• News
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
  • Marketing
  • Tech
  • OTAs
  • Customer Service
  • Regs
  • Housekeeping
  • More
    • Education
      • Calendar of Events
      • Videos & Whitepapers
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
VRM Intel
  • News
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
      The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    • VRM Intel_Christmas-in-New-Orleans
      That’s the Ticket! Register Now to Enjoy Big Savings and Convenient Payment Plans for the 2021 Vacation Rental Women’s Summit in New Orleans
    • Inhabit IQ Gets “Significant Investment” from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division
    • Airbnb Goes Public. CEO Brian Chesky: “Travel is never going to look like it did in January”
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
    • Paycheck-Protection-Program-for-VR-industry
      Latest Round of Paycheck Protection Program Includes Up to $2 Million Loans for Some Vacation Rental Business Owners
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
      The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    • Airbnb Goes Public. CEO Brian Chesky: “Travel is never going to look like it did in January”
    • Short-Term Rental Industry Giants Grapple with Building Brand Loyalty, Democratization, Regulations, and More at Skift’s 2020 STR Summit
  • Marketing
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    • Learn How You Can Unleash Your ‘Limitless Female Energy’ During VRM’s Thought Leadership Series Featuring Author/Speaker Amber Hurdle
    • How to Use Website Traffic to Gauge Demand for Your Market
    • Elements of a Property Detail Page: How They Can Make or Break Your Bookings
    • VRMIntel_Fall2020_Fast Paced Revenue Management
      Fast-Paced Revenue Management: The 10-Minute, $10,000 Mistake
  • Tech
    • Inhabit IQ Gets “Significant Investment” from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division
    • 2021 Social Media Game Changer
      Are You Ready to Ride the Wave to Becoming a 2021 Social Media Game Changer?
    • NDAs & Confidentiality Agreements: What to Include and When to Enforce
    • Selling Your Business? Know Your Tech Stuff!
    • Dynamic Pricing: To Adjust Rates or Not to Adjust Rates
  • OTAs
    • Airbnb Goes Public. CEO Brian Chesky: “Travel is never going to look like it did in January”
    • 6 Takeaways from Vrbo’s 2021 Consumer Travel Trend Report
    • Barron’s: Airbnb Set to Price December 9 and Trade December 10
    • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
    • Airbnb is Finally Going Public: Takeaways for Property Managers from IPO Filing
  • Customer Service
    • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
      The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    • Dynamic Pricing: To Adjust Rates or Not to Adjust Rates
    • Repurposing Space: Broadening Your Vacation Rental’s Appeal
    • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
    • New Customers Bring New Demands: Evolving to Meet the Needs of New Customer Avatars
  • Regs
    • Barron’s: Airbnb Set to Price December 9 and Trade December 10
    • Strategic Forecasting Beyond 2021: Are Vacation Rental Managers Changing Fast Enough?
    • Alabama’s tourism economy benefits from Florida Governor DeSantis’ shutdown of vacation rentals
    • Airbnb reaches out to city officials to influence “transitional travel reopening plans”
    • Jeff Paglialonga on FL Vacation Rental COVID-related ban: “We need your support to rectify what I believe is to be the illegal taking of property from Florida vacation rental owners.”
  • Housekeeping
    • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
    • Q&A with Breezeway founder Jeremy Gall about company’s $8 million funding round and more
    • Gatlinburg-based Cabins For YOU acquires Chalet Village and is looking for more. Q&A with owner and founder Greg Plimpton
    • What is the cost of Airbnb’s recommended 24- to 72-hour “buffer” time between stays?
    • The Professional Vacation Rental Manager’s Crisis Playbook
  • More
    • Education
      • Calendar of Events
      • Videos & Whitepapers
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • RSS

Technology and Marketing

The Third Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day is Scheduled for February 5, 2020

The Third Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day is Scheduled for February 5, 2020
mm
Amy Hinote
February 4, 2020

The third Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day, recurring on the first Wednesday in February, is set for February 5, 2020. With a multitude of new travelers searching for vacation rentals, vacation rental managers and homeowners are yet again joining forces for one day with a singular message to let travelers know that there are many advantages to bypassing third-party channels and booking directly with management companies and homeowners.

 

What Is #BookDirect Guest Education Day?

The idea for the campaign originated three years ago in a webinar discussion with several large vacation rental management companies located across the United States exploring ways to educate consumers about the value of booking vacation homes directly instead of on third-party channels. The urgency for education increased with the guest/traveler fees—and the consequential confusion among guests—that were added to Vrbo and TripAdvisor.

