LiveRez.com, the most widely used cloud-based software for professional vacation rental managers, announced this past week at its annual Partner Conference that it is developing a revolutionary new channel management system for professional vacation rental managers.
The system includes an internal marketing network that will allow professional managers using LiveRez to advertise their inventory on other managers’ websites, create regional co-op listing sites and refer bookings to other partners. This will allow properties to be marketed exponentially across the entire network, which at this time includes more than 1,000 websites.
“Our new channel manager is designed to put control back into the hands of professional managers,” said LiveRez CEO Tracy Lotz. “It not only allows our property manager partners to work together, but also allows us to use the negotiating power of the entire network to ensure fair distribution agreements with listing sites. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in this industry.”
As part of the announcement, LiveRez said it would begin to allow third-party listing sites to build into its API, provided they agreed to certain guidelines put in place to protect the interests of professional managers.
“Leveraging the entire network of partners enables us to lock arms and get third-party sites to commit to policies that protect professional managers and their brands,” Lotz said.
To date, the only listing site to forge a distribution agreement with LiveRez has been Airbnb, which chose LiveRez as its first North American software integration partner last year. Before forging that partnership, LiveRez worked with Airbnb to create policies geared to professional vacation rental managers, and Airbnb was quick to respond.
Lotz said additional listing sites will need to agree to make similar changes if they plan to build into LiveRez’s API.
“The professional property manager must be protected and have complete control if we are going to allow access into our API,” Lotz explained.
Company leaders said partner feedback and the lack of quality independent channel management systems in the industry both factored highly into the decision to build its channel management system.
In 2012, LiveRez’s Chief Strategy Officer, Steve Trover, led the charge to develop an industry-controlled distribution network during his tenure as President of the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA). LiveRez staunchly supported the “Switch” project until it was killed in 2013 after the contract between hotel distribution company Pegasus and VRMA was terminated.
“Building an avenue for professional managers to fairly distribute their inventory to listing sites has been incredibly important to me,” Trover said. “Although we couldn’t get it built at VRMA, we will absolutely get it done at LiveRez.”
Third-party listing sites that are interested in integrating with LiveRez can email the company at Channels@LiveRez.com.
About LiveRez.com
LiveRez.com is a complete online vacation rental property management solution that is focused on making vacation rental property managers fully operational online which thereby increases their bookings. LiveRez.com offers an all-in-one cloud-based platform featuring best-in-class websites optimized for online bookings, a full-featured reservation and property management system, a robust CRM system, an exclusive connection to QuickBooks for trust accounting and a unique “Pay-for-Performance” approach which provides a mutually beneficial partnership between LiveRez.com and its vacation rental manager partners.
To learn more about LiveRez.com, please call (800) 343-2891 or visit LiveRez.com. And, to receive timely updates from the company, follow LiveRez.com on Facebook, Twitter (@LiveRez) and Google+, or visit the company’s vacation rental software blog. LiveRez.com is a proud Gold Sponsor of the Vacation Rental Manager’s Association (VRMA).
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