also offer their own comprehensive travel planning and booking tools, or refer leads directly to suppliers, other favored partners, or themselves, which could also disintermediate our platform.”

 

Market Opportunity

One of the more shocking sections in Airbnb’s filing was its calculation of the sector’s opportunity in the addressable market, as the company showed numbers our industry has not previously identified:

We estimate our serviceable addressable market (“SAM”) today to be $1.5 trillion, including $1.2 trillion for short-term stays and $239 billion for experiences. We estimate our total addressable market (“TAM”) to be $3.4 trillion, including $1.8 trillion for short-term stays, $210 billion for long-term stays, and $1.4 trillion for experiences.

 

Airbnb Doubles Down on “Home sharing” in future strategy

We expected to see Airbnb expand its focus to include professionally managed short-term rentals, hotels, and flights, especially after emailing guests in April encouraging them to book a hotel instead of a home stay. Instead, Airbnb affirmed its singular focus on home sharing and defined itself as the creator of a “new category in travel” :

Airbnb has enabled home sharing at a global scale and created a new category of travel. Instead of traveling like tourists and feeling like outsiders, guests on Airbnb can stay in neighborhoods where people live, have authentic experiences, live like locals, and spend time with locals in approximately 100,000 cities around the world.

According to an included letter from the founders, “When the pandemic hit, we knew we couldn’t pursue everything that we used to. We chose to focus on what is most unique about Airbnb — our core business of hosting. We got back to our roots and back to what is truly special about Airbnb — the everyday people who host their homes and offer experiences. We scaled back investments that did not directly support the core of our host community. This focus came at the right time. People are feeling increasingly disconnected in the world, and loneliness is pervading our society. The opposite of loneliness is belonging — the feeling of deep and genuine connection to a person, a place, or community. It’s the feeling of being ‘at home.’ The feeling of being known and loved.”

 

What can Property Managers expect from a Public Airbnb?

While we will have many opportunities to discuss Airbnb’s actions from this point forward, based on our experience when HomeAway went down this path, we can expect to see:

  • Increased monetization of the site and an effort to increase transactional take rates
  • Increased efforts to limit/block communications between guests and hosts

The difference between HomeAway and Airbnb is that HomeAway’s executives were actively engaged with the VRM community. In contrast, many of the largest vacation rental property managers have never had the opportunity to have a conversation with Airbnb’s C-suite. Airbnb hasn’t demonstrated any concern for the needs of its professional suppliers, and its filing shows no intention to cater to this supply sector of its business.

Listing professionally managed vacation homes on Airbnb will mean playing by their rules. 

 

Additional Questions Raised from Airbnb’s Filing

Will the post-COVID traveler relate to home sharing? While much of the industry has moved to keyless locks and contactless check in, Airbnb is doubling down on the idea of connection and shared spaces, but will the 2021 traveler want to have up close and personal interactions with a host?

Will Airbnb engage its professional suppliers in a more meaningful way? Is the “peace, love, and an extra bedroom” message conveyed yesterday a sustainable service line, or will we see Airbnb pivot its branding direction to a more professionalized accommodation experience?

Will guests coming from the Airbnb platform be the kind of guests that top-tier homes want to attract? We regularly hear from PMs that the guests coming from Airbnb do not behave as well as guests booking directly or through other platforms. In contrast with hotels, professional PMs have a need to ensure guests can function as good neighbors. 

Will Airbnb be able to follow through with launched initiatives and standards for guests? For example, what happened to Airbnb Plus? And with its Enhanced Cleaning Protocol, according to Properly’s Alex Nigg at the Vacation Rental World Summit, only 15% of hosts say they are complying with the standards. We’ve seen lofty standards introduced by Airbnb with no enforcement or follow through. 

What PMs know they can expect is that changes are coming to Airbnb. 

Airbnb plans to trade under the symbol “ABNB” on the Nasdaq. Read the entire S-1 filing here. 

 

The Dreaded Software Transition: To import or not to import data?

By
Carlos Corzo
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0

You have spent months looking for the perfect new, modern software solution that can take your company to new heights. But wait! What are you going to do with years’ worth of data? What about your future reservations?

For a property manager, one of the scariest parts of moving to a new software solution is the migration of data. As one prospective Streamline client put it, “I would rather poke my eyes out than have to do a software transition.” As you might guess, many of our new transition-ees have felt the same way. Unfortunately, although the process is indeed daunting, the benefits of having the right software with a stronger suite of functionality far outweigh the challenges implicit in a software transition. So, transition is a must. But what about that pesky data?

The Problem with a Full Transfer

Although your first instinct may be to try and transition all your data, this is extremely problematic, particularly if it is automated. Remember, no two software systems are built the same, meaning any programmatic transfer would require accounting for a multitude of potentialities. Each brand of software has its unique way of dealing with fees, whereas their units and owners have different overall data structures. Even scarier, software often can have different ways of calculating taxes and dealing with rounding on percentage-based fees. Even a slight miscalculation or mistransfer could leave you in the worst spot of all: having your accounting be out of balance from day one.

So, is there any chance to programmatically import all your data, including room revenue, taxes, and fees?

The answer, of course, is yes. However, this is an involved project that would require the collaboration of senior engineering teams from both companies. I would go so far as to say an import of this level should be done by a company that specializes in data transitions. The reason for this being that by the time your unique import project has been designed and implemented and QA is complete, you may have spent as much or more money than you would going through all the reservations by hand. And, even if your business is at a point where the investment is feasible, you have to remember, if it is not 100 percent accurate, you will be haunted by accounting balancing issues for the remainder of your time with your new software. In other words, it can be done, but is it worth it?

The Case for Selective Data Imports

There’s an old saying that garbage in equals garbage out. Put simply, trying to transition every last scrap of data when you do an import is not the right way to go about it. In fact, a software transition is your opportunity to clean the slate and draw a line in the sand. This does not mean that your old data are not useful, but in terms of how you will move forward after your software transition, “cleaning” your data is smart for your business.

With this in mind, here are some insights for property managers going to new software, including what data are important and what – unfortunately – you may want to leave behind. It’s not an all-or-nothing decision. Having done this for 15 years, I have experienced enough import variations to provide some valuable advice.

Throughout the transition, remember that moving to new software provides the perfect chance for a new start. Take advantage of the import process to validate your new system functionality and tidy up data.

Approach it as an audit on your data. You may not like some of these recommendations―especially considering how precious clean data sets are in this industry―but you will find that these recommendations are sure to save you a lot of time and hassle.

 

Data Pool Transfer Recommendations

 

Owner Data with Historical Information (Owner Statements!)

Owner imports often match up well across software systems. In this situation, simple .csv files can do the trick. However, there are also components critical for an owner, such as historical statements, that cannot be ignored. Owners will want access to that information. Of course, like all data groups you’ll find in different property management software, these data sets too have their warts when it comes to transition.

Owner imports tend to bring in old and outdated information. You can run into unique situations in which commission distributions have changed over time. This can create a problem during an import if the commissions from old reservations are not represented correctly. This comes down to the way your software stores and calculates commissions. The last thing you would want would be for your owner to log into a portal where the commissions shown differ from those shown in past statements.

Furthermore, some software solutions allow owners to run reporting from past reservations or fees paid to owners. This can be challenging because, when companies transition software systems they have used for 10-plus years, some older fees may not even exist anymore. Given that you will be forced to map these old taxes/fees to your new fees, this data could be completely useless to your owner.

Recommendation: Even with these minor complications, importing owners is still fairly simple. The key is to take the time to review the data in your .csv import file before doing the actual import. Many times, we provide a specific template that must be followed, and the data that come back are a bit shocking. From years of using the old system, much of the data points being transferred are extremely poor and inaccurate. Take this time to update your owner information. It will pay dividends.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

  • As far as statements and past reservations are concerned, I would recommend showing only owners’ future reservations from the day you start on the new software. This is due to any possible commission split discrepancies from trying to import old reservations.
  • Historical statements and reservations should be shown to the owners by uploading PDF files generated from your old software system. Ideally, you would have an owner module or owner app that allows owners to access uploaded files.
  • You may consider doing this with old 1099s and 1042s, as well as with the 1099s and 1042s for the part of the current year in which you used your old software.
  • Don’t try to replicate past owner statements or recreate previous 1099s or 1042s in your new software. You will spend all your time researching why they don’t match.

 

Guest Data

This is your bread and butter. Guests represent your marketing arm, and they make up the one thing that you always need to export from your old software. There is no reason to enter these by hand; as long as you have an email, you will be able to send marketing materials.

  • When clients dump out data from one system to another, much of the guest data can be poor. As explained, at the very least, have emails in place.
  • Historical reservations are often difficult to match up because you can have the same name with a new email. There is also the possibility for errors during data entry by your reservationists. This would essentially create a different guest profile, so there are challenges involved in crediting reservations to an exact guest. This comes in handy when you are trying to identify the guests who have spent the most money with you in the past.

Recommendation: Guest imports are a must. They make up the easier set of data to import and are extremely important to have. If you need to go back and do some clean up to make sure that the right reservations are credited to the right guest, you want to make sure to find software that will allow you to merge reservations under one profile after your import. If they don’t have this option, I would recommend spending some time sorting the data to look for variations of names, phone numbers, and emails that could be merged before you import.

