Florida Governor Issues Executive Order to Quarantine Travelers from NY, CT and NJ

March 23, 2020

Florida Gov. DeSantis today issued an executive order directing anyone flying into Florida from an area with a substantial community spread of COVID-19, “to include the New York Tri-State area (Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York),” to isolate or self quarantine for 14 days. The order takes effect at 12:01 a.m., March 24, 2020.

Executive Order:

“Governor Ron DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-80, directing all persons whose point of departure originates from outside the State of Florida in an area with substantial community spread, to include the New York Tri-State Area (Connecticut, New Jersey and New York), and entering the State of Florida through airports to isolate or quarantine for a period of 14 days from the time of entry into the State of Florida or the duration of the person’s presence in the State of Florida, whichever is shorter.”

Read the entire executive order below.

EO 20-80 by ActionNewsJax on Scribd

Help Vacation Rental Companies Get Federal Relief: A Message from VRMA Pres Toby Babich

Amy Hinote

March 23, 2020

We’ve been receiving calls and emails asking how property managers can petition for federal assistance for vacation rental management companies.

Below is a letter from Toby Babich, president of the Vacation Rental Management Association (VRMA), addressing this. The VRMA is drafting a series lettters, and Babich is asking you to distribute thes letters to colleagues and local, state, and national officials.

How you can help:

Read Toby’s message below.
Go to https://www.vrmaadvocacy.org/covid19 to learn more.
Download the letter to Congress
Share this letter with your colleagues to get the word out
Share this letter with local, state and national representatives, especially those with whom you have relationships or influence.

Message from Toby Babich, VRMA

Vacation Industry Leaders,

Times are desperate for our industry, and we need your voice to join with a chorus of others to ensure recovery of this industry is our advocacy priority at the local, state, and national level for the duration of 2020. Attached is the initial communication to national lawmakers from the VRMA, and we expect a series to follow as the situation develops. I am asking you to distribute this, and future letters to anyone and everyone in your network both within the industry, and most specifically to any local, state, or national governmental representatives you may have influence with. I urge you to take action right now, and support the collective power of this grassroots effort to ensure the vacation rental ecosystem remains a topic of any recovery discussion we are able to influence. The rebuilding of our industry must begin now, with a focus on recovery funds, and government assistance.

Our industry needs your voice, support, and influence now more than ever.

Thank you, and please let me know if I can assist in any way.

Download the letter here.

Toby Babich

President

Vacation Rental Management Association

Vacation Rental Management Companies Adapt Cancellation Policies to Extend Rebooking Dates and Offer Credits

Amy Hinote

March 21, 2020

For small business owners, there is little that is more difficult than being faced with a circumstance in which they cannot make their customers happy.

Business owners and managers are facing that situation today, whether it is the grocery store clerk who doesn’t have bread, the convenience store that doesn’t have toilet paper, or the call center agent that can’t provide a cash refund. Banks are closing branches stranding customers from accessing their accounts for things that can’t be done online, doctors are having to postpone surgeries, salons are having to cancel their regulars’ appointments, and hotels are not providing refunds for events and groups that cannot be held—which is why many events have been postponed instead of canceled.

Like airlines, most vacation rental companies are standing by their cancellation policies by not offering cash refunds, but they are moving quickly to extend rebooking dates, eliminate change fees, and offer their customers credits towards future bookings.

Waived change fees, extended rebooking dates, and credits for future stays

In light of the events surrounding the COVID-19-related travel restrictions, both airlines and vacation rental companies are trying to work with customers by relaxing change fees and extending dates for rebooking.

Delta, for example, has adapted its cancellation policy during this time as follows:

You can cancel your ticket and the value of the ticket will become an eCredit for future use. If you’re uncertain of future travel plans, we recommend cancelling and rebooking once your new travel plans are confirmed.
Even if you’re not able to reach us before your departure  and  don’t take your flight, all changes will be processed, and your ticket number automatically becomes an unused eCredit  within 24 hours.
We’re extending any Delta ticket for travel in March or April that is set to expire before June 30, 2020, to permit travel until December 31, 2020. You can rebook and fly with these tickets until the end of this year.

Turnkey Vacation Rentals also relaxed some of its cancellation restrictions, offering its guests 18 months to rebook:

Like Southwest, all non-refundable payments for bookings can be used as a credit for another booking at that home in the next 18 months. And you don’t need to make that booking right now; you can book it at a later time.
For bookings more than 30 days from check-in, TurnKey only collects a 10% non-refundable deposit. We are adopting the Southwest approach here as well, making that deposit available as a credit if guests cancel before the 30-day mark (when full payment is due). That can be applied to a booking in the next 18 months.

In a similar way, Vacasa, the largest vacation rental management company in North America, also moved to open credits for future stays:

“Your quickest cancellation option is to get an immediate 100% refund as credit for a future stay. You can claim your credit in less than a minute and use it at any Vacasa home when you’re ready to travel.”

Reasons for existing cancellation policies

While COVID-19 has presented difficulty in handling call volume and working with guests to honor cancellation policies, it is important to remember that there are valid reasons these policies exist in the vacation rental industry.

First, the average booking window for vacation home rentals is between 57 and 138 days in most US leisure markets. If a stay is canceled less than 30 days before arrival, it is very difficult for rental operators to find new guests for that property. For example, a 4-bedroom home is very hard to rebook in less than 30 days since most families and groups who require more than 4 bedrooms plan their stays over 8 weeks in advance.

Second, these homes are individually-owned properties. As a result, vacation rental managers have a fiduciary responsibility to the homeowners they represent. There is risk on both sides of the contract. When a guest enters into a contract to rent a vacation home, the guest is able to secure the home they want for their vacation, and the manager blocks out those dates, taking away the ability for anyone else to book that individual home. The guest is then able to cancel up to a certain point, even though the management company has a significant less likelihood of rebooking the home rental if it is canceled. In turn, the guest takes on the risk that some bizarre, unknown personal, regional, or national event might occur that would keep them from being able to—or wanting to—go on their vacation. Many companies offer travel insurance to mitigate these risks for both guests and homeowners.

Third, management companies have to be consistent with the contractual agreements they’ve entered into. If management companies offer cash refunds to some guests while not offering it to others, these companies face potential liability for unfair business practices.

In addition, when trying to show lost revenue for financial assistance or cash relief, voluntarily ignoring contracts by handing out cash refunds can hurt the management company’s ability to secure assistance or funding.

Airbnb’s Adaption of Extenuating Circumstances Policy is costing its suppliers

When a management company or homeowner lists their homes on Airbnb, they have the option to select from a menu of cancellation policies—ranging from Flexible to Super Strict 60 Days. Note that in all choices, Airbnb’s service fee is non-refundable.

Last weekend—with no notice to its suppliers—Airbnb made a unilateral decision to override these set cancellation policies by adapting its Extenuating Circumstances policy, saying:

In response to the extraordinary events and global disruption to travel caused by COVID-19, today we are announcing updated coverage under Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy. Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy allows hosts and guests to cancel eligible reservations with no charge or penalty. This policy now applies to existing reservations for stays and Airbnb Experiences made on or before March 14, 2020, with check-in dates between March 14, 2020 and April 14, 2020.

Airbnb procatively sent emails to guests offering 100% refunds (minus the Airbnb service fee, of course, which would be credited on a future stay). This offering negated existing cancellation policies set by hosts (homeowners and managers). After pushback from its host community, on Sunday, Airbnb declared it would also refund its service fee.

We fully expect to see a class action against Airbnb, as management companies and owners are carefully documenting all of Airbnb’s actions, resulting cancellations, and changes to its policies and its website verbiage with no notice to suppliers.

To stop the bleeding with Airbnb, vacation rental management companies are blacking out dates on Airbnb’s website. Without knowing if Airbnb will decide to honor reservations made on its site, some large management companies are looking to reduce exposure by limiting availability on the site for the near term.

Many guests are just now learning that Airbnb is only a website that lists home rental options. Airbnb does not own these homes, doesn’t service these homes, and doesn’t have liability for these homes. When Airbnb refunds a guest, it is refunding the homeowner’s money, not its own. The only money Airbnb is losing is the service fee, and it is only refunding that for bookings that start through April 14.

Vrbo Encourages “a credit for full value and flexible stay dates within the next year”

In contrast, Vrbo, with more experience in the vacation rental industry, is honoring its homeowner/manager cancellation policies. Vrbo’s policy states:

If you need to cancel or change an upcoming reservation due to travel restrictions, you can do so within your traveler account. If you are making changes outside the cancellation policy window, please contact the property owner or manager to discuss their cancellation and refund policies. If you do not see a button to cancel your reservation, please contact the property owner or manager directly for assistance.

The difference between the two companies is largely found in the the makeup of their inventory. Airbnb lists more urban short-term rentals and shared spaces (which are more affected by travel restrictions), while Vrbo primarily lists stand-alone, individual second home rentals in leisure markets.

This week, Vrbo sent an email to its suppliers “encouraging” them to relax their existing cancellation policies offering to reward suppliers with higher search-order placement (and penalizing “vis-vis”) for offering more flexible cancellation policies.

According to its Community website, Here’s what HomeAway is doing as part of our COVID-19 Emergency Policy:

HomeAway is refunding 100% of money it makes through traveler service fees when someone must cancel a trip due to COVID-19.

We ask that Homeaway partners (homeowners and property managers) handle cancellations for trips booked before March 13 with stays that fall between March 13 and April 30 in one of two ways (even if those trips are outside of the set cancellation policy):

Option 1 (Default): Offer a credit for full value and flexible stay dates within the next year (at no additional cost) to travelers who can’t take trips now due to COVID-19.

Option 2: If the traveler is unwilling to accept a credit, we advise partners to issue them a refund. If partners are unable to accommodate a full refund, HomeAway expects partners to provide at least a 50% refund if the traveler cancels during this time.

Here’s how HomeAway will enforce the policy stated above:

HomeAway will reward partners with additional visibility in traveler searches. The more partners do now for travelers, the more we will reward them moving forward (so a 100% credit/refund will count more than 50% refund).
Partners who do not abide by these standards (offering a 100% credit/refund of at least a 50%) will be disadvantaged vis-a-vis those who act within our policy.
Any intimidation of travelers (such as suggesting that travel is safer for them than staying home or dismissing the severity of the crisis) will result in permanent removal from HomeAway and Expedia Group.