After the conversation, we did a little research and quickly realized it only takes a few thousand tweets on a single day to create a “trend.” In addition, vacation rental travelers often have stayed in several vacation rentals in the past and would be likely to get email messages from multiple VRMs in a short amount of time if a large number of VRMs initiated email messaging at the same time. As a result, #BookDirect Guest Education Day was born.

The campaign’s goal is for vacation rental shoppers to see multiple messages across social and email channels on the same day promoting the many reasons to book their vacations directly with managers or homeowners. With frequency as a driver, we believe that guests will understand why they should #BookDirect.

#BookDirect Guest Education Day is a collective education effort, and VRMs are encouraged to leverage their own brands in communications. The idea is to use your own graphics, customer list, and benefits and to direct people directly to your company’s website and/or social pages.

“I think the timing of this campaign is impeccable,” said Tim Cafferty, president at Sandbridge Blue Realty Services and Outer Banks Blue Realty Services and cofounder of the popular podcast Sarah and T. “The message has resonated with consumers and vacation rental managers alike.”

April Salter, chair of the Association of Vacation Rental Operators and Affiliates said, “[Vacation home owners and managers] are a creative and determined group, and they’re excited about putting advocacy into action. #BookDirect Guest Education Day is a chance to shout out to the world that booking direct is better for owners and managers and for guests. This is a chance to work together to get out the message.”

 

Campaign Performance (2018 and 2019)

Over the past two years, VRMs delivered creative social media posts, videos, landing pages, how-to instructions, emails, and promotions from both managers and homeowners. The independent boutique hotel industry joined the effort last year, expanding the overall reach.

Last year’s #BookDirect Guest Education campaign was able to directly communicate with over seven million travelers through email messages to past guests and prospects (reported by VRMs) and resulted in over 60 million impressions on Twitter and Instagram (Keyhole.co). 

 As a non branded, grassroots effort—with a zero dollar budget—the campaign trended on Twitter in both 2018 and 2019, and we hope for an even larger reach in 2020.

 

How to Participate

We are asking all vacation rental managers and homeowners to do the following on Feb 5, 2020:

  • Use the hashtag #BookDirect on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to bring attention to the many advantages of booking vacation rentals directly with managers or homeowners instead of on third-party channels.
  • Send out an email campaign to past and prospective guests with a message about the value of booking direct, booking local, and booking smart.

Other ideas:

  • Work with local and feeder-market media sources to educate consumers about the best ways to book vacation rentals.
  • Encourage local destination marketing organizations (i.e., CVBs, chambers of commerce, and state tourism organizations) to join in promoting their direct connections to lodging providers.
  • Create a landing page on your website about the value of booking direct and instructing guests how to book direct.

 

Using #BookDirect Guest Education Day as a Catalyst for Year-Round Education Efforts

For most vacation rental managers and owners, the #BookDirect movement is not a one-time pitch. Instead, it is a launchpad for an ongoing campaign to let travelers know the following:

  • When travelers book on large vacation rental websites like Airbnb, Vrbo.com, and TripAdvisor, they are paying substantial fees to use these sites.
  • Many of the best homes are not listed on these third-party websites.
  • Local managers and homeowners know the properties and the area better than anyone and can better match travelers to homes and help plan better vacation experiences.
  • Travelers can find out about special offers that cannot be found on the big websites.
  • Managers and owners can better help guests optimize dates and budgets to fit their needs.
  • Travelers with special needs and requests can work directly with owners and managers in a much more personalized way to guarantee an amazing vacation for their family or group.

Mike Harrington, former president of the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) and founder of Carolina Retreats in North Carolina, has been a longtime advocate of industry-wide education. “At VRMA’s educational events, finding new avenues of marketing—both direct and through listing and third-party sites—have been some of the most requested topics at any event,” Harrington said. “With our industry now squarely in the spotlight of the mainstream travel sector, continuing to market your local brand and what makes each location and company unique is becoming more and more of a challenge. Finding ways to highlight and educate travelers of the intimate knowledge that you offer of a unique property and area is something that everyone in the industry should want us to promote in order to elevate the guest experience that is so important to the long-term health of the vacation rental industry.”

Vince Perez, vacation homeowner, property manager and founder of Fetch My Guest, agreed. “Guest education is important because travelers appreciate and expect transparency when making important vacation decisions.”

