Direct vacation rental bookings are the holy grail of the vacation rental business and there are many benefits of these, both for the owner and the guest. A direct booking is a booking not originating from a vacation rental listing site. Instead the guest has booked “directly” through you, either on your website or through some other form. It is certainly more difficult to get direct bookings. Anyone can advertise on a major or lesser known vacation rental listing site and get bookings almost immediately. Direct bookings require time and effort to build, but the benefits are well worth it.
Build Your Own Brand
When you advertise on a major vacation rental listing site, you are building the brand of that site. You are not building your brand.
Vacation rental sites will often hide the identity of the owner or property manager and allow only limited interaction between the two parties. Many times the guest does not even realize exactly who they are booking with. I can’t tell you how many times I have had a guest ask me a question to the effect of “This is a really nice home. Does Airbnb own any other homes in this area?”
Of course Airbnb does not actually own any real estate. They are simply an advertising channel for millions of homeowners and property managers. Airbnb has very smartly structured the booking process to ensure not only that the guest books through their site and thus gives Airbnb a commission, but also that their brand is front and center to guests. Essentially Airbnb and other vacation rental websites “ride on your coattails” every time you have a happy guest.
By working to capture direct bookings, whether it be with a personal website or something related, you are promoting your own rental or business and the brand associated with it.
Bypass Guest Service Fees
Traveler service fees have long been a norm for hotels. Now these fees are being charged to vacation rental guests on virtually every major platform. These fees can add as much as 20% to the cost of the rental for your guests! Your guests will certainly appreciate the lower cost that you are able to provide them.
Many vacation rental listing sites charge a booking fee to the owner. Booking.com, for example, charges the owner a 15% commission.
These charges can seriously cut into your bottom line directly or indirectly by affecting how high of a rate you can command. Any direct booking will of course eliminate these high fees and save you and your guest some money.
Higher Guest Satisfaction
The main issue here is the difficulty for guests to communicate and ask questions from someone that actually knows the property. Guests are able to send an inquiry to the property owner if they have a quick question, however many guests would prefer to talk over the phone to a real person before booking. Third party listing sites have pretty much made that impossible until after the guest has already booked.
Guests are often forced to obtain key information from a phone representative that has never been in the property. Many guests do not quite understand this process. This can sometimes lead to frustration for the guest and the feeling that they were misled.
I have found guests that book directly through my company are better informed about the property, check-in procedures and my company in general. We are able to give our guests better service because we don’t have some big 3rd party site acting as a buffer between us.
Direct Bookings Give you More Control
Third party vacation rental websites tend to control just about everything related to your listing. You may not be able to pick the exact cancellation policy you want to use, for example. We have already discussed how you can have only very limited interaction with the guest before they book. Listing sites can even force you to accept certain payment methods, at least indirectly.
The bottom line is there has been a lot of consolidation in the online vacation rental industry. The major players know they carry a lot of clout. As a homeowner you either play by their rules or look for other options.
Capturing direct vacation rental bookings allows you to take control of your property. You can set whatever cancellation policy you want, accept whatever forms of payment you are comfortable with and most importantly perform whatever vetting you deem appropriate before allowing a guest to book.
Build Better Rapport with your Guests
This brings back a bit of nostalgia for me. I remember the old days (not that long ago!) when a guest would call me up around the same time every year. We would know each other by first name, ask how each other’s wives were and see what property was available for the summer.
We still have this happen every once in awhile, but these instances are sadly becoming rarer and rarer. Most guests prefer to browse and book anonymously. Third party listing sites have exacerbated this by hiding your identity to guests and limiting contact.
This is perhaps the best benefit of direct vacation rental bookings. Your guest will see your name/logo/phone number front and center.
A guest that has booked directly is much more likely to rent through you again if they are pleased with their experience.