A message to guests

Small businesses around the globe are encouraging their customers to take advantage of credits for future purchases instead of demanding cash refunds. Many local companies will have to shut down if they do not have the cash flow to stay alive until this passes. In travel and tourism, the hashtags #dontcancelpostpone and #postponedontcancel have been trending.

In the vacation rental industry, in particular, jobs in your favorite vacation destination, from Cape Cod to Colorado, from the Outer Banks to Oregon, from Hilton Head to Hawaii, from the Adirondacks to Arizona, and across the world are dependent on having enough cash to survive this. If you really want to help, the most important thing you can do is postpone your trip, instead of canceling.

For management companies, vacation rental business owners encourage you to contact the Vacation Rental Management Association to petition them to work for federal relief for the vacation rental industry.

Vacasa announces layoffs, executive pay cuts, and cuts in hours for others

Amy Hinote

March 20, 2020

Earlier today, Vacasa notified employees it is laying off an unspecified number of workers, cutting the hours of others in half, and reducing executive pay.

“With rapidly evolving travel restrictions and closures in popular vacation destinations like ski resorts and beaches, we are seeing a significant decline in reservations and revenue,” Vacasa said in a written statement. “To preserve the longevity of our business, we have to make proactive and significant cost adjustments, including staffing changes across the organization.”

Vacasa added that interim CEO Matt Roberts will take no pay through the end of the year and that other executives will have their compensation reduced by half.

According to the Oregon Live, who first broke the story, “Vacasa had been Oregon’s most promising company in a generation, raising more than $500 million in outside investment that valued the business at more than $1 billion. But the hospitality and lodging industry has been walloped by the coronavirus outbreak, with vacation travel all but ceasing as people seek to protect themselves from infection.”

For Vacation Rental Management Executives: What Do You Need to Do Now?

Amy Hinote

March 17, 2020

Over the past 72 hours, it has become clear that vacation rental managers are facing a much more serious impact from COVID-19 than previously expected. With circumstances changing each hour, company owners and executives are finding it difficult to prepare for the future when the end zone keeps getting pushed further away.

Multiple vacation rental management (VRM) company leaders have contacted us to find out what other managers are thinking and what actions are being taken. Consequently, we reached out to industry leaders who have extensive experience in dealing with crises. Even though the COVID-19 challenge is unprecedented, there are company executives who have weathered 9/11, fires, the BP oil spill, back-to-back-to-back hurricanes, and many other bizarre and unexpected challenges.

While we do not want to overreact, after speaking to experienced VRM executives, there are some concrete strategies enterprise-level property managers can implement to prepare for the road ahead.

Be realistic about the timeline

Yesterday, President Trump responded to the question about how long this situation will last, telling a surprised nation, “We’ll see what happens, but they think August, could be July, could be longer than that.”

After speaking with multiple C-level VRMs after that press briefing, there is substantial disagreement about whether or not Trump is to be believed. Some managers believe that “he says things off the cuff all the time” (as one PM described), and it won’t be that long. Others believe Trump’s timeline is accurate.

Whether you are preparing for this to be a 30-day or a 150-day disruption, careful and proactive planning is critical. Each company has its own level of acceptable risk. The strategies below originated directly from experienced enterprise-level vacation rental managers who are determined to weather this storm and ensure the viability of their companies and their communities.

1. Expect expanded CDC guidelines and state and local restrictions

The CDC and Trump administration have provided guidelines for US citizens to limit the spread of this coronavirus.

In addition to these guidelines, state and local governments have been putting policies and restrictions in place that directly affect vacation rental companies, including:

Closing of theme parks, public beaches and ski resorts
Non-essential travel restrictions, including destinations closing the region to visitors
Closing of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs
Shelter-in-place mandates
Mandatory curfews
Non-essential business closings

2. Prepare for your team to work from home

It is highly likely that your team will be prohibited from coming to work in the office, if it hasn’t happened already.

Robin Craigen, CEO at Moving Mountains in Steamboat, Vail, and Beaver Creek, Colorado, is packing up and moving his office home today. He shared that he wishes he had prepared for this two weeks ago when guidelines began expanding. He has purchased laptops for employees and is working with his IT provider to establish VPN connections and reconfigure his VoIP network.

To shift to a remote workforce, team members will require access to email, internet, teleconferencing, limited file sharing, and function-specific capabilities (finance, HR, etc.) from their remote work site. They also require access to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications in the cloud, such as the PMS and Microsoft Office 365.

Craigen advised managers to contact their IT providers immediately to get on their schedule and purchase laptops if your team doesn’t currently have them. Here are some steps to move to a remote workforce.

3. Protect cash flow, and do not use advanced deposits to pay expenses

While some states mandate trust accounting, others do not. For many, it is tempting to use advanced deposits (monies collected for future reservations) to pay short-term expenses. The most important advice from experienced mangers is do not do this.

According to Jim Olin, CEO of C2G Advisors and former ResortQuest CEO, “The worst item you can run out of during this crisis is cash. And this includes my suggestion to abstain from dipping into advanced deposits—whether it is legal or not.”

In the past, prematurely tapping into advanced payments for future reservations to pay expenses has been the leading cause of business closings during crisis situations.

Olin added, “One other suggestion is to constantly analyze your cash flow statement for at least the next six months. Modify it weekly. During several hurricane crises, my CFO did daily cash flow statements since we got very, very tight. In fact, after Hurricane Opal, we got down to $230.66 one day, but we worked our way back up to a multi-million dollar company. Don’t give up, don’t stop sourcing cash, and don’t do anything illegal/stupid.”

4. Seek cash now

Review, renew, and expand your credit line now, if possible. And if you don’t have a line of credit, experienced executives strongly advise securing one.

We are already hearing reports from California of banks “pulling up the drawbridge” (as one PM described) and limiting credit line exposure, so now is the time to work with your lenders to ensure lines of credit are secured, if it isn’t too late.

In addition, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are available, but they take time; and the demand for these loans is going to increase. Money will be available from speculative lenders, but the cost of those funds is high and will only go up.

“I would highly suggest contacting your bank(s), look at SBA options, search for minority business loans (if applicable), look for the ability secure a line of credit, and any other short-term cash resources.” Olin said. “Make sure you know your NAICS code for your business since—most of the time—financial aid during a crisis is available by NAICS codes.”

5. Examine payroll expenses and research unemployment options

After 9/11, the first thing large VRMs did was eliminate overtime and initiate wage freezes and hiring freezes. Since payroll is likely your largest expense, the next step is to reassess the need for seasonal employees and contract employees and look at cutting business hours and employee hours.

You can also explore unemployment options for your current employees. States are offering unemployment benefits for workers affected by the coronavirus. In Alabama, for example, “the requirement that a laid-off worker be ‘able and available’ to work while receiving unemployment compensation benefits has been modified for claimants who are affected by COVID-19 in any of the situations listed. Additionally, claimants will also not have to search for other work provided they take reasonable steps to preserve their ability to come back to that job when the quarantine is lifted or the illness subsides.”

Based on historic performance for vacation rental destinations, when this challenges passes, or “washes through” as President Trump said, travel is expected to rebound quickly. Decisions about payroll will be the most difficult and the most impactful in managing expenses, so experienced managers recommend not putting these off.

6. Analyze other expenses, supply chains, and upcoming projects

Eliminate nonessential and recurring expenses, and take a hard look at each line item. One Georgia manager shared that they have eliminated comp stays and employee stays in properties, have stopped extending credit to homeowners for services performed in the home, and is looking at renegotiating vendor contracts and at better managing their supply chains.

With the need to conserve cash, some special projects will need to be put on hold. However, in some cases, if time opens up for your team members, this may be a good time to go forward on special projects like implementing new software, systems, or building a new website. This option isn’t right for everyone, as managing cash is critical right now. However, technology providers are likely to be flexible on the setup fees or will be willing to defer payments.

7. Settle competing interests in your mind

As one manager said, “this is the point where capitalism meets community responsibility.”

Each company has difficult decisions in front of it, weighing the need to preserve revenue against the need to limit visitors to protect the community. And each manager we talked to is carefully considering cancellation policies.

We will address cancellation policies in more detail this week, but most managers are currently offering rebooking for future stays instead of cash refunds. This is also true for airlines and cruise lines.

As one manager said, “There are no good choices here, just good decisions.”

As leaders in your destinations, you are in the difficult position of establishing priorities and setting examples in a very different way than you ever have before. However, state and local governments are acting quickly, so many of these decisions are being made for you.

8. Take care of yourself and your families

Not to be cliché, but this is a marathon not a sprint. You are not going to be able to help anyone if you are unable. Besides physical health, mental health is a major concern during this challenge. Taking care of yourself and your family must take a high spot on your to-do list.

While the challenges you face are real, you are not in this alone. There are thousands of other VRM executives out there going through the same thing. And we—at VRM Intel—are going to be here for you and will continue to find ways to connect you with other executives to share information and look for opportunities.

Historically, travel rebounds quickly, and the vacation rental industry is more resilient than any other sector in tourism. The decisions you make are critical to ensure you come out of this. And if the past is an indicator, those that do will be stronger and better than ever before.

Outer Banks Closes Doors to Visitors

Amy Hinote

March 17, 2020

As reported by OBX Today, Dare County is restricting visitor access to North Carolina’s Outer Banks beginning at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Read entire article.

In response to updated guidelines from the CDC to avoid discretionary travel, the Dare County Control Group has made the decision to restrict visitor access to Dare County beginning today, Tuesday, March 17 at 2 p.m.

The decision impacts all beach towns in Dare County, including Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Manteo and Hatteras Island.

“While there are currently no individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, officials weighed the potential benefits for community health along with the tremendous impacts these restrictions have on our community. These restrictions may be inconvenient, disappointing and have financial impacts, however, they were made in the interest of public safety to limit the spread of COVID-19,” the control group said in a statement.