 

Maintenance Data

Maintenance data is perhaps the most difficult pool of data to transfer when starting with a new property management software. This is where you will see the most variation in the logic used from one software to another, making full automation extremely challenging. This is especially true if you, like so many others, want to import labor and parts. You are now getting into the possible tax implications of parts, vendor payables, and special blocks on work orders in addition to matching the way vendors are managed and upcharge calculations. With all this, you can see how difficult transferring the data might be.

Recommendation: There comes a point where the import of old data is bringing in information that is not useful for reporting purposes. This is one of those points. Of course, in some cases, you may be able to take advantage of integrations with third-party software that already has your historical information and simply change the source of the data moving forward. This way you won’t need to worry much about maintenance data.

Otherwise, my recommendation is to import the work order title and the responsible party (owner, guest, management company) and use the instructions area to merge all other fields that would be important to you if you needed to reference this work order in the future. Take any labor, parts, taxes, or anything critical needed from your old system, and merge that data into one entry that would become your instructions section. Instructions tend to be a global attribute among software providers.

 

Review Data

We definitely want to be able to import reviews. I am a big believer in the idea that more reviews bring creditability and trustworthiness to your product. However, once again, not every system treats reviews the same way. In some cases, the reviews are done through stars. In others, the reviews are done through a numbering system. The trick is to identify the right mapping from the review scores in one system to the review scores in another.

Recommendation: Reviews are must-haves because of their impact on conversions. I would make sure you can generate a .csv file with the minimum information needed for a review in your new software solution. What tend to be common and most important for your website are the reviewer name (if available), review, and rating.

 

Accounting Data

In an ideal world, you could have your new system mirror all accounting transactions from your old system for past and future reservations. Clients often change software because of challenges and discrepancies with accounting. This strongly suggests that historical accounting transactions should be left behind.

Recommendation: You should try to work something out with your old software so that you can continue to have access to your old data. You would not be using any of the technology moving forward, except for running some reports. For cloud-based systems, this is often a great way to have easy access to historical accounting information.

If this is too pricey, you will have to download all the historical reports that would allow you to provide information on a possible future audit. You should never expect that an import into new software will clean up bad historical data from your old system. Remember, if you had garbage in the past and you bring that over, it will continue to be garbage. Leave the bad data behind, and start anew with your new software!

 

Reservation Data

This was by far the hardest lesson for me. I insisted on moving clients from one software to another while matching the structure of their pricing exactly through imports. After all, we have the technology to do so!

Still, something always came up; one little issue during an import would invalidate everything we did. My breakthrough came a few years ago. One of our employees with many years of experience with multiple software systems told me this: “You should not import taxes/fees. It is a big mistake, and it will cause the client to be off balance from day one.”

I thought she was crazy.

And yet, as it turns out, she was absolutely right.

Transferring reservations is a challenge, but matching up the taxes and fees in the exact manner of your old software is almost impossible. It can also be quite problematic, even if done correctly.

After all, even a small rounding error can compound infinitely, depending on a variety of factors. For instance, it is extremely common for companies to have hundreds of taxes/fees that they created to get around limitations in their old system. If you are not aware of all those taxes/fees and how they functioned historically, you can run into problems when trying to modify a future reservation because your new system will not understand how these calculations were made if it doesn’t know the logic behind the taxes/fees. Does that structure have the same behavior as your new software? Does it round taxes/fees the same way? Does it calculate the taxes/fees in a certain order? All these questions can be extremely difficult to answer, and what’s more, you shouldn’t even need to answer them.

Importing old reservations from your old system means you are trying to conform your new system to the logic and restrictions of your old system. Instead of doing this, embrace the new freedom your new software offers, and ditch the old tax structure problems (as well as the headache you’ll undoubtedly get by trying to match everything up perfectly).

Recommendation: Moving over data is your opportunity to clean your system, train your staff, ensure you don’t run into any early disbursements that were not accounted for, and most importantly, ensure that your tax/fee configurations work exactly like your old system. Put simply, out with the old and in with the new.

The ideal solution is to create reservation shells with payments. In some cases, you can enter the room revenue, and the system will divide that by the number of nights. After the shell and the room revenue are imported, you allow the system to calculate the remainder of the price of the reservation. Once that is done, you can compare the new calculated price to the exact price that was in your old system. This is where you are able to fine-tune your new system.

In addition, this allows you to look for any early disbursements that were done in your old system in relation to future reservations. Most common is travel insurance or taxes on certain fees. For those who want to have the nightly pricing match your old system, you would again let the system calculate the reservation pricing and compare that to your old system. This is also a great way to make sure your pricing setup is correct. This is an additional layer of work but essential if you review historical nightly rates for revenue management.

This begs the question, why import any pricing? Import the shell and compare the individual values that were calculated by your new software, given the rules that are in place for pricing, taxes, and fees. This is doable for future reservations. However, it is not likely to work for past reservations, and you will spend most of your time doing modifications.

 

Conclusion

Overall, starting with a new software means you have an opportunity to make sure that your system is running exactly the way you expect it to run.

Yes, it is possible to move all your data the way you want it―and Streamline will surely do this, if you simply cannot part with your data.

However, starting fresh can solve training issues, reporting issues, pricing strategies, tax/fee accuracy, and charging rules verification. It may seem difficult to part with your old data, but if you truly want your business to grow, and you want all reporting to be simple and easy going forward, this is the way to do it!

New Customers Bring New Demands: Evolving to Meet the Needs of New Customer Avatars

By
Nancy McAleer
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2

As vacation rental providers are experiencing firsthand, consumer behavior in the travel sector has changed dramatically in 2020.

In a recent interview, Google’s head of vertical travel search, Laura- Marie Arens, shared that vacation rental accommodations are recovering faster than hotels, adding, “Vacation rental is perceived safer, easier to practice social distancing, and you can manage your own food.” (“Google says private accommodation is recovering faster than hotels on a global scale,” Phocuswire, October 1, 2020)

However, that does not mean it is business as usual, as the short-term rental industry has experienced a whirlwind of change in customer behavior within that time.

If you have not already identified several emerging traveler avatars yet, you’d better hurry up, because second waves of the pandemic are being experienced around the world. New patterns in consumer behavior and ensuing new traveler avatars look like they may be here to stay, at least for now. Capitalizing on these changes will help rental managers and homeowners more quickly acclimate to this brave new world.

 

Emerging Vacation Rental Guest Avatars

Newbies

A new and widespread perception of the vacation rental as a safer choice for accommodation over traditional hotels has resulted in an influx of first-time vacation rental guests. Inexperienced guests coming from urban multifamily dwellings to stay in private vacation homes must learn to manage new amenities, such as pools and hot tubs. This creates a need for structured protocols to educate these “newbies,” as well as vendor maintenance protocols arising from more wear and tear. If expectations are properly set and met, these new customers can turn into repeat guests who give glowing referrals to their friends; and a recent study from Nielsen showed that 92 percent of travelers trust travel location referrals from people they know.

 

Digital Nomads

The working world suddenly moved away from brick-and-mortar offices and schools to “work-from-home” and “web-learning” environments. With the ability to work from anywhere, a new group of vacation rental traveler was born, and longer stays have become common. However, this guest avatar has the need for high-speed internet, easy-access charging outlets, and workplace areas in the home. As a result, vacation rental providers are switching up marketing to showcase more in-demand amenities, such as home office spaces, free Wi-Fi, and high-speed ratings to meet the needs of the Digital Nomad.

 

Students Co-Living as Digital Nomads

We can include college and university students in the Co-Living Digital Nomad mix; they are socially banding together in their own bubbles to learn remotely by day and enjoy an incredible vacation rental by night. YOLO!

 

Digital Nomad Families on the Move, Including Pets

The rise of remote working and web-learning has created a new guest avatar: Digital Nomad Families opting to travel off the beaten path to rental homes, enjoying their time self-isolating, which includes bringing along the entire family, including their pets! A recent US Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey reveals “the share of households with kids stands at 27 percent, while the share of households with pets is at 68 percent.” (National Association of Realtors)

Don’t rule out this opportunity to increase your income through pet premiums of up to 30 percent the rental rate.

 

Family Bubbles

As families have had to sit back and take stock of what is important, there is an increase in demand for larger homes used for “family bubble” accommodations. This includes the extended family that has sheltered together.

 

First Responders and Frontline Workers

Typically, this avatar is most prevalent during weather crises such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires. The 2020 pandemic forced frontline workers to isolate from their families and also forced first responders arriving in high COVID-19 zones to look for vacation rentals for short- and long-term periods.

 

House Partiers

The absence of nightclubs, bars, and event venues has opened up the eyes of event promoters to the possibility of using vacation rental homes as bases for their special events. These large house parties are often illegal under COVID-19 restrictions and sometimes result in disturbances. Rental managers and owners need to review their event policies (minimum age, maximum occupancy, parking, events allowed, damage deposits), and educate booking agents as to suspicious bookings (e.g., a renter booking a home, with a residence in the same city, for a short weekend stay). Smart home technology can help deter overoccupancy and parties with outdoor video cameras, noise monitors, and cell phone/Wi-Fi usage monitors.

 

New Demands

Demand for New Technology

Pandemic safety protocols, combined with a new generation of vacation rental guests, have increased the demand and requirements for new technology. Instant and mobile booking with flexible payment options on all booking platforms is now expected. In addition, on-the-ground technology, such as keyless entry, noise monitors, and size-of-party monitors.