Perez added, “We believe it is important that travelers get the best value for their vacation dollars. We don’t believe charging them hidden fees on vacation rentals that will drive up their cost by hundreds of dollars is the answer. This effort gives the vacation rental professional community a voice in educating the travelers on what is taking place and how it impacts the market—and their pocketbooks.”

According to Steve Milo, founder and CEO of Vtrips, “Vrbo and Airbnb will soon realize they do not have the power in the vacation rental space they think they do. Given the dynamics of far more demand than supply, the power in this relationship is with owners and property managers with exclusive inventory.”

Heather Bayer echoed Milo’s sentiment: “Demand for vacation rentals is rising as this type of accommodation becomes a mainstream choice. Supply is critical to this trend, so it’s important for travelers to know that the OTAs don’t show the entire inventory. Giving them the information on where to find the best accommodation at the best prices and with the best people—the owners and managers—is what they need to create the best vacation experience.”

As investors and analysts examine the vacation rental industry, it is worth noting that the supply is controlled by individuals and local, independent property managers who are capable of and accustomed to voting with their feet.

“It’s been exciting to see the newsletters, posts, images, and tweets that they’ve developed and are sharing across their networks,” Salter said. “I think the message to OTAs is that vacation rental owners and managers have a voice, and they intend to play a major role in shaping the future.”­

Related Items#bookdirectbookingFeesVacation rentals
View Comments (1)

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology and Marketing
February 4, 2020
mm
Amy Hinote @vrmintel

Amy Hinote is the founder and editor-in-chief of VRM Intel Magazine, which provides news, information and resources for the professionally managed vacation rental industry. With a background in finance and over 15 years in the vacation rental industry, Hinote has worked with property management companies, technology companies, intermediaries and investors, and provides insider information about the growing vacation rental industry. She also founded the data company, now known as Key Data Dashboard, which provides aggregated market intelligence and reporting for vacation rental managers. Hinote resides between Alabama's Gulf Coast and Evanston, Illinois.

Related Items#bookdirectbookingFeesVacation rentals

More in Technology and Marketing

VRMIntel_Fall2020_Fast Paced Revenue Management

Fast-Paced Revenue Management: The 10-Minute, $10,000 Mistake

Heather RicherDecember 9, 2020
Read More

Managing Profit, Not Just Revenue

Andrew McConnellDecember 4, 2020
Read More

Secure More Direct Bookings through Personalized Sales and Marketing

Doug KennedyDecember 3, 2020
Read More

NDAs & Confidentiality Agreements: What to Include and When to Enforce

Kristen PrinzDecember 2, 2020
Read More

The Google Trifecta: Three Ways to Leverage the World’s Most Popular Search Engine

Jennifer PerezDecember 1, 2020
Read More

You Are Your Best Revenue Manager

Ryan SaylorNovember 30, 2020
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Sponsor News

  • Inhabit IQ Gets “Significant Investment” from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division
    Latest NewsDecember 18, 2020
  • You Are Your Best Revenue Manager
    Revenue ManagementNovember 30, 2020
  • How Email Helped Save Vacation Rental Companies During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    AdvertisementNovember 21, 2020
  • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
    Customer Service for Vacation Rental ProfessionalsNovember 18, 2020
VRM Intel
Calendar of Events
Videos & Whitepapers
VRMintel Magazine
Subscribe
Advertise
About Us
Authors
Contact Us

Recent News

  • Paycheck-Protection-Program-for-VR-industry
    Latest Round of Paycheck Protection Program Includes Up to $2 Million Loans for Some Vacation Rental Business Owners
    BlogJanuary 20, 2021
  • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    BlogJanuary 18, 2021
  • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
    The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    BlogJanuary 12, 2021
  • VRM Intel_Christmas-in-New-Orleans
    That’s the Ticket! Register Now to Enjoy Big Savings and Convenient Payment Plans for the 2021 Vacation Rental Women’s Summit in New Orleans
    Industry News for Vacation Rental ManagersJanuary 8, 2021

View Current Issue

VRMintel Copyright © 2016-17 | Click HERE to Subscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Copyright | Jobs | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Naming Vacation Homes: 10 Advantages to Naming the Vacation Properties in Your Inventory
OTAs take on Google Vacation Rentals asking EU to investigate anti-competitive platform
We use cookies and similar technologies to recognize repeat visits, as well as to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and analyze traffic. By clicking "I Accept" you consent to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.Accept