Beginning at 2 p.m., checkpoints will be established at entry points to Dare County and no visitors will be allowed access. Permanent residents, non-resident property owners and non-resident employees of Dare County businesses may review entry guidelines at www.darenc.com/entry. Reentry permits from previous years will not be accepted. Staff is working to activate the online permitting system by 1 p.m.

To avoid contact with personnel, please display your permit on your dashboard so it is clearly visible for checkpoint personnel.

Visitors will not be allowed to travel through Dare County to access Currituck County (Corolla), Hyde County (Ocracoke Island), or Tyrrell County. People who reside, own property or work in Corolla or Ocracoke will be allowed entry.

Personnel working at the Emergency Operations Center are available to answer COVID-19 related questions using a dedicated phone line. Please call 252.475.5008. Personnel anticipates a high volume of calls. If you reach a voicemail, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Who’s Your Director of First Impressions? Lessons from a Recovering 25-Year Director of Reservations

VRM Intel Staff

March 16, 2020

Leading a reservation call center for Kaiser Realty on the Alabama Gulf Coast for nearly 25 years—through 9/11, several devastating hurricanes, the oil spill of 2010, red tide, and even shark attack scares—was anything but dull and boring. Sometimes we jokingly changed our department name from the Reservation Department to the Cancellation Department.

Most companies offer their staff customer service and reservation sales training, but what happens when this department becomes the actual voice of your company during crisis situations?

The most important thing I can offer from my experience is that communication from the executive leadership needs to be proactive and precise.

I would say to you that, first, make them <your team> feel secure. Make sure that they are ok and that their families are ok. In most instances, the reservation team—even in today’s world where many of the reservations are being generated and confirmed online and through OTAs—will take the brunt of the distress calls from homeowners, guests, and even your vendors.

Why? Because they are there. Guests, homeowners, vendors, and even the other employees know that these individuals will answer the phones. Even if you have sent emails, texts, and have posted on your websites and owner/guest portals not to tie up the reservation lines, they will still call your 800 number or direct phone number and press that all-important “to speak to a live representative” button. These are the people that you depend on to never let a call go unanswered after hours, during weekends, and on holidays; and generally, these are some of the lower-paid people in your organization as well.

One thing that you figure out early on when you are working as a vacation rental reservation agent, is that you are doing something really important. You are helping families and friends form life-long memories. If you don’t figure this out, you probably don’t stay in the job very long.

Managing a department of anywhere from about 10 to 14 full-time reservation agents, our average tenure of the staff was 7 years. We were a true team and a force to be reckoned with. A lot of our guests, like your guests, booked the same large home, same week, year after year. We knew them. We knew their families, and we knew what that one week of the year meant to them. And they knew us.

When we did face something like a hurricane or the oil spill, a lot of the calls coming in were from guests and owners checking on us and checking on the state of the union.

**What is your state of the union?**

How will you handle cancellations or postponements? Is your policy a blanket policy or on a case-by-case basis? Have you communicated it to every person in your organization, especially those that will answer the phone calls? Does your staff feel like they can articulate the company policy while still showing empathy and compassion, or are they overwhelmed by the call volume and the hopeless feeling of not really knowing how they should answer questions?

And more importantly, do you have their back? Would you be willing to sit down in the cubicle next to them and answer a few calls to show your support and appreciation for what they are going through and doing for the company?

A lot of you know that Amy Hinote, the founder of VRM Intel, and I worked together at Kaiser, she as Director of Marketing and I as Director of Reservations and Group Sales. Amy had the sheer pleasure of starting at the company directly on the heels of Hurricane Katrina. The marketing series campaign, “The Calm after the Storm” that followed our company’s messaging throughout the back-to-back hurricane recovery was one of the best I’ve ever seen. But the biggest transformation for my staff—and them truly feeling their worth—was that Amy came into our reservation department, and she got to know each individual on that team, including me, and why we did what we did, day in and day out, and she showed her appreciation. She tells me this is what made her fall in love with this industry, these people and their need to not just satisfy the customer, but their need to solidify the customer in every way. We formed a bond between reservation sales and marketing that helped propel the company to even further greatness.

The coronavirus will pass, like most other crises have passed. While this event is unprecedented, many of you have unique experiences you can lean on to get through this. What you choose to do during this chaotic, scary time will help determine what your business looks like now, during, and after the storm. Your most precious commodity is most likely your people. Take care of them, talk to them, empower them, and they’ll take care of the rest.

Over three decades in the industry, you learn a few lessons—like that every company should have an emergency plan that can work for any emergency. Here are a few considerations:

Lay out a game plan as if you might not get back to normal for a while with ownership of each task, from every department, and add times to follow up with staff on a regular basis. Include a daily company briefing—where each employee can log in or call in from anywhere and hear the same message of what’s going on.
Make provisions immediately for employees that can’t (due to childcare, elderly parents, weakened immune systems, physically challenged, etc.) be part of the plan and make sure they don’t feel threatened or left out because of that.
Provide clear and concise messaging about your policy to the reservations team, even if it is not good news. If you are offering rebooking or credit for future stays, and no cash refunds, make sure they know that your policy is firm.
Write an official company policy statement that your agents can read if a conversation gets heated.
Schedule executive leaders that can be reached during all shifts for extenuating circumstances or to make an executive decision.
Communicate, communicate, and over-communicate.
Make sure that every person on the team feels confident in his/her ability to do the job and offer solutions to any obstacle.
Say “thank you” and “please”often—even when you are paying someone to do a job. Our jobs shouldn’t be our life. Our jobs help us have a life.

And remember:

It is much more costly to find and train a new employee than to work with situations of your current staff.
No one is the blame for this, and no one is exempt.
Be kind even when you have to be firm.
We make money, money doesn’t make us.

How long will this last? President Trump: “August, could be July, could be longer than that. “

Amy Hinote

March 16, 2020

President Trump answered a question during today’s briefing about how long disruption resulting from COVID-19 is going to last, saying “It seems to me that, if we do a really good job, we will not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way, had we not done a good job. But people are talking about July, August, something like that. So it could be right in that period of time where it, I say, it washes through.”

“Is this the new normal until the height of the summer?” he was asked.

The President replied, “We’ll see what happens, but they think August, could be July, could be longer than that.”

Dr Fauci later added, “I think the question that [was] asked about until July — the guidelines are a 15-day trial guideline to be reconsidering. It isn’t that these guidelines are going to be in effect until July. What the President was saying is that the trajectory of the outbreak may go until then. Make sure we don’t think that these [guidelines] are solid in stone until July.”

We will soon hear from analysts to determine if there is agreement on this timeline, but for vacation rental managers planning and preparing for the coming months, this new information is critical.

The new 15-day guidelines that have been put together in response to the COVID-19 outbreak include recommendations that all Americans, including the young and healthy, avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people, engage in working and schooling from home when possible, avoid discretionary travel, and avoid eating and drinking in bars, restaurants and public food courts.

CNN: Rich people are going to isolated vacation homes to “sit it out”

Amy Hinote

March 15, 2020

In a segment on Saturday on CNN’s Smerconish, talk show host Michael Smerconish discussed wealth disparity in the US with author Nelson D. Schwartz.

“There are reports of the wealthy getting access to private tests, escaping problem zones by chartering private jets, and retreating to isolated vacation homes,” Smerconish said. “One company, PrivateFly told us this kind of business is up 30 percent for them, and every day clients are air lifting their entire families from—say Spain—to a holiday home in the Cayman Islands (for example) to sit it out.”

Schwartz, author of The Velvet Rope Economy, described how the different economic classes are able to move through this crisis and added, “Meanwhile, people are leaving the city. . . and going to second homes while the rest of us deal with the realities of being here.”

Colorado Governor Closes Ski Operations Through March 22

VRM Intel Staff

March 15, 2020

Last night, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order to close the state’s nearly 30 ski areas for one week amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

“Never would I have believed that a global pandemic would force the temporary closure of our world-class ski resorts,” Polis wrote in an email announcing the news. He went on to say that he and his family, like many others, were planning a spring break ski trip.

“Beyond being a major part of our way of life, skiing supports our workers and businesses,” Polis wrote, noting his concern for hourly employees who depend on their paychecks. Polis called the decision “agonizing” and said he would “take solace in knowing that … we will be saving the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Coloradans in the days and weeks ahead.”

Message from Aspen Snowmass

Dear Loyal Aspen Snowmass Guest,

By order of the Governor of the State of Colorado we are closing all ski operations immediately. Additionally, we will close our ancillary businesses in an orderly manner over the course of the next week, with the exception of the Limelight Aspen. We will work closely with our current guests in house as they make travel arrangements. These actions are being done out of an abundance of caution and with concern for the capacity of local healthcare facilities should community spread increase.

We understand that this impacts a huge number of people; our employees, guests and the community as a whole. We are working now to address all of these issues and will work with each of these groups to minimize the impacts where we can.

We are closing The Little Nell and Limelight Snowmass for the season on March 23 and will reopen for the summer as scheduled. The Limelight Aspen will remain open. We will work with all of our guests who are currently in resort or who had future plans to visit this season. We will be offering refunds or credits and will work with each guest for the best desired outcome. If you are a guest in this situation, please be patient as we expect a large volume of calls and we will do everything we can to get to you as quickly as possible. You do not need to reach us right away to qualify for a refund or credit.

For employees, we are working diligently to provide them with a comprehensive list of what actions we will be taking. We will be offering two additional weeks of scheduled pay to all impacted seasonal employees. Employees will retain benefits status at the same level declared at the start of the season. We ask that our employees stay tuned for further detailed communications and understand the HR department will be overwhelmed with calls.

Our plan is to conduct some limited on-mountain maintenance to potentially have a limited late season opening if circumstances allow. We are all skiers at heart and we understand the therapeutic nature of our shared passion. Extreme circumstances call for extreme actions, and we make this decision in coordination with our local and state health agencies. Let’s work together as a community to support each other and will all come out stronger on the other side.

Inspections: A Major Key to Housekeeping Success

Padre Escapes

March 14, 2020

By Sage Viator, Executive Housekeeper, Padre Escapes

Here at Padre Escapes, we currently employ a small team of full-time inspectors year-round. This is not to say that one cannot run a successful vacation rental company without having employees solely dedicated to inspecting units once they are cleaned, but we think inspections are the key to our success. We have opted to add an extra layer of security between housekeeping and guests/owners that are checking in.