 

Increased Demand for Cleaning Protocols and Accreditation

Destination Analysts reported in its September 2020 survey that just 29.9 percent of average American travelers have confidence that travel is safe. Another national tracking poll survey revealed, “Lodging properties with cleaning and hygiene programs are sought by 55 percent of travelers, and mask-wearing requirements and/or social distancing policies are desirable for 47 percent of those planning their U.S. trips.” (“COVID-19 Travel Sentiment Study,” Longwoods International)

The pandemic has forced both property managers and owners to come together with government agencies to develop actionable cleaning standards. Independent accreditation is on the rise, demonstrating to consumers and municipal and state governments that the vacation rental industry is professional and ensuring that vacation rentals are a safe option during a pandemic.

Note: Check out VRMA’s SafeHome Campaign.

 

Fluid Situations Increase Demand for More Flexible Cancellation Policies

As community spread pops up in one area and is fully under control in other regions, travelers are looking for special COVID- 19-flexible cancellation policies as an easy way to protect their vacation investment.

 

 

Price Comparison and Book Direct Demand Rising

The unemployment rate in the United States was an astonishing 14.7 percent in April 2020, flattening out to 7.9 percent in September, when it historically hovers around 3.5 percent. Money is tight, and the average American traveler is more price sensitive than ever. Similar effects are evident across the globe.

Price comparison shopping for vacation rentals is increasingly common. Once travelers decide on a rental home, they then search the internet for the best price for that home. Diversification in marketing portfolios will meet this demand with more distribution on book-direct regional sites, price aggregation sites, and business sites with rate/quote calculator information readily available.

Expect consumers to ask for discounts; they assume the vacation rental industry is desperate for bookings after government shutdowns of short-term rentals earlier in the first quarter.

 

New Behavior

Domestic Travel Skyrockets

Border closures are common in 2020, as are travel restrictions within countries, so consumer behavior has completely reverted to domestic travel. Savvy owners and managers have collected data on their client zip codes to produce heat maps so that they can change marketing and advertising strategies to suit each new client.

 

International Travel Remains Bleak

The International Trade Commission‘s data reflect a 93.6 percent decrease in international nonresident traffic into the United States from March to August 2020. As the United States continues to battle the pandemic, the international traveler stays away.

International travel is based, of course, on country recuperation and border reopenings. Rental accommodation owners may start seeing increases in travel as things slowly start to open in COVID-19–low and COVID-19–free countries.

 

Shortened Booking Window

In regions where bookings typically take place one year in advance, short-term rental stakeholders are now experiencing more last-minute bookings. Travelers are looking at the latest COVID-19 statistics to see if they want to visit an area. The lesson here is not offering last-minute discounts too far in advance.

 

Travel Insurance

Consumers are looking for more detailed information on travel insurance such as how it works and what policies are covered during the pandemic. It is falling on the shoulders of the rental owner and manager to educate the traveler. Savvy stakeholders have incorporated some type of affiliate relationship into their booking processes to lower their risk and increase income in this category.

 

Longer Stay Demands

With the increase of the new digital nomad avatar, the demand for longer stays remains evident. Florida Rental By Owners, a regional book-direct listing site, experienced a huge increase in longer stay searches year over year from March to September 2020: a whopping 135 percent increase in searches for vacation rentals offering one-month stays or longer. Do not rule out longer stays, specifically for urban market recovery.

 

Traditional Seasons Become Blurred

Where the fall 2020 season would typically be considered low season for many areas, changes to home and school environments raise the demand for off-season travel. Interestingly, VRBO reported new family travel data this fall with a rise in the number of families booking trips in the third and fourth quarters. Florida Rental By Owners has also reported a 71 percent increase in inquiries year over year since vacation rentals reopened.

There is no doubt that the short-term rental industry has experienced disruptive changes to traveler avatars, preference, and behavior. 2020 has demanded an evolution among vacation rental stakeholders.

Rental guests are now looking for low-risk, predictable, and trusted local options. This includes the most important item on most of their lists: health and hygiene. The fear of potential quarantines and lockdowns alongside concerns about social distancing and masks will guide consumer behavior in the coming months. Innovation and new technology make up the impetus stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The good news is that many of the challenges and changes in traveler behavior of 2020, when analyzed carefully, can be converted into opportunity—and ultimately the building blocks of a stronger future for the vacation rental industry as a whole.

Photos and Descriptions: How Best Practices Have Changed in 2020

By
Rebecca Lombardo
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0

An article titled “Being Extra-Ordinary” in the Summer 2020 issue of VRM Intel shared photographs of clean, open interiors with decluttered surfaces and white bedspreads. Its purpose was to provide guidance amid COVID-19 concerns on how to communicate cleanliness to potential guests.

These tips, it turns out, might not be so temporary.

According to an article from USA Today published August 26, 2020, “STR and Tourism Economics said recently that it expects average hotel occupancy of 40 percent this year, slowly climbing to 52 percent in 2021. That’s down from a healthy 66 percent in 2019.”

Meanwhile, some vacation rental companies in beach locations are booming at 80 percent occupancy during a shoulder season where they would normally be at 50 percent on a good year. In fact, one vacation rental company reported being at 140 percent of revenue from 2019 by mid-September. There doesn’t appear to be the same “slowly climbing” trend for property managers.

Best practices in photography and descriptions took a back seat to last-minute bookings, hard-to-find cleaning crews, chargebacks, and the sunsetting of V12 (which probably felt like the cherry on top of the apocalypse). And who could blame property managers for this when many of them spent their nights and mornings Cloroxing toilets and sinks themselves?

For those coming up for air, right now is a great time to think ahead and employ these best practices to stay ahead of the curve.

 

 

 

Best Practices in Photography

In one sense, best practices for property photography haven’t changed and won’t change even in this strange new world. If anything, these recommendations will continue to be emphasized in the future:

Clarity: Crystal-clear photographs that plainly show details within the room and clear views out the windows convey cleanliness and transparency, which builds trust—and trust wins bookings and increases revenue. It also prevents misunderstandings. This type of quality can be achieved using HDR photography and DSLR cameras.

Color: Hues and saturation within a photograph must be consistent, and that consistency ideally should continue throughout the property/properties. Imagine ordering food based on photos where the rice and chicken looked grimy. That’s the same visceral response guests have when they see yellowing tile in a kitchen or dark gray in a bathtub when those colors shouldn’t be there.

Composition: Although nicely framed-out shots are always important, one slight change recently has been to angle the camera’s view to capture how it would look to actually be there. In other words, take photographs where the viewer can easily imagine sitting at the kitchen table and admiring the views out the window. Instead of just photographing objects within the space, trigger an emotional response that transports the viewer into that space.

 

Best Practices in Descriptions

People who had never (or rarely) booked a vacation rental property were suddenly searching feverishly online for any with availability within a five- to eight-hour drive of their homes. There was such a spike in demand that most TruPlace tour analytics saw a 25 percent surge in view counts during May. One property manager advertised a $40 discount for first-time Airbnb guests.

“Drive-to” traffic wasn’t just a thing, it was the thing in May and June as families who were quarantining together wanted to escape their homes without getting on an airplane. Savvy PMCs, like one based in the Florida panhandle, increased their digital marketing spend by double last year’s amount. They bought Google Ads, boosted Facebook posts, and added specific keywords to their emails and website pages that helped their SEO.

On a Super September Florida VRMA panel discussion, Brian Hamaoui of Love Rentals recommended optimizing property titles for OTAs that feature amenities that draw in guests seeking a reprieve rather than factual descriptions like “Two Bedroom, Two Bath with Pool.” He advised leveraging the property’s unique aspects at the first opportunity.

 

Separating the Wheat

During times of crises (or chaos), it’s not uncommon to see ambitious business owners jump on opportunities while others take cover; not many managers can stomach doubling their marketing spend while the economy is crashing. Historically, though, those who do usually gain an advantage.

What has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic thus far is that some companies have improved their brand equity and competitive position by prioritizing quality photography and updated property titles and descriptions, while others have struggled, having been swamped and short on workforce.

Property managers have had 99 problems since COVID-19 hit, but photography wasn’t one. As competition increases next year because more properties were purchased and brought online, it will be interesting to see which companies are smart enough to reinvest in these visual marketing tools.

Vacation rental companies in drive-to locations without a heavy dependency on foreign travel (sorry, Orlando) will look back on 2020 and see it as the Gold Rush. The trick for 2021 will be keeping that momentum going, which can be easily fueled by quality visuals and smart descriptions.

Fernie Direct & StayFi

By
Arthur Colker
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0

At the 2019 VRMA International New Orleans, Ryland Nelson was looking for a solution that would take his direct booking strategy to the next level. Ryland runs FernieDirect, an 80 unit short-term rental manager located in beautiful Fernie, British Columbia.

With a new website launching, Ryland needed a way to ensure that frequent Fernie travelers came and booked with him directly, not with one of his competitors through an OTA. When he came across StayFi, he knew he found a solution that would deliver reliable, repeat guest bookings.

With StayFi, Ryland was able to quickly create his own custom-branded splash page through their online portal. Now all of his guests, no matter what OTA they booked on, are introduced to the FernieDirect brand when they log onto the WiFi for the first time. In addition, StayFi is collecting an average of 6 guest emails per booking, instead of just 1 or 0.

In early 2020, FernieDirect & StayFi partnered together to do an analysis of StayFi’s results and a survey of past guests. Here is what they found:

 

 

Not only did over 90% of respondents indicate they would want to book direct for their next stay, many commented how much relief they felt booking directly with a reliable business vs. booking an unknown on an OTA.

