A vacation rental owner has decent pre-booked calendar dates of his rental. But, some days or a low season may receive a near to the ground booking rate. There is a healthy competition in the vacation rental industry. Property owners have to be creative to get noticed and increase their bookings.
What steps can be adopted to draw the attention of their vacation rental in virtual and physical domain during the low season?
A vacation rental owner should recognize the low season stage at least after 2 years of operation and strategize accordingly. Demands vary in low season, specifically in weekdays. Identify if the property is suited for young couples, retired senior citizens or others who travel to procure good deals and advertize likewise. Keep your price modest or lower than the local competition and place special offers during weekdays if the vacancy rate is low.
Special events in your city such as a music festival or marathons highlighted can also attract athletes, who come to participate with family and prefer a rental over a hotel.
Pictures attract everyone, particularly the ones who tour. Better quality and clear pictures of your vacation rental will be favored over blurry ones. More snapshots in a listing is preferred than those with below 5 images. You can hire a professional to click pictures of your rental.
Generate a database of the guests who have stayed at your rental and gave a positive feedback. Save their name, email and contact numbers. Email them, quarterly or twice a year for holiday wishes, your seasonal discounts or major events in your city. You may get a new recommendation or repeat bookings.
An initial inquiry can convert into a booking if an owner chooses to be proactive. It is best to respond to an inquiry within 24 hours or your business will go elsewhere. Check your emails at least once a day for any inquiries from a traveler. Responding swiftly establishes reliability and trust between the two parties. After the reservation, be in touch with your guests to know their needs and prepare your rental before a week.
Everybody chooses an accommodation based on reviews. Encourage your guests to post their feedback about your listing. If there are any negative reviews about your rental, handle them positively and thank them for providing feedback.
Your retaliation in an adverse tone may motivate a forthcoming guest to consider other options. Initiate the changes in your rental required based on the reviews and let your past guests know about it for future consideration.
If the calendar dates of your rental are not updated, you may lose some guests despite all the correct information and pictures of the rental. Your calendar must display the accessible and booked dates alongside the rates. You can automate the calendar as well if the feature is available in the website.
Your property description should not be too lengthy nor should it be too short. An acceptable property description along with the pictures of the vacation rental may compel the travelers to book the rental. Hire an experienced content professional to update the description of your property if the need be.
E.g.-‘A living room with a TV and furniture’ is avoided, but a ‘Vibrant living room with a TV with 400 channels and a comfortable Sofa for the entire family’ is surely given a thought.
To reach a wide audience, it is recommended to advertise your vacation rental on professional vacation rental websites that provide a stage to showcase your properties for free or for a nominal charge. Use specific verbs, adjectives, keywords, etc that showcase your rental in the major search engines. Travelers who are always looking to travel to new places may contact you for a few days stay from the website.
If you are a social media geek, then consider setting up a Facebook account page dedicated to your rental and invite your guests to join the page. Keep updating at least once a month with happy pictures of your guests, new seasonal discounts, travel articles, new developments, etc.
One only needs to be internet and marketing savvy to adapt to the new changes in the industry.
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