Because we are a drive-to destination for neighboring cities such as Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, as well as the Rio Grande Valley and the surrounding areas (all just a few hours away), we allow check-ins on any day of the year (seven days a week/365 days a year), and same-day add-ons are always allowed. This does allow the potential for more revenue to our owners but also limits how far ahead we can schedule cleans or inspections because schedules can change on a regular basis.

One of the most important aspects of control is the quality of work put out by the individual cleaners/subs and their accountability. That in itself is hard to perfect without some sort of inspection process. I have heard of companies implementing certain software systems that “inspect” the clean by having cleaners submit pictures; some companies opt to have their cleaners “self-inspect,” whereas others hire dedicated inspectors to go behind the cleaners as we do. I think all three of the aforementioned systems can work to a certain degree. However, I suppose the million-dollar questions are which one works best, and which one is the most cost-effective? As we all know, it’s not often in life those two criteria coincide. Before we go any further, I am not claiming our system is better or more cost-effective than any other system. I am simply sharing with you all what has proven to work for us in our current market.

For as long as I can remember, we have employed inspectors to check the work of the housekeepers. Personally, I think having a third party dedicated to inspecting the cleaners’ work eliminates any sort of bias one may encounter when having the cleaner “self-inspect.” The picture software seems like it would be useful for ensuring items/décor are neat and orderly. However, as far as cleanliness goes, I don’t think there is a substitute for being there in the flesh to see, smell, and feel the stages of cleanliness. How many times have you received a call about a strange odor in the unit or gritty floors? These things probably wouldn’t be captured in a photo or video.

We have had some pretty stellar cleaners in my time here, but we have never tossed around the idea of dispensing with inspections. Because we conduct a thorough inspection after every clean, only a simple walk-through must be conducted on the days leading up to the arrival if the unit has been unoccupied.

The walk-through consists of setting the air-conditioner to the desired temperature, checking TV/Wi-Fi, checking for any dead bugs, opening the blinds, and leaving our personalized “Welcome Flyer.” To maximize the productivity of our inspectors when they are not inspecting or doing walk-throughs, they are also responsible for guest service requests, which include technical issues (TV/ Wi-Fi), changing air filters, running items to guests, performing inventories, and vacant-unit checks.

Is our program successful? Unequivocally! If you divide our year-to-date reservations by the number of legitimate issues, we come up with a factor of 0.0048, or less than half of 1 percent. That is the value of the inspection process!

Is it cost-effective? We include the cost of inspection in our cleaning fee, thus turning the inspection process into a profit center.

Airbnb changes “Extenuating Circumstances” cancellation policy to override managers and hosts

Amber Carpenter

March 13, 2020

Today will mark the moment that we all realized that we were living in a world of complacency. We have become so enamored with the OTAs driving revenue and bookings for us that we forgot that they really don’t understand this business and they have little to no regard for their suppliers.

To be fair, this quixotic moment is brought to you by Airbnb as it announced this morning that it is utilizing the Extenuating Circumstances Policy to allow guests in the United States—as well as a handful of other countries—to cancel their stays between now and April 1st without penalty.

In other words, if you have a confirmed guest set to arrive between March 13 and March 31, 2020, Airbnb is going to give them a full refund whether you agree or not. It is highly likely that this arrival window will include additional future dates as this situation progresses.

Oh, and if you feel like canceling your arrivals between now and April 1, 2020, you can do that too without the public shaming and penalties that Airbnb usually enacts on hosts who do not honor confirmed bookings. Whew! No automated review on your profile saying that you canceled a stay outside of Airbnb policies.

The specific COVID-19 Airbnb Extenuating Circumstances Policy announcement is confusing at best:

“This extenuating circumstances policy covers our hosts and guests with eligible reservations who are impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. If your trip is covered by this policy, you’ll have the option to cancel your reservation without penalties if you’re a host, and you’ll get a full refund if you’re a guest.”

The problem with this is that as recently as February 25, 2020—the Airbnb Extenuating Circumstance policy and page had very different verbiage and read like this:

“In rare instances, if Airbnb determines that a Guest’s reason for cancellation falls within Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy, Airbnb may override the Host’s cancellation policy (ex: flexible, moderate, strict) and make refund decisions.”

It states that an “Endemic disease declared by a credible national or international authority (such as the US Center for Disease Control or the World Health Organization)” might be covered.

I have not been living under a rock.

I know that the COVID-19 pandemic is not “fake news,” and we are in unprecedented times. People are panicking. Taking those calls is hard. We know. We have been doing this for a very long time. We have been doing this through 9/11, hurricanes, oil spills, recessions, and more.

I cannot find evidence that this policy has ever been used in such a broad and sweeping manner.

However, I also know that many property managers have enacted their own COVID-19 policies that are striking a much better balance between the needs of the guests who are afraid to travel and the homeowners who are relying on their spring and summer rental income to pay mortgages. For example, many property managers are successfully allowing guests to rebook their vacation for later in the year without losing any revenue—similar to the airlines.

So why doesn’t Airbnb know how to do this? And why would Airbnb think it can handle this better than the actual property managers and hosts that live and breathe this business every day?

Worse, Airbnb is making us all look bad. Guests whom we have worked hard to convince to rebook now look to Airbnb like a hero.

In fact, Airbnb has automated the process for guests to cancel their stay to make it even easier. Your guests will see messaging that looks like this when they login to check on their reservation:

Tomorrow or sometime soon, we will wake up and find out that other OTAs have followed suit. This has likely become a game of winning market share—or protecting market share.

Also, if you dig even deeper you will figure out that Airbnb is hard at work to update its search results algorithms and consumer-facing search filters to promote properties with the most flexible cancellation policies, which is great for guests but really hard for homeowners and property managers who cannot replace the lost revenue with 24 hours notice like an urban hotel.

This is our wake up call.

The OTAs have a place in your portfolio, but it is not a replacement for your own marketing and brand. Those sales pitches that are out there trying to convince you that you shouldn’t mark up your rates on third-party channels are part of the problem. The cost of a third-party booking is not cheaper, it is not more efficient. You are trading operational control and your brand for instant gratification.

After almost 20 years of doing this, I assure you that the majority of us will lean in and not only survive this challenging time but we will thrive.

Build a marketing strategy for the long game. Have the best website you can afford. Update it often. Implement a PPC, CRM, and marketing strategy that cultivates loyalty, word of mouth, and resiliency in tough times.

Vacation Rental Booking in Leisure Markets is Holding Steady: Vacation Rental Booking Pace from March 5 to March 13

Amy Hinote

March 13, 2020

According to current data—and in contrast to other sectors of travel—vacation rentals are performing better than anticipated in spite of COVID-19 concerns.

We often talk about the resilient nature of the US leisure-based vacation rental industry, but since 9/11, the sector hasn’t had a global test like the one seen over the last few weeks. Yet the following regional data sets, provided by Key Data, demonstrate that forward-looking reservation activity is pacing above expectations in key markets.

The snapshots below show vacation rental booking pace—taken on March 5 and March 13—across multiple regions, including Hawaii, Oregon, California, Colorado, and the Gulf Coast and SE Atlantic Coast regions.

We reached out to Scott Shatford, founder and CEO at AirDNA, which provides market data and projections for the short-term rental industry, to see if this activity is similar to what he is seeing. Shatford confirmed that these occupancy and stay value indicators parallel the vacation rental performance AirDNA is monitoring.

“The data suggest a surprising resilience of short-term term rentals especially in drive to destinations,” Shatford said. “Revenue and bookings in many of these markets are actually up year over year as people extend spring breaks and take refuge from major cities.”

At VRM Intel, we are not data scientists. However, after discussing recent activity with vacation rental management executives, we have identified potential reasons for the consistent performance:

With a slowdown of international travel and cruise travel—and with a shutdown of theme parks and urban attractions—vacation rentals are a viable and less risky alternative.
Drive-to destinations are more popular than fly-to destinations in times of uncertainty.
With spring breaks being extended, children out of school, and more employees working from home, the freedom to spend time in a vacation home is more feasible.
Vacation rental cancellation policies are less flexible than hotels.
Winter “snowbird” travelers, who are often over 60 years of age, are finding it safer to stay in the south than returning home.
Some consumers are “vacating” cities with their families to drive-to vacation homes for a safer, less stressful, and more enjoyable option.

While adjusted occupancy is holding fairly steady, we are seeing some destinations experience a drop in average stay value, indicating that some regions may be discounting in order to preserve occupancy.

How to read these charts:

In the charts below you will see each region followed by an “as of” date (for example, “Hawaii: As of March 5th”). This means that that the two metrics—adjusted occupancy rate and average stay value—represent reservations on the books as of March 5th, 2020, compared to reservations on the books as of March 5th, 2019. The data sets compare booking pace on March 5 compared to booking pace on March 13.

Adjusted Occupancy measures paid occupancy, or nights available to rent. For example, adjusted occupancy excludes owner holds and maintenance holds.

VRM Intel Schedules Online Conference for Vacation Rental Managers

Amy Hinote

March 13, 2020

After successful VRM Intel Live! conferences in Destin and Gatlinburg, we were hoping to schedule more of these regional shows in 2020 to bring this same high-quality education and discussion to more destinations.

However, in light of current events, many industry conferences are getting postponed and property managers are tightening business travel budgets. As a result, we’ve decided to switch gears and offer property managers this conference in a virtual format instead.

VRM Intel Live! Online

On April 16 – 17, 2020, we will be hosting VRM Intel Live! Online, a virtual conference that brings together industry thought leaders and local vacation rental managers to discuss the current landscape and provide education about top-of-mind topics for vacation rental managers.

During these two days we will discuss recent events, performance data, demand-generation marketing, Google, OTAs, cancellations, risk management, financial management, HR, owner communications, and more.

The first day, April 16, will focus heavily on executive strategy, while the second day will focus primarily on sales and marketing. We will also be recording sessions on safety, property care, housekeeping, revenue management, technology, marketing strategies, and customer service that will be available to attendees.

In total, attendees will have access to 35+ educational sessions and discussions. In addition, as added value, we are including the video content from the 2019 Vacation Rental Data and Revenue Management Conference.