When Covid struck, Ryland was grateful he had a list of 1000s of past guests he could go to and advertise his units as a much-needed escape from the nearby city of Calgary. In addition, his proprietary guest list has given Ryland a leg up in attracting new homeowners to his rental program.

One added benefit Ryland did not expect is the drastic reduction in calls about WiFi issues in his rental units. There is now one set of WIFi instructions for all his properties, and all of the WiFi networks can be checked remotely on the cloud.

For us at StayFi, we are grateful to work with fantastic rental managers like Ryland, and are looking forward to launching new products to further enhance his book direct business.

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9 Key Revenue Management Basics

By
Lee Knauer
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0

The economic landscape for short-term and vacation rentals is swiftly changing, bringing new challenges each day. The industry experienced a screeching halt in demand caused by the global pandemic and in many leisure markets, a summer with a blossoming revitalization of demand.

It’s easy to get off course with moving targets, unpredictable scenarios, and multiple versions of your unit or portfolio’s 2020 budget. Getting back to basics with revenue management fundamentals and reframing all of the levers available during periods of quickly shifting demand will help you regain your stride and plan for a solid close to the year.

 

1) Use Historical Performance

Review and analyze occupancy and rate performance for your portfolio by season, event, and day of week periods. Compare and benchmark against your historical trends and relevant market performance data. Determine if there is an opportunity to increase revenue for future periods by driving occupancy, rate, or both.

 

2) Analyze Current Booking Activity

Significant changes in booking pace can be caused by overall supply/demand volatility, a shifting booking window, the shrinking/extending of traditional seasonal periods, or some combination of these. Analyze your pace and that of the market to determine if your pricing and availability are deployed optimally to address changing conditions.

 

3) Determine Supply Changes

Establish a process to periodically review changes in the amount and quality of supply in your market. Analyze relevant changes in competing destinations that may affect your local market and adjust strategies accordingly.

 

4) Leverage Your Systems

It may sound obvious, but if you’ve invested in technology to optimize performance, utilize those systems. Leverage the capabilities in your chosen property management system (PMS) and/or revenue management system (RMS) by spending time to configure your settings and enable automation properly, event triggers, alerts, and data that drive AI pricing/forecasting engines. Strike a balance between providing inputs that your system can’t learn on its own, against constantly overriding recommendations, which run counter to having the system in the first place. Strive to become a superuser as you will find that the most successful revenue managers in any organization are usually also the top system experts.

 

5) Review and Update System Settings

Configuration settings and automation in your PMS and/or RMS should align with your strategies and tactics, which will drive performance. However, don’t fall into the trap of “set it and forget it.” Establish a process to frequently review comp set definitions, stay restrictions, pricing rules, policies, discounts, and promotions to ensure that they correctly apply to high and low demand periods.

 

6) Understand Your Pricing Power

Analyze each home’s baseline pricing as it relates to location, bedrooms, amenities, ratings, and overall quality for your market. Conduct a price/value exercise versus your competitive set to guide your ideal positioning. Define and apply varying premiums for your unit attributes during high and low demand periods.

 

7) Manage High Demand Periods

Ensure your pricing and stay restrictions will protect your peak nights and drive production to your shoulder and gap nights. Compression caused by special events, holidays, and local demand drivers are opportunities to maximize the rate as market availability decreases. Hold rates appropriate for the surge in demand, and position your units to sell later rather than earlier compared to your competitive set. Remove any length of stay or affiliate pricing rules that apply discounts, and peel back from less profitable channels.

 

8) Manage Low Demand Periods

Market your units attractively by having compelling rate value, reduced stay restrictions, and the most lenient cancellation and deposit policies your business model can support. Enable discounting by activating promotions from third-party channels that will turn on tagging, utilize slash through pricing, and help promote a higher sort ranking. Configure discount pricing rules that encourage both early bookings and last-minute deals. Provide availability on as many channels as possible while maintaining a profitable rate structure.

 

9) Forecast

To quickly and clearly understand when strategies should be adjusted, consistently reforecast using current data. Relevant levers that affect pricing, availability, promotions, marketing, and distribution should be on standby and ready to activate should thresholds in your forecasts be triggered. Whatever tool you have for forecasting should be easy to adjust and read, especially when sharing with other stakeholders within strategy and performance discussions. Invest time and effort in establishing forecast tools that work for you and not the other way around.

There will always be market leaders and laggards. To seize the opportunity of maximizing rates while capturing your fair share of occupancy for your unit or portfolio, be nimble and invest the time to review your positioning.

The fundamentals are simple, yet it is easy to be led astray in times of uncertainty. We have an opportunity to lift the industry—if we collectively invest in analyzing the data and adapt our strategies to align with these times of massive change.

Forecasting the Winter Season: Forces at Play in a Pandemic Economy

By
Insights Collective
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0

7 Key Drivers of Destination Travel Scenarios

How can destination resorts plan and prepare for the upcoming Winter 2020/2021 season when there are so many unknowns and so few reliable data sets or precedents?

They begin by understanding where things stand for seven key drivers, which will then inform and shape the three destination travel scenarios.

Forecasting for the Winter 2020/2021 season is one of the key challenges that Insights Collective, a pandemic economy think tank, reported on during VRM Intel’s recent Data and Revenue Management (DARM) Conference in a special presentation sponsored by Laird Sager and Red Sky Travel Insurance.

We focused on the essential drivers of supply and demand, the two variables upon which revenue management is based and the keys to understanding pricing power during an unprecedented disruption of the economy.

To best project where things stand and where they might evolve, let’s define and discuss the seven key drivers for 2020/2021 scenario planning:

 

1. Virus Tracking and Management

In both feeder and destination markets, this information will determine visitation ability and restrictions.

2. Reopening: Return of Demand Economics

This will drive travel and may override local or feeder market conditions but may create fulfillment, image, brand, health issues, and ramifications of pent-up demand.

3. Changing Consumers and Impacts

Particularly in the consumer marketplace, behavioral and demographic changes will create uncertainty on the fulfillment side and are not easily foreseen this time around.

4. Local Sentiment

Destination residents who are “somewhat” or “highly” resistant to outside visitation will push back against publicly funded entities marketing the destination, having an impact on previously more independent destination marketing organization (DMO)/government directives.

5. Paradigm Shift for DMOs

The pandemic will change how—or if—destinations make a call-to-action, which will change fulfillment volume, branding, and competitive advantages.

6. Federal Funding

Funding has played a major role, from PPP to various loan guarantees. However as debt grows, the future is less certain.

7. New Realities

Migration/urban exodus, changes in schooling, and working from home are prompting changes to visitation behavior within both local and feeder markets, creating opportunities.

To understand why forecasting is difficult, we begin with how the crisis is categorized (i.e., a black swan event). An event of this type is disproportionately high profile, hard to predict, and rare; perhaps it is beyond the realm of normal expectations in history, science, finance, or technology.

 

Pandemic Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences are unprecedented.

Reliable data sets are not available. Results to date imply disruption beyond conventional business norms, but the new reality has yet to become clear.

We can start to make sense of things by looking at the current economic situation. The most helpful lens is found in data for unemployment, consumer confidence, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

 

Key Economic indicators: 2019-2020, Courtesy: Inntopia/DestiMetrics

 

The Dow Jones has rebounded since the early spring arrival of COVID-19 in the US—a leading indicator that suggests Washington’s response was appropriate. Unfortunately, consumer confidence fell and has not yet recovered. Moreover, unemployment has increased; sharply at first, and now remaining at recession-level numbers. Wall Street cannot continue to climb while Americans are out of work and feeling lousy about their prospects—can it?

 

Virus Tracking

The University of Washington’s forecasting model projects 410,000 US deaths by end of year, nearly double the approximate 200,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19 by the end of September 2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has forecasted that 12 states and territories will see decreasing numbers of new cases per week, while virus spokesperson Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts we all need to hunker down this quarter, be mindful of flu season, and accept the reality that a vaccine will not be in wide use until the third or fourth quarter of 2021.

With virus tracking, the first traces of predicting the winter season come into focus. Management and mitigation of local cases will differentiate winning destinations from losing destinations. For example, at the time of publication, in western ski destinations, Jackson (Teton) and Park City (Summit) lead the pack in terms of new cases. Crested Butte, Bend, and Steamboat, by comparison, show the least number of new cases. Destinations that become known as “hot spots” are at risk, while those with well-controlled local caseloads will be better positioned.

 

Consumer Trends and Considerations

While there is inherent demand for leisure travel (21st century Americans consider it a birthright), taking cues from the economy has been difficult. Among the suggested recovery curves (V, U, L or W), a newly formed K is in play. In a K-shaped recovery, some segments will head upward seeing robust growth opportunities, and other segments will face a declining economic situation.

As in any scenario, there are early adopters for travel, but at Insights Collective, we’re seeing pent-up demand as something that is now behind us; it has already occurred. New demand will depend on consumer trends and considerations.

 

KŰbler-ROSS model

 

To appreciate consumer sentiment trends more fully, we turn to the Kübler-Ross Emotional Response to Change scale. This scale tracks morale and competence across seven phases: starting at shock and concluding with integration. At the six-month milestone, consumers are shifting out of phase four, anger/depression, and toward phase five, experiment. Society is well past phase one, shock. We are a long way from the integration of phase seven. Changes are not yet understood or accepted, and there is not yet a renewed sense of normal.

What factors are helping to influence the consumer’s decision to travel for ski vacations?

