What are the best vacation rental sites to market your home? Marketing your vacation rental is easier than ever thanks to the internet. Knowing which sites to list with can be difficult. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of vacation rental listing sites out there. The sites listed below are the most popular, the most proven and they are the first vacation rental listing sites you need to consider for your property.
Homeaway & VRBO
You will hear me talk a lot about Homeaway throughout my blog. This is for good reason. I have had tremendous success marketing my rental inventory on what I consider the 800 pound gorilla of the vacation rental industry.
VRBO is one of the pioneers of the industry, formed in 1996. They were acquired by Homeaway 10 years later. One membership gets your vacation rental on two of the most popular vacation rental listing sites in the world, in addition to dozens of other sites on their expanded distribution network.
The Homeaway brand was acquired by Expedia in 2015 and some new policies have been met with scrutiny by owners and renters alike. Most notably would be the service fee implemented towards guests, however Homeaway and VRBO continue to be popular brands among travelers. I consider this a must for advertising your vacation rental.
Airbnb
Airbnb has been the darling of Millenials for some time now. Now I would argue that Airbnb is the fastest growing and most recognizable brand in the industry. Even the term Airbnb has made it’s way into our popular lexicon. Much like we say Kleenex instead of tissue paper, many people have begun referring to vacation rental properties as “Airbnbs”.
Flipkey & Trip Advisor
Trip Advisor is one of the oldest and most trusted travel brands in the world. Millions of travelers use Trip Advisor everyday to seek recommendations and book accommodations, so it would only make sense that you advertise your vacation rental here.
Vacation rental owners also get their properties featured on other websites such as Flipkey and Holiday Lettings as an added bonus.
Booking.com
I have only had my properties with Booking.com for a relatively short amount of time. I have a couple issues with this site, namely the high fees charged which leads to higher rates for your guests (I will talk more later about the costs associated with vacation rental booking sites) and potentially less bookings. Booking.com is also more of hotel-style booking experience. This means you are able to target more guests looking for last minute accommodations. The downside is these guests typically have more fluid travel plans, which can mean more cancellations.
I have had fairly decent success with my vacation rental properties on this site in a short amount of time. Also Booking.com is generally considered the most visited travel website in the world. Just the sheer volume of traffic alone means you can’t ignore Booking.com as a one of the best vacation rental listing sites.
Conclusion
Which vacation rental listing sites should you use to advertise your rental home?
I suggest advertising your vacation rental on as many of these sites as you can manage; ideally all of them. The more potential travelers you can reach, the more potential bookings and rental revenue will come your way.