Tickets are $199, and there are 500 seats available for the live sessions.

Live Sessions

Industry conditions are evolving quickly, so session titles may change to address the most critical challenges and opportunities for vacation rental managers, but here is a look at the tentative schedule.

April 16: Executive Strategy

2020 Vacation Rental Performance and Pacing
Getting Lean: Disciplined Financial Management in Times of Uncertainty
HR: The 2020 Moving Target
Mitigating Risk in Vacation Rental Management
Asset Management vs Hospitality Management: Owner Focused or Guest Focused? Do You Have to Choose?
Homeowner Communications and Reporting Opportunities

April 17: Sales & Marketing

Understanding Google’s SERP Changes
When Demand Drops: How to Generate New Demand When Behavior Changes
Identifying and Targeting Feeder Markets
Cancellation Policies and Communications
Navigating OTAs: Policies, Competition and Opportunities
Using What You Have at Your Fingertips to Move the Needle

Video Sessions

Marketing

SEO/SEM Disrupted: Google Shakes Up the Funnel
Could You Be Losing Guests in the Booking Process?
How to Leverage Marketing Tools for Business Decisions & Real Results
Mitigate Bad Reviews and Get More 5-Stars
Building the Relationship with Guests Before, During and After the Vacation
Strategically Working with OTAs in 2020

Strategy

Lessons Learned—Technology, Hiring, Owners, Guests, Laundry, Linens and More
Experience and Professionalism: Why it Matters in the Vacation Rental Industry
The Data Behind the Guest Experience Movement: A Glimpse into Why Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia are Investing Millions of Dollars into Experiences
HR 411—Critical Workplace Topics for 2020
The People Problem
Proactive Homeowner Acquisition

Technology and Revenue Management

The Growth of Smart Home and its Implications for Property Managers
Revenue Management Infrastructure
2020 Technology Landscape
Advanced Revenue Management Strategies
Data-driven Business Strategy
Key Data Workshop

Property Care

Making Safety a Top Priority at Your Agency
Professionalizing the Housekeeping Department
Bed Bugs
Working with Contractors

If you would like to sponsor VRM Intel Live Online, you can click here or contact Connie Carlisle at connie.carlisle@vrmintel.com.

Housekeeping Profitability: Making Your Housekeeping Department a Profit Center

Padre Escapes

March 13, 2020

By Jeremy Clayton, Managing Partner, and Christi Knoll, General Manager, Padre Escapes

First, here’s a little about our company, Padre Escapes. We are located on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas. We started Padre Escapes six years ago, and today we manage more than 270 properties, primarily townhomes and condos, due to a local ordinance that does not allow single-family homes to be rented for less than 30 days.

Housekeeping has always been a source of pride for us, but it had never been a profit center. Since we opened our doors, we have always used subcontractors for our housekeeping needs. Over the years, the quality fluctuated, but we finally reached a good place with respect to quality, consistency, and communication. After much debate and number crunching, we decided to start our own in-house housekeeping division earlier this year.

In April, we started Padre Escapes’ Housekeeping with approximately 60 properties. Right after Labor Day, we acquired an additional 65 properties due to the desire of one of our subs to downsize. This change made us larger than any of our subs at the time. Although it was intimidating for us to take on that many properties, it was also an opportunity we knew we had to pursue. It was liberating to know that we were no longer at the mercy of a subcontractor; we were in control.

Cutting out the Middleman: When we started Padre Escapes’ Housekeeping, we were simply hoping to be able to cover our costs while gaining more control over quality and operations. It was a pleasant surprise when it ended up being more profitable than we imagined. By eliminating the subs—cutting out the middleman— on approximately half of our properties, we have been able to raise our average profit margin in the department from 23 to 46 percent, making housekeeping a viable revenue source, not only in our peak season but in our off season as well.

Off-Season Income: Although profitability was not the initial driving factor in the decision to start our own in-house housekeeping company, we quickly realized it was a new way to generate income in those difficult off-season months. Being in a seasonal market, we’ve always looked for additional revenue sources in our off season. We never realized the earning potential our housekeeping department had until the numbers were right in front of us. A major part of this new off-season income revenue is our annual deep cleans. We’ve always done deep cleans and were pleased they helped support our subs through the slow season, but to be able to bring them in-house and generate additional income has been beneficial to our bottom line this time of year. Now that we are doing more than half of our deep cleans in-house, we are bringing in substantial income that is definitely needed in those off-season months. In-house deep cleans have greatly benefited us financially, but they’ve also helped us with our staffing and training.

Reduced Training Cost: One of our bigger issues over the years has been our ability to prepare and train in time for peak season. Going in-house has given us the ability to keep our core staff on year-round and focus on our training and operations during the slow season. This has also allowed our housekeepers the time to try new techniques, test new products, and sharpen their skills so they can become our trainers and cut down on the time needed by our department heads when peak season rolls around.

We know for us, like many vacation rental companies, housekeeping has been one of the hardest departments to get a grip on. But as we are finding out now, it is likely the most important department and a department capable of generating substantial revenue.

Shopping for Software? 8 Considerations When Selecting a New Property Management System

VRM Intel Staff

March 10, 2020

It’s an exhilarating time to be in the VR industry—huge technological shifts are underway, and there is a lot of consolidation among vendors and tools. While the potential of streamlined toolsets and cutting-edge tech seem positive, actually putting them into production can be tricky and cause unexpected hiccups along the way.

One recent example is HomeAway Software announcing its plan to sunset two property management systems (PMSs), V12.NET and Australia-based YesBookit, while continuing to develop its Escapia PMS. The goal is to focus on a single product to deliver the best PMS for its customers.

During this transition, vacation rental companies are considering their options for selecting a new property management system. Vacation rental managers weigh their options and decide if they would like to go with best-in-class software options or a PMS company that offers an all-in-one solution. There are a lot of considerations when selecting the right PMS for your organization. We’ve put together an eight-point checklist of things to think about.

1) Focus

There are pros and cons with both best-in-class PMSs and all-in-one solutions that happen to include a PMS. Best-in-class solutions provide the best tool for core PMS functions with deep capabilities and a proven track record. On the other hand, you’ll potentially have to work with multiple vendors to build your guest management tech stack. With all-in-one solutions, you’ll have a more simplistic tool, but these may fall short with functionality, innovation, and support.

2) Reputation

Find a company that is well regarded by the industry and by its customers. Don’t just take its word for it, though. Ask for references, particularly from former customers.

3) Service

It’s going to take a while to transition to a new PMS, and you’re going to have questions—lots of them. There are no “off ” hours in the hospitality industry, so look for a company that will support you 24/7/365. Additionally, consider the level of support you will receive. Ask if the company is adding new divisions or if they’ve scaled to support any new offerings.

4) Security

The hospitality sector is facing more cybersecurity risks than ever before. As the operations hub, if your PMS is compromised, it can have devastating and extensive consequences. Make sure your new PMS follows cybersecurity best practices and standards in all areas, including network segmentation and control and multifactor authentication.

5) Training

It’s important that new employees and seasonal staff quickly understand and utilize a new PMS, particularly because training is already such a hefty undertaking.

6) Price

Do some research to make sure you know exactly what you’re getting for your money. Inquire about additional charges and ask current customers about any hidden fees they may have encountered. As a rule of thumb, if the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Also, keep in mind that companies are increasingly adopting revenue-share pricing (i.e., charging users a percentage of their sales). Adopting a PMS is a long-term decision, so take a long-term view when considering your options. Don’t just think about where your company is today but consider where it will be two to five years down the road and how the pricing model could affect your business.

7) Business Requirements

Before vetting PMS solutions, make a clear list of your top five needs. Every system will have its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important not to get distracted by the bells and whistles. Frankly, some PMS solutions will be a better fit for your company than others, so stay focused by making sure the top five needs you identified at the beginning are met.

8) User Adoption

It goes without saying that demonstrations are an essential part of the selection process. Make sure the top five needs you’ve identified are addressed in your demo. In addition to demoing the solution with one of the company’s representatives ask for a demo account where your team can interact with the tools they’ll use daily and test if it actually meets their needs.

The shakeup in PMS vendors is just one of many changes affecting the industry today. For more insights and trends from top vacation rental leaders, join us March 2–4, 2020 for the Navigate Hospitality Leaders Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Visit naviscrm.com/ navigate for more information.

Scrubbing Email Lists: Keeping Your Email Subscriber List Healthy

Jennifer Perez

March 9, 2020

The incredible return on investment achieved through email marketing means that a vacation rental company’s email subscriber list is one of its most valuable marketing resources. Although most companies focus almost exclusively on growing their subscriber lists, it’s equally important to keep those lists healthy; sending “batch and blast” emails to unresponsive subscribers is an unnecessary expense that hurts deliverability reputation.

What can indicate that a mailing list needs a tune-up?

To determine if an email subscriber list needs attention, keep an eye on email open rates. If open rates decrease over time, it’s likely the result of a poor deliverability reputation. Internet service providers (ISPs) monitor email open rates to determine a sender’s reputation: low open rates indicate uninterested subscribers and increase the chance that future emails will be sent directly to spam. With a greater number of emails going to spam, open rates decrease even further, and deliverability reputation continues to suffer. If you take no steps to improve the situation, you’ll be spending money to send emails that have increasingly lower chances of ever arriving in an inbox.

Use segmentation to get an unhealthy email list back into shape

The simplest way to increase open rates is by providing relevant content to the right subscribers. Be strategic and send personalized emails to segments of your list most likely to respond. Using the two types of list segmentation described below to send targeted emails not only improves deliverability reputation but also keeps brand content in front of the people who truly care, improves return on investment, and increases conversions.

Segmentation based on booking behavior

The reservation data in a vacation rental company’s property management software (PMS) are a vital source of information for creating targeted email campaigns. By using an API that populates an email list with data gleaned from a PMS, it’s possible to tap into an almost unlimited array of segmentation options. “Reservation integration” provides information on new, canceled, or updated reservations and—because it happens in real time—results in a literal up-to-the-moment list.

Using a list that highlights past booking behavior, you can target guests most likely to be interested in specific properties.