First, we look at the top three concerns of mountain travelers: safe air travel protocols, potential COVID-19 hot spots, and the ability to maintain social distance once at the destination. Personal financial situations are a factor for only approximately one in ten travelers. This supports the K-shaped economic recovery model while acknowledging the increase in the unemployment rate.

If those concerns are mitigated, resorts can then focus on providing the top two pieces of information that would induce travelers to visit a resort: health and safety measures implemented on property and in the destination and the ability to cancel trip reservations without penalty. Taking this approach can shift the demand/supply equation and help return pricing power to the property.

 

Conclusion

We have outlined and expanded upon three of the seven primary drivers. Taking all seven together, potential scenarios for a particular destination starts to form. As forecasts become more clear, resorts need to focus on tactical responses—management and mitigation—to earn the trust of travelers until a widely available vaccine neutralizes the effect of the pandemic on our industry.

 

Insights Collective is an industry think tank focused on leading resorts and destinations through the new realities of management, marketing, and positioning. It is made possible by contributions from other civic-minded organizations, including Red Sky Travel Insurance.

Jane Babilon spent 10+ years working for DestiMetrics (later Inntopia Business Intelligence) in a variety of roles but primarily as an Account Manager focusing on Southeast clients. In this role she worked to ensure that clients were getting the most value out of their lodging research programs.

Ralf Garrison is a destination travel industry veteran, generally recognized as a thought-leader, innovator and a serial entrepreneur resulting from the various businesses that he has founded over the years.

Brian London is a respected research consultant, economist, and editor-in-chief of Travel Industry Indicators – Trends, Outlook, and Commentary.

For further information, our resources can be found at: theinsightscollective.com.

How To Get Work Done In Chaos

By
Margot Schmorak
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0
How to get work done in chaos

“Our task is not to bring order out of chaos, but to get work done in the midst of chaos.”

– George Peabody, American financier and philanthropist

 

In the short-term rental industry, chaos has reached a fever pitch.

First it was the tsunami of industry change driven by the rise of Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo. Then it was the headwinds of anti-vacation rental regulations fueled by hotel lobbies. Now, we are in the midst of a global pandemic with practically no flight travel, coupled with a fiery political climate. No matter where you stand, you simply cannot avoid the chaos.

I thrive in chaotic and high-adrenaline situations. As a young girl, I used to daydream about being an EMT and rescuing people from crazy accidents (unfortunately, I am not athletic enough to do this).

Now, I am the CEO and cofounder of Hostfully, a fast-growing startup, while also a mom to three young kids. It is a busy, chaotic life, and I love it. But I’m weird.

Most people do not like change and chaos. It is unnerving and scary. So, in the first few weeks of lockdown, my company and I spent a significant amount of time thinking about how we could best support our customers and employees. It all came down to this: We will do whatever we can to help other people know what to expect. In a chaotic world, knowing what can be expected is a source of solace and security and is thus how we can help other people do their best—by helping them know more about the future.

Telling people about the future might seem grandiose and “Steve Jobsy.” But in actuality, everyone knows a little more about the future than we typically share.

At Hostfully, we started small, by creating lists of “what we don’t know” and “what we do know.”

 

Examples of what we did not know:

How many people would be so severely affected by COVID-19 that they would sacrifice their desire to travel

How and when local regulations might affect how vacation rentals could operate

How many of our customers would close down because of financial reasons

 

Examples of what we did know:

People love to travel.

Vacation rental accommodation would be more desirable than hotels.

Many customers found our products valuable whenever they had bookings.

Future bookings rates, while depressed, would not be zero.

Consumers were still hopeful that they could go through with their travel plans.

 

We started sharing the “what we do know/what we don’t know” lists more broadly. (They were included in “How Travel Will Be Forever Changed and Why Vacation Rentals Will Bounce Back First” in a blog called Strange New Normal.) We told our team, our investors, and our customers. We even found data partners— Beyond Pricing and All the Rooms—and began analyzing future bookings across the United States. More people started reading, reacting, and doing more planning.

Everyone started feeling better, even in the midst of the 2020 chaos.

Here is what we generally can expect for US vacation rentals in the next two quarters:

Domestic travel will continue to be strong.

1) Occupancy rates will be slightly down compared with last year (–2 to –10 percent).

2) Average length of stay will be up versus last year (+10 to +20 percent).

3) Average daily rates are about 5 percent lower than last year.

4) Travelers will want to know more about the safety of their experience.

5) Travelers will prefer a contactless experience.

 

All in all, the US market will earn approximately 4.5 percent less revenue than in previous years. Travelers will want a more hands-off but information-rich experience. That is what we can expect. That is the future.

 

You can tell the future, and you should.

Help your staff and your owners by sharing the future you see.

Make your own lists of “what we do know” and “what we don’t know” about the future of your company. Use these lists to make decisions more quickly about a plan. Explain how and when you will reconsider your plan. Tell your employees about it. Tell your owners, too. Create two or three scenarios and use the more conservative one to define your staffing plan for the rest of the year. This will help your team and owners know what to expect, and they will appreciate the sense of security.

Don’t forget about telling your guests about the future, too.

More than ever, guests need extensive information about what to expect in the bookings process and in the rental.

Communicate up front any cancellation policies you have. Tell guests about any changes or updates to protocols that you have made to enhance their safety and security. Give many details about what they should expect when they arrive at the rental, including what you can and cannot provide. Explain what new limitations are in place. Give them a way to access additional information or to have their questions answered without being in person.

On the Hostfully digital guidebook platform, we have seen a big shift in how and what property managers are sharing with guests. Here are a few examples of what they are doing:

Sharing information focused on cleaning protocols—before the guest arrives

Adding creative videos instructing guests how to use a remote lock

Instead of a three-ring binder, having a QR code to scan with a mobile so that guests touch as little as possible (similar to what restaurants are doing with menus)

 

These special touches are forms of “future-telling”—otherwise known as setting expectations. These are the details that help managers convert the booking lead, build confidence in what to expect, and assuage the concerns of a nervous guest.

Even if it is not all rosy, your understanding of the future is a gift that you can share with others this year. Let’s do more of that to help each other get the work done in the midst of chaos.

Customers Behaving Badly: The Psychology of Changes in Guest Behavior

By
Paula Caballero
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1

After the flood of COVID-19 cancellations abated, property managers felt a renewed sense of hope as guests began to rebook vacation rentals destination by destination as lockdowns ended across the country.

But once they arrived, the guests seemed different. Some were fussy with ongoing demands, whereas others were destructive and aggressive.

“We have seen a 247 percent increase in the number of party-house related complaints at short-term rental properties (this summer) versus the same months last year,” said Ulrik Binzer, general manager of the Host Compliance division of Granicus.

Stories range from guests defecating in sinks and hot tubs, to overloading properties with illegal events, to becoming irate at small problems such as leaves in the pool or a short outage of cable TV service.

Guests may have thought the change of scenery would help soothe their mental state after months of home-bound monotony. But, psychologically, many found out there wasn’t an escape, even in a new environment.

“There is a lot of free-floating anger,” explained Margaret J. King, PhD, director of the Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis. “When you travel and are away from your home base, there is a lot of permission to express [emotions]—that’s one reason people travel. But part of the anger expression is that there’s no way to get away from [COVID-19]. There’s no place to go.”

As a result, rule-breaking behavior abounded in ways few were prepared for.

“The guest mentality has changed, in that they feel entitled,” explained Jennifer Mucha, president of Arrived vacation rentals, which manages more than 300 properties in locations such as Palm Springs, Hood River, and Kauai. “They feel like the rest of life is hammering them, so this is their one opportunity to control something. They feel entitled to get whatever they want out of it.”

This guest mentality was likely complicated by some airlines’ leniency to give credits and refunds, and the policy of platforms like Airbnb, which provided automatic refunds to guests, overriding existing host cancellation policies.

“Rules had been relaxed, so even though we were in quarantine, there were still other things that were now permitted,” King said. “Financially, relaxation about eviction, relaxed credit, you don’t have to go to work, you can work at your own home, you have a certain kind of autonomy.”

King also hypothesized that people traveling during this time might be the most depressed, most strung-out, or most in need of an escape. Thus, they are most likely to act out when reaching their destination.

Binzer said that rural locations have been particularly overwhelmed by this phenomenon. Small towns with just a handful of vacation rentals recently have seen exponential growth in listings in their towns—and exponential problems, too.

“People who used to go to Europe and Hawaii are now traveling closer to home,” he said. “A lot of people who live in big cities are traveling to rural areas and then acting like they are in Cancun at an all-inclusive resort when they’re actually in a residential neighborhood,” Binzer said.

And while industry professionals are well-versed in taking care of demanding guests and offering high-touch hospitality, the needs and behaviors during this period have caused many managers to retool their protocol for vetting and educating guests.

Paul Becker, president and founder of Bluewater Property Services, which handles luxury vacation rentals in the San Diego area, saw their already-strict processes failing. He worked with staff to create a higher level of screening to help avoid problems.

Requiring signed rental agreements, copies of government-issued IDs, and the names, ages, and emails of all guests to receive the rental rules are now required on every reservation.

Becker added that managers must also remember that the guest profile has changed. Many are first-timers to vacation rentals. He has staff send those guests additional information to give them a better idea of expectations.