Have properties still available during spring break when rates are at a premium? Send an email to past guests who’ve booked during spring break sometime in the past three years. Have a new, pet-friendly, two-bedroom property available starting in June? Send an email to past guests with pets who have booked a two-bedroom home during the summer season.

The targeting possibilities are endless, and the open rates are certain to climb.

Segmentation based on engagement

Another invaluable common denominator with which to divide an email list is subscriber engagement. Engagement segments place subscribers into categories based on the level at which they’ve interacted with your email marketing in the past. Using engagement segments to create email campaigns improves deliverability by gradually weeding out unengaged subscribers and abandoned email addresses while offering interested subscribers a chance to continue hearing from your brand.

The six engagement segments range from Active (subscriber has opened or clicked on an email within 30 days) to Ghost (in the 12 months since the first email was sent, the subscriber has never opened or clicked on an email). At the top end, Active and Engaged subscribers are already paying attention to your marketing message. At the bottom, Ghosts should be purged from the list on a quarterly basis. But what about the three remaining segments (Unengaged, Dormant, and Zombie)?

An example of an automated email designed to target Unengaged, Dormant, and Zombie subscribers might have a subject line of “Where’ve You Been?” or “We’ve Missed You” as the content theme. Any subscriber who opens the email is automatically moved to the Active segment.

If, in particular, you’re interested in either reengaging or bidding farewell to Zombies, try a more straightforward subject such as “Hey, Do You Still Want to Hear from Us?” and include an unsubscribe button in the body of the email. Be proactive; give uninterested subscribers the option to opt out before they mark unwanted messages as spam.

A healthy email subscriber list is key to any successful email marketing plan. Sending targeted emails to specifically chosen list segments keeps open rates high, deliverability reputation in good standing, subscribers engaged, and email marketing campaigns successful.

Barefoot Provides a Foundation of Trust

Claiborne Yarbrough

March 9, 2020

Every year around this time, we think about how to position Barefoot in the vacation rental management software market for the upcoming year. With all the changes in software ownership, new entries, and sunsetting of systems, there is a lot of tumult in the market.

Let’s cut through the noise. At the end of the day, the heart of any true vacation rental management system is delivering real trust accounting. Tested by millions of transactions, Barefoot’s trust accounting has been proven to work consistently, which as many of you know, is no small feat.

With the most feature-rich trust accounting system* in the industry, Barefoot provides flexibility in how you build out your unique business rules combined with the best practices required by the certification process and the most stringent requirements outlined by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. We have the largest average client size in the industry for a reason.

The benefits of implementing trust accounting help you in the following ways:

Generate efficiencies and budgeting activities in all operational areas through focusing on accounting transparency.

Provide a natural barrier-to-market entry for new, less-responsible vacation rental management companies. Trust accounting requirements include a steep learning curve that is too challenging for fly-by-night operators.

If your exit strategy is to sell, our trust accounting makes you a well-prepared candidate with your accounting in order.

Position yourself as an asset manager for your owners. One significant piece of this is making sure that your owner’s money is protected, correct, and readily available. Trust accounting ensures this.

Become an experienced manager of an established, solid business with guest services that in turn benefits guests to the highest degree

When new clients come on board, we go through a rigorous documentation, testing, and implementation process to give them insight into where their money is, including understanding owner/ property accounts, advanced payments, vendor payables, and taxes. We build out a complete system that includes various payment methods and an automated clearing house. Reports in Barefoot will help you understand your liability, revenue pace, and reconciliation.

Our accounting support team audits during the implementation process, evaluates each client’s unique situation, and provides recommendations ranging from using no trust accounting, your existing customized trust accounting, or Barefoot trust accounting. Once you’re actively using the system, we provide as much guidance as you need to make sure that your trust accounting is working for you.

When considering software, remember that trust accounting is the most important aspect of your overall solution to ensure the highest level of protection for your owners, your guests, and your business.

Current Data Shows Vacation Rental Booking Activity for Spring Break and Summer in US Leisure Destinations Still Strong, In Spite of Coronavirus Concerns

Amy Hinote

March 6, 2020

As news circulated throughout the world about the highly contagious coronavirus, or COVID-19, the travel industry began to see increases in cancellations and decreases in future reservations. Travel concerns have spread faster than the actual virus, and business travel, group travel, and cruise travel have been the hardest hit.

As a result, we have been receiving a large number of emails about the effect of these concerns on the short-term vacation rental industry so we reached out to Key Data to examine actual forward-looking data to see how leisure vacation rental destinations are performing in 2020.

Summary: Compared to other travel sectors, short-term vacation rental booking activity in US leisure destinations appears to be a bright spot.

According to data sets provided by Key Data, while booking activity has slowed significantly in the last two weeks, occupancy and average stay value across key leisure-based US destinations remains strong, and the ever-so-important upcoming Spring Break appears to be holding.

We examined Hawaii, Oregon, California, Colorado, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast Atlantic Coast to see if there was disruption to spring and summer occupancy due to fears and concerns about COVID-19.

The data sets compare adjusted occupancy, or paid occupancy, and average stay value for the next five months as of March 5, 2020 to the same year-over-year (YOY) time period as of March 5, 2019.

We have experienced a drop in booking activity over the last two weeks. However, because booking pace had increased over the first two months of the year, the number of reservations on the books remains healthy for both spring and summer.

Below, Key Data provided a more detailed chart which looks at booking activity by day.

As you can see reservation activity had increased as much as 27 percent in early January. We saw a spike right after the Book Direct messaging on Feb 5-6, and then travel concerns began to spread. Fortunately, with a head start on bookings, the number of reservations for spring and summer, as a whole, still appears to be healthy.

Friday, March 6 Webinar

View Presentation Slides

Webinar: Is the coronavirus affecting short-term vacation rental booking activity?

Amy Hinote

March 5, 2020

With all the questions we’ve had this week about the potential slowdown in travel, we decided to ask the experts. Is it panic or reality? Is COVID-19 having a measurable effect on short-term rentals in leisure markets?

On March 6, we held a webinar to answer your questions about the effect of coronavirus concerns on the short-term vacation rental industry. We gathered several industry leaders to discuss actual cancellations and reservation activity related to the reported slow-down in travel resulting from concerns about the coronavirus.

Friday, March 6 Webinar

Panel discussion with Cliff Johnson, CCO, Rented.com; Simon Lehmann, CEO, AJL Consulting; Steve Milo, CEO, VTrips; Jason Sprenkle, CEO, Key Data, and moderated by Amy Hinote, VRM Intel

View Presentation Slides

Strategically Working with OTAs in 2020

Michelle Marquis

March 5, 2020

I have spent more than a decade in the hospitality industry learning and sharing how to capture more direct bookings with lower acquisition costs. Although much has changed in that time, one thing that has stayed consistent is the effectiveness of online travel agencies (OTAs). Even 12 years ago, I used OTAs to augment my business. Using these channels allowed me to sell six to eight weeks during the summer and over the Christmas holiday period. Even the days adjacent to the sold-out periods were a great time to grab new business, despite commissions of 25 percent at that time.

Many things have changed in the past decade but probably nothing more significant than the cost of running a vacation rental company. The arrival of “Big Box” companies with low transactional fees has limited what the industry can charge in commissions. If that weren’t bad enough, there’s been an explosion of property management companies emerging based on the idea that property management is an “easy” business to start. This has resulted in pay-per-click (PPC) costs skyrocketing by as much as 200 percent in some markets, making it difficult to be a profitable property manager.

With PPC costs seemingly out of control, you might wonder why I continue to support investing in OTAs.

The answer is simple. I believe the cost to acquire a new guest using PPC has reached levels that mirror the cost to capture a guest via an OTA. The recent third-quarter earnings calls with Expedia and Booking.com confirmed this. They have the same problem that property managers have, but there is a clear difference—their budget is bigger. One vacation rental manager recently told me her PPC costs had increased 190 percent over an 18-month period. I remember a time when I would barely spend $1,000 per month on PPC. Today that wouldn’t even make a small dent in the available spend for that area.

But not all OTAs are the same. Let’s get into the costs of the different OTAs.

Vacation Rental Sites

Vacation rental sites, such as Vrbo and HomeAway, have several types of fee options. With commissions varying between 8 and 12 percent, these sites are less expensive than the hotel-style OTAs.

One thing to keep in mind is Vrbo and HomeAway attract and market to guests already selecting a vacation rental accommodation. These are not new guests to the market or the category. Also, branding the property manager isn’t typically allowed. This category has a much smaller billboard effect (more on that to follow).

Hotel-style OTAs

Hotel-style OTAs typically charge commissions between 15 and 18 percent. Although quite a bit more from the outset, this investment is geared toward new guests because these channels are actually converting hotel guests into vacation rental guests. They are doing inline advertising in hotel searches to sell those travelers on vacation rentals. These are the new guests you’re looking for.

Airbnb

And then there’s Airbnb. I believe their brand has become so strong it now falls into the same category as hotel-style OTAs with regard to driving new business. And the real kicker? Airbnb guests are loyal to Airbnb. Capturing these guests once and then owning them (the harder part) is critical. However, because the cost to obtain these bookings is lower, owning the guest might not be as important as it is with hotel-style OTAs.

how does one hack these channels to get the most out of them?

1) Remember: Listings Are Ads

Pay attention to what the ad says (aka, the title/headline) and what the photos represent. A direct connect from a property management software system (PMS) can result in something like “Condo 2bedroom OF.” And believe it or not, I have seen a toilet as the lead photo in more than one advertisement on an OTA. It takes an experienced resource to build out high-converting ads.

2) Billboard Effect

64 percent of vacation rental guests start with a search on an OTA, yet only 6 percent book on that channel. Although that’s a sobering statistic, the reality is most travelers prefer to book direct. One of the real benefits of OTAs, if done properly, is using the listing for branding. There are several opportunities to brand the listing with hotel-style OTAs. I’m not going to lie, though. This takes some effort on the part of the property manager. Some channel managers brand their own company rather than the property manager. If a listing brands the channel manager, the property manager is missing the billboard effect benefit completely.

3) Effective Inventory Management

Many property managers block out availability during sold-out times. This hurts the organization more than no bookings in the high season—it also affects shoulder business. Be strategic with this channel. Make sure to utilize restrictions, such as minimum stays and closed to arrival, to fit within the overall channel strategy. Don’t just close out dates unless you want to lose potential bookings.

4) Getting the Price Right

There are so many things you can do to ensure inventory is priced right, is available, and fits sold-out periods. Companies need to understand how their rates compare to their competitors.

5) Get on the Same Page as your Guests

A lot of confusion comes from using automated emails from the channel. Property managers have the ability to customize (and brand) these communications with guests. It is important that property managers set clear expectations with guests about what they are getting with their bookings.

6) Turning Guests into Fans

The OTAs are good at owning guests. There’s an opportunity for property managers to do this, too, by building relationships with guests before they even arrive. Guest communication through hotel-style OTAs is allowed, and you should take advantage of this benefit.

7) Capitalizing on Reviews

It’s a fact that a lack of reviews can hurt bookings. Use the templates within the hotel-style OTAs to encourage guests to leave a review, and respond to reviews as quickly as possible, especially if the review is negative. This is an opportunity brand yourself and talk about what makes your property different that is not part of the listing/ad.

8) Cost Sharing

This is a scary idea, but is it possible to share any of the OTA costs with the owners? Many property managers are doing this. How can you educate the owners on how things have changed for the business and how they can benefit if they participate in an OTA channel plan? Some managers have used a branded brochure to educate and share why this channel is a valuable investment.

9) Using a Channel Manager

Yes, it costs more, but the right channel manager can help strategically plan everything mentioned above. A direct connect is perfect for those companies that want to dabble in this line of business, but if you want to be strategic and focused on growth, having the right partner can make all the difference.

OTA websites garner millions of views every day. Data tells us exactly how guests shop for vacation lodging, where they go, and how they book. Those paying attention to these channels will see more bookings and higher revenue.

Abandoned Bookings: Are PMs Losing Potential Customers during the Checkout Process?

Paul Hanak

March 5, 2020

Cart abandonment. Such an ominous term. No company can really and truly get in the mind of consumers during their shopping experience. Amazon isn’t completely sure why a new cooking spatula was left in a consumer’s shopping cart, nor do they know whether the consumer plans on purchasing it in the future. They also don’t know if the consumer purchased it elsewhere for a better price. All they know is that it wasn’t purchased from them at that time.

One thing is certain: they try unbelievably hard to get the consumer back to buy, no matter the reason for leaving.

Understanding the Property Management “Cart”

Let’s be clear. Our websites do not have a cart. A website visitor can’t add multiple items and check out in bulk like they can with a normal shopping cart. It’s one vacation for each transaction. A single “checkout” process.

All vacation rental websites have two key pages for booking a reservation online:

1) Property Display Page

The property display page has all the photos, availability calendars, and guest reviews as well as that giant (it better be giant if you want a good conversion rate) BOOK NOW button for each individual property.

2) Checkout Page

The checkout page is where personal info and credit card information is collected. This is also the page that gives the breakdown of rates and options for travel insurance. This page (even if it is broken down into “steps”) is the closest we get to a shopping cart.

How Do You Measure the Booking Abandonment Rate?

Let’s be blunt. You can’t. All we have is the checkout page. So really, the only metric you can measure would be the number of visitors to your website who have visited your checkout page but did not visit your booking confirmation/thank you page. You can look at this in Google Analytics by creating a custom segment with a sequence. It’s pretty technical, so get your marketing company to help you out with this.

In this example, over the course of a few months, only 309 users navigated to the checkout page and followed through to the final booking confirmation page. That’s .56 percent of all users.

However, we also want to compute the number of users who visited the checkout page but not the booking confirmation page. This number will be our cart abandonment rate. Let’s look at a few examples:

Without even worrying about the percentage math, we can immediately see that cart abandonment is indeed real. With this being the norm, however, we are stuck in the Amazon spatula situation, asking ourselves the age-old question of why.

Why They Abandon the Booking

Let the laundry list begin! Ok, it’s not all bad. However, you first have to dissect human behavior during the booking process before we can assume that they don’t like your product or website.

The facts we know as a constant:

Your property detail page never tells the full story.

Potential guests visit multiple websites (four or five) before booking, including OTAs.

Cell phone use has exceeded desktop use for total number of users (traffic, not online bookings).

Users are easily confused, especially with special deals and rates.

Shorter duration stays are becoming the norm (maybe).

Your Property Detail Page Never Tells the Full Story

Regarding our clients who have a site search bar (a box you can type keywords in to quickly search the website content), take a guess on the top keywords searched on most vacation rental websites.

“Cancellation policy”

Where is your cancellation policy posted on your website? Do you have it in your FAQs, or do you have a page dedicated to rental policies that’s easily accessible? If not, then the only place your cancellation policy resides on your website is the checkout page. Potential guests are hungry for that information.

Total Cost

Another pitfall is where you display your final rate. It’s always up to the property management company to decide where on the website they want to display their final price (including taxes, fees, travel insurance, etc.).

Some companies display the total amount with taxes and fees in the search results.

Others want to be upfront and show the full pricing breakdown on the property display page.

Some just show the base rate (before taxes/fees) on the property display page thus forcing a user to visit the checkout page to see the final price.

The latter is where abandonment metrics become diluted. This could mean that your “cart,” which is the checkout page, is abandoned at a high rate because potential guests don’t want any surprises. If your checkout page is the only page on your website that displays the final rate, then that page is no longer your checkout page. It is now your price check page—and it’s ruining your cart abandonment rate.

This is the nature of the game when someone forks out $2,500 for a week. They could be considering whether the luxuries of a well-stocked condo or home are worth a stricter cancellation policy than that of a hotel room. We may never know.

Potential guests on your website also know that by just clicking Book Now on your property detail page, they aren’t actually booking now. They know they are going to that final page to get the full picture. They are going to see if you are tacking on any additional fees or even checking the price of your travel insurance.

Guests Shop Around

Just as you could be competing with surrounding hotel-like accommodations, you could also be up against other VR inventory. Renters are looking at your site, your competitions’ sites, Airbnb, VRBO, and other sources to find the best rental at the best price that fits their needs. That’s why the average conversion rate of a website is anywhere between .3 percent and .5 percent. To keep visitors on your site, consider promoting the best-price guarantee as well as highlighting the benefits of booking directly right in your booking funnel.

Mobile Devices = Higher Abandonments

Nobody books on a cell phone. When I say nobody, I mean a small percentage. However, most of your traffic comes from mobile. According to the stats below (which are pretty normal for a vacation rental company), 54 percent of users are on their phones, but they also have the highest bounce rates (where they leave the site immediately), the lowest number of pages per visit, and the shortest time visiting your site. And finally, look at the horrible conversion rate in that last column.

Overall takeaway from this? There are plenty of lookers on cell phones, so they are important, but very few are bookers. We’re just not there yet for various reasons. But more on that later.

User Confusion

If your website is hard to follow, hard to use, slow, and doesn’t instill trust or a potential relationship in the guest, they won’t book. Transparency is key in this day and age. Everybody is on high alert for potential scams, pitfalls, loopholes, and anything else that may ruin their vacation. (Another reason they are concerned about your cancellation policy.)

Another great example would be poor use of specials and deals. If a user can’t book your special rate online or can’t see the discount at checkout, and you force them to call, you could have potentially lost that guest. They could be shopping after calling hours when your office is closed. They could be at work. They could be just browsing. They could have other things to do than sit on the phone for 15 minutes just to get a price from you when your competitor’s website gives it to them immediately. Instant gratification is the name of the game, and property managers need to provide that.

Do you know that most online bookings happen between 8 and 10 p.m.? Your office is closed. Your live chat is down. The guest leaves and finds another company that displays their special rates in an easy format.

Moreover, those special rates should be apparent while browsing too! That’s why we employ a WAS/NOW price, not only to show the guest the potential savings (since we all hate math), but also to make sure it’s upfront and easy to follow.

Shorter Stays Are Becoming the Norm

Or are they? We hear this quite a bit in the VR industry, but a study on page 58 suggests otherwise with real-life data to back up their findings. We can blame the millennials all day long, but those millennials are getting older and are quickly becoming your target demographic. Other studies have shown that people are taking more but shorter vacations each year. It’s important to know what’s popular in your market in each season.

Gone are the days where we all load up in the family station wagon, beg Dad to turn on the air conditioning, and get away for a full week. Yes, it still happens, but length of stay is completely market dependent. Property managers are reacting to the demand by modifying their minimum stay policies and offering flexible date searches to broaden the search criteria. It’s the norm now. If that’s not something you offer and your competition does, add another tick to the causes of the abandoned cart.

What Can We Do to Reduce Booking Abandonment?

Roll with the times, keep it simple, and adjust as necessary using the points above.

I’ve shown you that users don’t book on their mobile devices as much as on desktops. Even Google Analytics has a very difficult time tracking users as they navigate between devices. We also know from the stats above that mobile users aren’t as engaged as desktop or tablet users.

That doesn’t mean we should abandon them. Users will start on their phone and research you. Then, when it comes down to that final decision, they book on their desktop. The problem, though, is that there is a very large gap in synergy between the two devices. It’s just plain difficult to find that same property on your computer after you looked at it on your phone. This again hinders the checkout process.

Remind Me to Book

A simple button on your checkout page that reads “Remind Me to Book This Later” offers a quick and simple way for users on mobile devices to email themselves the property information so they can book it on their desktop.

BOOKING Abandonment Emails

Plenty of times, a user will start to fill out the checkout form and get distracted, on either their phone or desktop. Just as it does for Amazon, a follow-up email works wonders. When you capture the email address, you can easily send a quick automated email reminding the client to come back and finish booking. This tool has been invaluable for many of our clients. A couple of our clients using the cart abandonment email have earned $15,000+ and $9,400+ from guests who have returned to book from the email, and that is just from Dec. 1 to 15, 2019, during the off-season.

BOOKING Abandonment Footers

What if the guest doesn’t fill anything out on the checkout page? Maybe they leave the checkout page to look for a special. Maybe they leave the site but come back a week later. A footer notification that saves the property for them with an easy link back in a floating footer bar makes it very fast and simple to return to what they viewed and to ultimately go back to book.