“They don’t know much about what their behavior should be because they have never stayed in [a vacation rental], so it’s up to us to educate them,” Becker said. “You can’t call every day for new towels; you can’t call at all hours of the night like at a hotel. They won’t have the freedom that makes them feel like ‘no one is watching me’ like at a hotel.”

Mucha echoed Becker’s sentiments but said even with personal phone calls to all guests they have been exceedingly “sneaky.” She said that, although her company never allowed events at even their most spacious properties, guests tried to bring large groups to properties when their event venues were canceled due to COVID-19.

“When weddings were canceled because they couldn’t have more than 10 or 20 people in their group, people began thinking, ‘Oh, we can schedule a private residence!’ Well, private residences can’t handle that. Just with parking and neighbors alone, you can’t have 30 cars coming in without making neighbors upset.”

She said they began making it their mission to protect against events. They contact guests by phone and add strong, visible verbiage about no events in the booking confirmation, advertisements, check-in instructions—everywhere and anywhere guests could see the rules.

She said it was successful sometimes, but nothing is foolproof.

“This year, it wasn’t enough. They were pretty clever. They say they were just meeting up with some family for the weekend, and then they show up with 300 people.”

Many managers also named outdoor cameras of all types and noise-monitoring devices as required tools this year to help monitor occupancy issues.

“You hope to prevent [an event] before the other guests show up,” Mucha said.

Yet, as complex as this COVID-19 travel period has been, it hasn’t exclusively been filled with problem guests.

Susan Doull, the owner of Commendable Rentals, said that while she did have more damage this year than previous years, she also saw more gratitude expressed by guests when they could reschedule their trip for future dates without penalty. Many asked for the option to reschedule from the start and never demanded a refund.

“Their gratitude was a nice statement about humanity, kindness, and consideration,” Doull said. “I don’t want that to be wiped out by the people who did travel and were careless.”

Julie Davies, author of Vacation Rental Management 411 and educator of short-term rental certification, agrees, and she hopes these COVID-19-related experiences will not permanently tarnish the professional reputation of vacation rentals agencies and professionals.

“Please just don’t judge our industry by the last six months,” she said. “The entire world is crazy right now.”

Let’s go tech shopping! DEMO DAYS (recordings)

By
Amy Hinote
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1
Tech for vacation rental and short-term rental managers

While vacation rental managers have been dealing with pandemics, fires, and hurricanes, the short-term rental industry’s technology companies have been busy developing and launching new features. And since we can’t see them in person at conferences this year, VRM Intel hosted Demo Days on Thursdays, starting Sep 24th and going through the end of October.

This is a great opportunity to see what is new without committing to a one-on-one appointment. Click on the links below to access each recorded Demo.

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Thursday, September 24, 2020

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  Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

See Guesty’s Property Management Platform in Action
With 2020 being an unprecedented year for every company in the travel space, short-term rental property management software Guesty focused on providing technological advancements, new resources, and increased platform flexibility to support users during this period. In this live demo, Joseph Binestock will showcase the platform live, highlighting users’ favorite features, including the Unified Inbox, Automation Tools, the Multi-Calendar, and more. This session will also cover the product developments that Guesty has made since the beginning of the year to help vacation rental managers navigate COVID-19 in order to maintain business stability and ultimately longevity, such as enabling extended stays of 28 days or more, supporting digital rental agreements, and giving users more flexibility than ever before. Register to learn more.
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[su_spoiler title=”TravelNet Solutions / TRACK” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

 Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Transforming the Future of Vacation Rental Property Management Software Together

Join John Stokinger to See how TRACK helps leading short term rental companies to consolidate applications, improve operational efficiency and financial performance. Learn how to book more and spend less with 0% commission fees with direct connections to VRBO and Airbnb.

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[su_spoiler title=”Rentals United” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

LIVE DEMO: Advanced Channel Management with Rentals United

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Specifically intended for DARM attendees, get a deep dive into how a specialized channel manager can boost your revenue. Today more than ever it is crucial to have a well-balanced marketing mix with superior API connections. That’s what we do for more than half of the world’s largest property managers. Don’t sit back, don’t relax, we’re ready for your questions – including technical ones. With Matthew Luzaich

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[su_spoiler title=”Streamline” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

Streamline – Gold Standard for VR Software – Now and Future

Join CPO Brett Parry and Software Consulting Director Kyle Holmes as they explore the power, direction, and experience of vacation rental industry’s True all-in-one solution. 

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[su_spoiler title=”StayFi” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

StayFi – Vacation Rental WiFi That Collects Valuable Guest Data

Join Founder & CEO, Arthur Colker, to learn more about cloud-managed guest WiFi. We will explore a real customer account and discuss email marketing and other direct booking strategies to maximize the value of guest data.

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Thursday, October 1, 2020

[su_spoiler title=”ICND” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

BRAND NEW: First-to-Market Features to Maximize Revenue

At ICND we’re highly focused on delivering first-to-market features to help VRCs maximize revenue directly on their websites. In our Demo Day discussion, we’ll do an educational session on how to tie revenue management, gap management, and booking abandonment into a seamless user experience. We’ll take a deep dive into three of our newest offerings – Cancellation Notifications, Price Alerts, & Extend Your Stay emails as well as talk about some of our features that are tried and true. Learn how these three products can help you quickly fill canceled reservations, convert price shoppers into bookers, and sway your guests to stay longer.

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[su_spoiler title=”NoiseAware” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Be in the Know and Rental Ready Year Round

With people going a bit COVID-Crazy, we are seeing the parties moving to short term rental properties and with them, the problems. Recent months have seen an average of 47% increase in YoY noise events – levels of noise loud enough to bother neighbors and indicative of activity that frequently leads to damage. The best way to stop it is to know when it starts. NoiseAware, the inventors of noise monitoring software, provides a real-time understanding of guest activity without ever sacrificing guest privacy. And in this case, like many others, knowledge is power. Power to stop trouble before it starts. And protection from the damage that costs you money and missed rental days. Learn how NoiseAware can help you stay rental ready, protecting property and profits.

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[su_spoiler title=”PointCentral” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

An Exploration of PointCentral’s Keyless Entry and Property Automation Solutions    

Demand for keyless entry and property automation (smart home) solutions has never been higher, due in part to Covid. Guests want to social distance and are concerned about touching keys. Property managers are looking for ways to improve efficiency and streamline operations. Homeowners want to make sure their assets are protected and that they aren’t losing bookings due to a lack of amenities that guests have come to expect. In this session, we’ll explore PointCentral’s platform and its capabilities, as well as what makes this product so unique. We’ll leave plenty of time for questions at the end. Please be sure to register, and we look forward to speaking with you soon!

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[su_spoiler title=”Beyond Pricing / Signal” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Keep more of the money you earn through your direct booking strategy

With OTA fees increasing and budget-conscious travelers on the rise, Beyond Pricing’s Signal team discusses how you can take control of your direct booking strategy. With Julie Brinkman

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[su_spoiler title=”Breezeway” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

The Time is Now: How Breezeway Can Transform your Property Care Programs

At Breezeway, we believe that increased attention to the preparation and service at properties is the critical point of success and failure for vacation rental managers. The pandemic has underscored the importance of cleanliness and safety, so much so that the majority of managers think property care software will be the most impactful technology for their business moving forward (from our r 2020 Property Operations survey) Join us on Demo Day to see how Breezeway’s platform can automate your operations, bolster your property care programs, and deliver high-quality and safe properties in today’s travel climate. With Koryn Okey, VP of Client Experience

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”BeHome 24/7 & Dormakaba” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

Secure Properties and Efficient Operations: Demo day with dormakaba and Behome247

Have you had enough of keys? Travelers are demanding keyless entry and remote check-in. Are manual processes and multiple platforms wearing you down? Now is the time to evaluate solutions that provide convenience to both you and your guests, while improving your bottom line. Join us on Demo Day to find out how dormakaba and Behome 247 can help you go keyless, automate your property, and simplify workflows that result in secure properties and efficient operations. Smart access begins at dormakaba.  As an access control leader, dormakaba pioneered short-term and vacation rental access management with Oracode keyless door locks.  Oracode provides guests with remote check-in, so they can go straight to the property.   Oracode door locks simplify guest arrival and departure.
Founded in 2008, Behome247 is the only enterprise property management platform focused on smart home technology as well as day-to-day property operations. One solution, no matter the property. Behome247’s unmatched, tested technology will seamlessly handle every aspect of operations, guest management, and communications. All from a single platform. With Marc Chami, Lino Maldonado

[/su_spoiler]

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Thursday, October 8, 2020

[su_accordion][su_spoiler title=”Xplorie” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Xplorie Enabled Voice Assistant Demo – Guest Experience Reimagined

Xplorie and Amazon Alexa have teamed up to take your properties to the next level in guest experience.
Now more than ever the world is turning to virtual solutions especially when it comes to travel. With Xplorie, you can equip your properties with an Xplorie Enabled Voice Assistant (XEVA) powered by Amazon’s Alexa that can answer not only questions about your Xplorie Activity Program but also can be customized to answer specific questions about your property. A customizable concierge that provides the personal touch you want when you can’t be there in person. https://xplorie.com/partner/xeva/

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”AirDNA” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

How to Invest, Price, Benchmark, and Manage Your STRs All in One Place

AirDNA helps hosts, property managers, and investors make the most of the short-term vacation rental market by turning rental data into actionable analytics. In this demo, we’ll dive into our flagship tool, MarketMinder. MarketMinder is a one-stop-shop for all things market intelligence, revenue management, investment, pricing, and benchmarking. We’ll dive into the entire short-term rental journey from finding your property to onboarding your listing and positioning it for success.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”NEC / GuestView Guide” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Digital Concierge: Earn More From Every Guest Stay

GuestView Guide – the wall-mounted digital concierge to wow your guests and your bottom-line. Earn more, reduce your support burden, and delight guests.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Bluetent” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

The digital ecosystem: Grow your vacation rental business online

Tune in with Team Bluetent to discuss the key components to a vacation rental company’s digital ecosystem. Learn how specific tools can help your business increase direct bookings and capture new audiences.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Silicon Travel” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

WiFi for the New Era in Vacation Rentals: Work. School. Vacation. Together!

Now more than ever, it is so important that your Rental’s Internet Service and Support is on point. During this interactive demo with Silicon Travel’s Mike Harvey, you’ll learn more about: • How Silicon Travel saves you countless time and money with our on-call Wi-Fi service and support team
• How Silicon Travel leverages internet terms of service agreements with each guest to protect your company and property owners from internet misuse and fraudulent claims
• How Silicon Travel helps promote your brand as well as your vacation rentals with an interactive guest site that is customizable for each property
• How Silicon Travel collects valuable information on each guest (not just the ones making the reservation), like email addresses, survey results, device usage, and CTRs to your site as well as local businesses and attractions
• How Silicon Travel seamlessly connects your properties Internet Service with WiFi Tools that help Managers better monitor Internet Connectivity, Turnover Times, Over Occupancy Issues and Workforce Efficiency.

[/su_spoiler]

 

Thursday, October 15, 2020

[su_spoiler title=”Booking.com” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Attract new guest segments with Booking’s new long-stay rates

The verdict is in – longer stays are here & now! Our search trends reveal that various types of travelers are increasingly looking to stay in a single place for longer, bringing them the opportunity to experience a destination in a whole new way. From business bookers and digital nomads to expatriates and students – these guests are all looking to stay longer at your property. Innovating to respond to this growing demand, Booking.com recently introduced an easy way for its property partners to implement weekly and monthly rate plans to attract these travelers. Join us, to find out how you can drive long stay occupancy for your properties – and the benefits of getting guests to stay a little longer.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Key Data Dashboard” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Ramp up your Revenue Management with Key Data

At Key Data, we are about helping property managers get the most out of their business at all times. In this webinar, Key Data’s Business Development Manager, Taylor Hill, will go over key features of Key Data including a dive into benchmarking & pacing insights as well as our rental projection and OTA supply data – highlighting tools that will help improve your business. Let’s provide better data together!
[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Rented, Inc.” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

The art and science of Revenue Management

Find out how Rented uses the best data available along with the best team of revenue managers in the industry to maximize your revenue.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”PriceLabs” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

Give your pricing wizards a good wand!

PriceLabs’ sophisticated revenue management solution helps some property management companies apply their strategies quickly and improve revenues!

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”Beyond Pricing” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

You Are Your Best Revenue Manager

With Beyond Pricing’s dynamic pricing and market insights tool, you have all you need to be your own best revenue manager.

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”EZcare” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording – Coming Soon

Real Tools for Superior Property Care!

Thought about operations as a profit center? We have. EZcare has spent a lot of time listening to clients and prospects, then building tools that create efficiencies to help you run your housekeeping, Inspections, Maintenance, Inventory, Linen, and Invoicing at peak performance…and savings. What’s more, we integrate with over 12 PMS partners to help you never duplicate data entry again. Join us on Demo Days and let’s explore real property care solutions!

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”TruPlace” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” anchor_in_url=”no” class=””]

Watch Demo Recording

Properties with Virtual Tours Have Higher Revenue: Tru or False?

A case study on properties with virtual tours vs. those without shows access to more guests and a big difference in revenue.

[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]

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Women Need to Raise Their Voices . . . Just A Thought

By
Zandra Wolfgram
-
0

What is your story? What do you do? Who do you do it for? And how do you do it uniquely?

These questions and more were posed yesterday by author/speaker Amber Hurdle, CEO of Amber Hurdle Consulting, to 261 attendees of Growing as a Thought Leader—the first of three consecutive 30-minute weekly sessions created as a free supplemental professional development series launched by VRM Intel and the Vacation Rental Women’s Summit.

Vacation rental industry professionals logged in eager to polish up their personal brand with pointers from Hurdle who began her session entitled “Why Your Thoughts Are Needed in the Vacation Rental Industry: A Woman’s Guide to Thought Leadership” with her story—a very personal one at that.

Click here to view the first session of the series presented by Amber Hurdle.

She shared her “fall from grace” after becoming a pregnant teenager, her “failure forward” juggling four jobs at one point, and her heroic comeback to become a successful business consultant working with international celebrities, executives and, Fortune 100 companies. 

Enrolling her audience in “You University” for the day, Hurdle urged attendees to self-reflect, saying, “Today, I want you to find your grit. Today, I want you to say, ‘This isn’t about self-promotion. It is about stepping more into who I already am.’”

Her reason was simple: “The more people understand what you’re about and the value you add, the more opportunity you have to serve other people,” she explained.

After asking attendees to “look back at the bread crumbs of your life,” she encouraged each person to take a moment to list and celebrate the “body of accomplishments of all the roles we play.”

Hurdle challenged the group to unleash their “limitless female energy” in all they do.

Because, she says, female silence speaks volumes.

“It’s quite a shame that most Thought Leadership is consequently male,” she taunted.  

Before passing out “homework” and detailing how to create content in 24 hours, the author of The Bombshell Business Woman: How to Become a Bold, Brave Female Entrepreneur, insisted there is one label more women should own—that of expert.

“You have experience, and I want you to bring that to the table,” she coached.

VRM Intel founder Amy Hinote introduced Hurdle as a “powerhouse of the talent optimization world” who “gets us.”

And by “us” she meant women—the very industry professionals who inspired the series.

Hinote, who launched the industry’s inaugural Vacation Rental Women’s Summit in 2019, developed the series to create yet another forum to give voice to women in the vacation rental industry.

Voices, Hinote knows first-hand, are all too quiet. 

While reviewing articles submitted for the upcoming 2020 Fall Issue of VRM Intel Magazine, Hinote was frustrated about how few were authored by women, and she wondered why . . . and so she asked in Facebook and LinkedIn forums. And women in the industry were quick to respond. 

Being too busy, not feeling like a true expert, not wanting to be perceived as self-promoting, unsure of writing ability, and wanting to be asked were some of the reasons women in the vacation rental industry were reluctant to present a session or write an article.

As she is known to do, Hinote felt the best way to begin to remedy this industry-wide issue, is to put it on the table and talk about it.

“Currently, no university offers a degree in vacation rental hospitality. None of us got straight As in vacation rental management courses because there weren’t any, and there are still very few best practices that can be easily applied across destinations and types of accommodation,” she said. “As a result, we have to rely on what we’ve learned from our own experiences and from each other to improve, grow, and adapt to the onslaught of industry changes.”

When Hinote turned to Amber Hurdle to help, Hurdle listened, and answered the call by developing the series, “Growing as a Thought Leader.”

Hinote points to VRM Intel Magazine, VRMintel.com, VRM Intel Live!, SecondHomeHQ.com, and the company’s special events, as “outlets for women in the industry to start sharing their experiences, show others how to avoid pitfalls, and provide information and insights that can help others improve their businesses and services.”

Coming up next in the series:

Oct. 20 — How to Thrive in Change: Leading Through Dynamic Market Conditions

  • Learn the stages of The Change Cycle®.
  • Discover where you are in the cycle, where your team members are in the cycle, and what that means for the strength of your business.
  • Learn ways to increase your agility and flexibility to set you up for success (and sanity).

Oct. 27 — Create Content Fast! The Quick and Easy Formula to Create Articles, Blog Posts, Social Media Posts and More

  • Learn the processes the professionals use to produce months of content in a single day.
  • Find the time to invest in your thought leadership without stressing your other obligations.
  • Become known as an expert by carefully curating a body of work that supports your expertise.

 

These sessions are free to attend, and *EACH LIVE SESSION IS HELD AT 2:00 PM ET OR 11:00 AM PT.

 

Vacation Rental Women’s Professional Development Series: Thought Leadership with Author and Speaker Amber Hurdle Part 1 from VRM Intel Live on Vimeo.

A Room-by-Room Guide to Being Extra-Ordinary: Now may be the perfect time for vacation rentals to be a little “extra”

By
Amy Hinote
-
0
photo credit: Stay In Tamarindo Vacation Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

“She’s so extra!”

Now that we’ve all been exposed to Netflix-driven multigenerational dramas, you’ve likely heard the term “extra” being used to describe someone who is over the top and maybe a little dramatic, doing more than the situation calls for. Urban Dictionary defines this Gen Z use of “extra” as “Doing the absolute damn most. For no reason.”

For vacation rental  managers determined to thrive amid the current challenges posed by COVID-19, finding ways to be a little extra isn’t such a bad thing.

In May, organizations (e.g., VRMA, Breezeway, AHLA, Vrbo, Airbnb, hoteliers, and property management companies) began publishing augmented cleaning guidelines to adapt to a changing world’s expectations for lodging safety and cleanliness. Although a handful of these guidelines are in themselves a little extra, the bulk of them are on point, and some are long overdue in the vacation rental industry. While individual homeowners may be a little slower at adapting to new protocols, professional vacation rental managers find themselves at a pivotal moment with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come together as an industry and blow the socks off the hospitality sector.