The Final Word on Abandoned Bookings

It’s going to happen on any e-commerce website. Cart abandonment is normal, especially in our industry, with high-dollar transactions and when all the final information is located only on the checkout page.

However, each abandoned booking is a potential lead source— leads much more qualified than someone who visited a popular blog post on your website to let slip through the cracks.

Do everything you can to get them back. Take the time to examine your website in light of the helpful hints above and see where you can help get them off the fence and ready to book. Whether it’s the tools above, a strategically placed “Wait, don’t go” popup, or remarketing ads, there is always something more you can do to improve your online conversions.

The More You Know Expert Advice for Digital Success in 2020: A Panel Discussion with Bluetent’s Digital Marketing Team

Bluetent Staff

March 4, 2020

By Brynn Flaherty, Andy Gaylord, Beryl Coulter, Jack Scherrer, and Alex Moshenskiy

It’s 2020, and staying up-to-date on SEO trends should be on every vacation rental manager’s to-do list. To address SEO topics that will be relevant in the coming months, we assembled a panel of Bluetent’s digital marketing experts: Brynn Flaherty, Andy Gaylord, Beryl Coulter, Jack Scherrer, and Alex Moshenskiy. They’ve compiled a comprehensive list of essential search subjects and provided their personal digital marketing recommendations as well.

HOT TOPICS IN SEARCH AND DIGITAL ADVERTISING

Google Vacation Rentals: This was a big topic in 2019, but because the feature was in beta for the entire year, there wasn’t much opportunity for vacation rental companies to take advantage of it. Because Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) is likely going to change the search landscape pretty dramatically in 2020, making sure your properties are positioned to show up there will be important.

Featured Snippets: Google is changing the way the search engine results pages (SERPs) look by adding featured snippets: interesting finds, image carousels, and more. These new types of search results take up more real estate in the SERPs, so when a vacation rental company’s web page is rewarded with a featured snippet, it can drive even more traffic and increase the company’s brand exposure. There are many ways to get a featured snippet in the SERPs—savvy digital marketers should be constantly testing content and page structure to see what works.

Competition for High-Volume Transactional Queries: Competition within the Google SERPs is increasing every day as more and more vacation rental businesses enter the space. As a result, it’s important to develop increased transactional content that ranks for relevant long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords like “North Lake Tahoe rentals with hot tub” or “Hatteras Island homes with an elevator” are going to be easier to rank because there is less competition. And, because the keyword is more specific and targeted, it is more likely to inspire a conversion.

Quality Content: Increasingly, Google recognizes quality over quantity when it comes to content. Vacation rental companies have a huge opportunity to stand out from the OTAs by creating quality content that’s relevant to potential guests (visitors’ guides, travel tips, upcoming events, benefits of booking direct, etc.). For the most part, OTAs aren’t creating this type of content. Vacation rental companies can give the best recommendations for their areas, and they’ll be rewarded in the search results. Bonus: Guests love this type of content!

Improving Page Speed: Google continues to come out with different ways to “grade” websites and measure how fast they load. Google’s expectations for page speed are growing, and this topic is going to become even more important as we move further into 2020.

Leveraging Schema Markup: Schema markup is code that can be added to a page that gives Google more information about the page’s content and can enhance how the page is displayed in the SERPs. Schema markup is especially powerful because it can result in featured snippets (see above). For example, schema markup can be added to a vacation rental company’s FAQ page, which can help that page show up in the SERPs—complete with expandable menus showing a few questions and answers from that page. With space in the SERPs shrinking these days, schema markup can help vacation rental companies improve their presence and take up more of that valuable real estate.

Google Ads: Recently, the primary focus of Google Ads has been changing their platform to rely more heavily on automation and artificial intelligence. Through 2019, we saw significant effects of this, such as increased competition in the ad space because of this change. Automation allows for fewer barriers to entry, meaning more competitors are easily entering the space. OTAs are able to use this automation to scale their advertising rapidly and increase their online presence. Manually creating ads that more accurately target potential guests will help keep vacation rental companies competitive in the increasingly automated ads space.

TEAM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STAYING COMPETITIVE ONLINE

Google Vacation Rentals and Google My Business

Brynn Flaherty, Director of Marketing Services

Google Vacation Rentals (GVR) is still in beta, but we think it has the potential to fundamentally change the industry’s search landscape in the coming months. We believe vacation rental companies need to list on GVR. Bluetent has taken a proactive stance: in 2019, we started working with Google to integrate directly with GVR through Boost, our channel management tool.

The Google My Business platform has many new features that can help local businesses such as vacation rental companies showing up more prominently in the SERPs. OTAs like Vrbo and Airbnb can’t show up in the local Google results, so this is a nice way for vacation rental managers to compete with the big companies. From “Posts” to “Offers” to the new “Shop” feature, we can help our clients increase their brand exposure in real time in Google.

Super Meta Descriptions

Andy Gaylord, Content Marketing Manager

As Google’s algorithm has gotten smarter, it has become better at scraping content from websites and rendering it on SERPs. This means meta descriptions have become less important and on-page content has become more important. I am encouraging our clients to focus on clear and concise summaries (super meta descriptions) within the content to give Google and other search engines more to read and render in the search results.

Local Listings and Booking Strategy

Beryl Coulter, SEO Account Manager

Many of my clients are active on local listings such as Google My Business. Local listings generally have good placements within the SERPs. When vacation rental companies provide updated local listings, they can show up multiple times in the organic results. Within a local listing, there are more opportunities to share info with guests—property photos, company updates, links to vacation rentals, and so on.

OTAs continue to rank well organically and gain recognition with travelers. Many people searching for a vacation rental still think of searching an OTA first rather than going directly to a vacation rental company’s website. Listing on OTAs is important, but so is direct booking—individual properties should be optimized to show up in search results. We recommend that our clients write property descriptions with searchability in mind.

Page Speed, Analytics, and Branding

Jack Sherrer, Analytics Manager

One of the ways our digital marketing team has been helping clients improve page speed is by migrating third-party marketing scripts (like Facebook tracking pixels, pop-up windows, call-tracking scripts, etc.) from the codebase to Google Tag Manager. That way, each script doesn’t have to load before the page loads, which can drastically improve speed and website performance.

Bluetent’s new business intelligence reporting tool utilizes Google Data Studio to expose areas of opportunity in our clients’ marketing efforts and in website functionality. We can embed this new custom analytics report directly into a Rezfusion Cloud or Pro website so that the data is always at the client’s fingertips. Vacation rental companies can develop actionable insight into website traffic origination, average size of booking windows, performance of marketing campaigns, and more—just by visiting a page on their website.

Competing with OTAs, which have infinitely more marketing reach and budget, for organic search results can be difficult for smaller vacation rental companies. Although you need visibility there, it’s more important than ever to push your brand through unique value propositions and excellent customer service. Procure and respond to reviews—the good ones and the bad ones. Be genuine. Leverage your local knowledge. Be better than you are right now.

Targeted, Personalized Digital Advertising

Alex Moshenskiy, Digital Advertising Manager

Google Ads is a pay-to-play platform, and our clients are always faced with the issue of how they can compete on far smaller advertising budgets than the OTAs. The OTAs have strong brand recognition and are able to flood the market with large advertising budgets and automation. However, automated ads are often poorly targeted and frequently don’t resonate well with living, breathing searchers. Bluetent focuses on building strong digital advertising strategies for our clients using deep-dive analysis to create personalized ads that connect with target markets. Applying a wide variety of data points allows our clients to efficiently and effectively reach potential customers, drive direct bookings, and compete against the OTAs.

Want to stay competitive online? Our digital marketing experts are here to help. Contact Bluetent at 970.510.5615.

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Message from Toby Babich, VRMA

Waived change fees, extended rebooking dates, and credits for future stays

Reasons for existing cancellation policies

Airbnb’s Adaption of Extenuating Circumstances Policy is costing its suppliers

Vrbo Encourages “a credit for full value and flexible stay dates within the next year”

A message to guests

Be realistic about the timeline

1. Expect expanded CDC guidelines and state and local restrictions

2. Prepare for your team to work from home

3. Protect cash flow, and do not use advanced deposits to pay expenses

4. Seek cash now

5. Examine payroll expenses and research unemployment options

6. Analyze other expenses, supply chains, and upcoming projects

7. Settle competing interests in your mind

8. Take care of yourself and your families

What is your state of the union?

Message from Aspen Snowmass

VRM Intel Live! Online

Live Sessions

Video Sessions

1) Focus

2) Reputation

3) Service

4) Security

5) Training

6) Price

7) Business Requirements

8) User Adoption

What can indicate that a mailing list needs a tune-up?

Use segmentation to get an unhealthy email list back into shape

Segmentation based on booking behavior

Segmentation based on engagement

Friday, March 6 Webinar

Friday, March 6 Webinar

Vacation Rental Sites

Hotel-style OTAs

Airbnb

how does one hack these channels to get the most out of them?

1) Remember: Listings Are Ads

2) Billboard Effect

3) Effective Inventory Management

4) Getting the Price Right

5) Get on the Same Page as your Guests

6) Turning Guests into Fans

7) Capitalizing on Reviews

8) Cost Sharing

9) Using a Channel Manager

Understanding the Property Management “Cart”

1) Property Display Page

2) Checkout Page

How Do You Measure the Booking Abandonment Rate?

Why They Abandon the Booking

The facts we know as a constant:

Your Property Detail Page Never Tells the Full Story

“Cancellation policy”

Total Cost

Guests Shop Around

Mobile Devices = Higher Abandonments

User Confusion

Shorter Stays Are Becoming the Norm

What Can We Do to Reduce Booking Abandonment?

Remind Me to Book

BOOKING Abandonment Emails

BOOKING Abandonment Footers

The Final Word on Abandoned Bookings

HOT TOPICS IN SEARCH AND DIGITAL ADVERTISING

TEAM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STAYING COMPETITIVE ONLINE

Google Vacation Rentals and Google My Business

Super Meta Descriptions

Local Listings and Booking Strategy

Page Speed, Analytics, and Branding

Targeted, Personalized Digital Advertising

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