Let’s take a look, room by room, at what is old, what is new, and what is extra.

 

It’s always a little fun to start in the bedroom.

 

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[su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Old

Aged, patterned sheets and bedspreads

Laundering bedding in the unit/home between stays

Small area rugs and excessive throw pillows

Ultra-dim lamps and lighting

Outlets hidden behind furniture

Unwashed extra blankets in closets

Homeowner items in unlocked closets or drawers

[/su_column]
[su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column]
[/su_row]

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Walker Luxury Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

New

Professionally laundered bedding

Mattress and pillow protectors

Smart TVs with universal and disinfected remote control

Easy-access outlets

Professionally laundered extra blankets in closets

Clean closets with extra hangers

 

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”2/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Walker Luxury Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Extra

Bedside power stations for phones and tablets

Black-out window treatments

Upgraded and bright, tiered lighting

Matching clothes hangers

Triple sheeting

Hospitality blankets, comforters, duvets, and top covers for professional laundering

[/su_column] [/su_row]

Pro Tip: We have been hearing from several PMs who are moving to hospitality blankets/covers/duvets that mills are overloaded with demand. If you are moving in this direction, order ASAP as many popular coverings are backordered for months. 

 

Creating a hospitality standard for vacation rental bathrooms

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Old

Laundering towels in the unit/home between stays

Bathroom rugs

Old shower curtains and liners

Countertop accessories

Owner items in the cabinets, drawers, or linen closets

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

New

Anti-bacterial liquid soap and hand sanitizer

Augmented schedule for shower curtain liner replacement

Cleaning inside drawers and cabinets

Professionally laundered towels and bath mats

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Newman Dailey Resort Properties, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

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Walker Luxury Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Extra

Professionally laundered shower curtains and liners

Branded hand sanitizer

Cleaning seal on toilet

Extra toilet paper

Makeup remover wipes

[/su_column] [/su_row]

Pro Tip: Design-folding towels into shapes is a step that can be eliminated as it indicates to guests that more hands have been on the towel.

Walker Luxury Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

 

With more guests opting to cook instead of dining out, expect detailed reviews about the kitchen.

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Old

Old and mismatched dinnerware and flatware

Scratched and foggy glasses

Charred, chipped, and scraped utensils, pots, and pans

Knives that don’t cut

Old coffee maker

Leftover canned goods, condiments, and spices

Cluttered surfaces

Dirty oven mitts and potholders

Pre-setting dining tables

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

New

Uncluttered and spotless surfaces

Matching and organized glassware, dishes, flatware, utensils, pots, and pans

Stored appliances (except coffee maker)

No food, condiments, or spices—unless provided in an amenity package or gift basket

Paper towels, dish soap, disposable sponge(s), dishwashing detergent, and hand sanitizer in an amenity package

Professionally laundered kitchen towels

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Walker Luxury Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”2/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Aspen Luxury Vacation Rentals, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Extra

2-Way Brewer (Coffee Maker and Single-Serve Combo)

Packaged salt, pepper, and spices

Branded hand sanitizer

Standardized kitchen packages

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

Pro Tip: Homeowners have been notorious for sending old kitchen items to their vacation rentals as they replace things in their primary residences. This coronavirus challenge provides a unique opportunity to talk to owners about the importance of replacing kitchen items with new products.

Pro Tip: Wholesale potholders are priced under .30/piece. In-house housekeeping teams can have these on hand to replace as needed.

Pro Tip: VRMs that standardize kitchen packages easily replace items as needed when all properties have the same glassware, flatware, dinnerware, utensils, pots, and pans. These companies’ cleaners count the items as part of their checklist, report what is missing, and the inspector replaces. There is an additional benefit in housekeepers spotting problem areas in cabinets and drawers when counting.

 

Living rooms and common areas hold hidden challenges. Eliminate as many hurdles as possible.

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Old

Small Area Rugs

Clutter and over-accessorizing

Excessive throw pillows

Multiple remote controls

Toys and games (If you keep them, you have to clean and organize them.)

Guestbooks . . . maybe

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [/su_row]

Note: I read the guestbook in every rental I have stayed in as it offers a special connection and a glimpse into the lives of the people who have stayed there before, and have often dreamed of writing a book based on the guestbook stories of families who have stayed in the same vacation home. I hope that creative VRMs go beyond online reviews and find a way to reimagine guestbooks in a germ-free way. We are going to crave connection more and more, and there is an extra idea for guestbooks waiting to happen.

 

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

Vacation Homes of Hilton Head, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]

New

Fewer small accessories. Think large utilitarian—and easy to clean—accessories instead (e.g., trays, large bowls, game boards)

Professionally laundered and packaged sleeper sofa bedding

Cleaning under furniture and under cushions

Universal and disinfected remote control

Higher frequency fan cleaning and air filter replacement

[/su_column] [/su_row]

VRMA Guideline:

“Using a pressurized pump sprayer to distribute a sanitizing product across all soft surfaces is best.” And “Use disinfecting products on all major surfaces and pay attention to all high-touch areas, including door knobs (inside and out), lockboxes or electronics lock panels, elevator buttons, stair railings, telephones, light switches, remote controls, arms of chairs, refrigerator door handles, sliding door handles, toilets, faucets and knobs, clothes hangers, touch screens, and play sets/toys, to name a few.”

[su_row class=””] [su_column size=”2/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Vacation Homes of Hilton Head, Photos by TruPlace

[/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””]

Extra

Performance-fabric upholstery, slipcovers, and pillow covers

Smart TVs with at least one streaming service account like Hulu or Netflix

Power stations and Hybrid USB/conventional outlets

[/su_column] [/su_row]

 

Resources for hospitality guidelines:

Breezeway: breezeway.io/standards

VRMA: vrma.org/page/covid19

AHLA: ahla.com/safestay

Special thanks to Breezeway CEO Jeremy Gall and TruPlace founders Suzi and Bob Cusack

Vacation Rental Women Professional Development Series: Growing as a Thought Leader with Author and Speaker Amber Hurdle

By
Amy Hinote
-
1

VRM Intel and the Vacation Rental Women’s Summit are presenting a supplemental professional development series in partnership with author and speaker Amber Hurdle titled, Growing as a Thought Leader. These 30-minute classes will be held live on three consecutive Tuesdays (October 13, 20, and 27), at 2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT, and they are free to attend. 

Click here to register for the free series: Growing as a Thought Leader

 

Oct 13 — Why YOUR Thoughts Are Needed in the Vacation Rental Industry: A Woman’s Guide to Thought Leadership

  • How to position yourself as the expert you are (No, really! You are!)
  • Why more women need to step into their authority
  • Discover ways you can fit in personal branding activities without stressing your already-full days.

Oct. 20 — How to Thrive in Change: Leading Through Dynamic Market Conditions

  • Learn the stages of The Change Cycle®.
  • Discover where you are in the cycle, where your team members are in the cycle, and what that means for the strength of your business.
  • Learn ways to increase your agility and flexibility to set you up for success (and sanity).

Oct. 27 — Create Content Fast! The Quick and Easy Formula to Create Articles, Blog Posts, Social Media Posts and More

  • Learn the processes the professionals use to produce months of content in a single day.
  • Find the time to invest in your thought leadership without stressing your other obligations.
  • Become known as an expert by carefully curating a body of work that supports your expertise.
*Each live session is held at 2:00 pm ET or 11:00 am PT.

 

Formerly with Marriott, Amber Hurdle helps leaders confidently define and position their value so they can maximize their influence, focus and results. As a dynamic professional speaker and CEO of Amber Hurdle Consulting, a multi-award-winning talent optimization firm, she pioneers using both science and marketing principles to strengthen brands and leaders from the inside out. Amber personally understands what it takes to accelerate success as a former teen mom who evolved into a powerhouse businesswoman, having worked with international celebrities, executives and Fortune 100 companies alike. 

 

Why we’re hosting this series

Over the last five years of hosting industry events and publishing industry news and content via VRM Intel, we found that women in the vacation rental industry are less enthusiastic than their male colleagues about speaking, writing and sharing their knowledge. So we reached out to find out why and collected some interesting responses and insight.

Being “too busy” topped the list of reasons why women in our industry were hesitant to volunteer their time to prepare presentations or write articles. Other reasons were not feeling like a true expert, not wanting to be perceived as self-promoting, feeling unsure of writing ability, and wanting to be asked. In addition, several women said they would be more comfortable being interviewed or being on a panel rather than present a class or session or write an article. So we reached out to professional speaker, talent optimization certified consultant, author, and podcast host, Amber Hurdle, to put together a 3-week series for women in our industry about the benefits of growing as a thought leader, time management, change management, and how to create content quickly and authentically.

Currently, no university offers a degree in vacation rental hospitality. None of us got straight A’s in vacation rental management courses because there weren’t any, and there are still very few best practices that can be applied across destinations and types of accommodation. As a result, we have to rely on what we’ve learned from our own experiences and from each other to improve, grow, and adapt to the onslaught of industry changes. This need we have as an industry to learn from each other is why we reached out to Amber Hurdle to provide this professional development series.

With VRM Intel Magazine, VRMintel.com, and SecondHomeHQ.com, and our events, we have outlets for women in the industry to start sharing their experiences, show others how to avoid pitfalls, and provide information and insights that can help others improve their businesses and services.

Click here to register for the series: Growing as a Thought Leader with Amber Hurdle

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