Escapia Blog - Vacation Rental News and Trends

Do you Believe in Change?

By John Suzuki, VP Sales


Everyone believes in change. What surprises me is what people do (or don't do) about it. The #1 challenge of managers across the country is to improve their marketing. So here's the bottom line: If your marketing dollars are getting you the results you want, you have nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if you are not getting the results you want, it's time to consider changing roads completely.

It really is amazing to see how many managers are completely missing the opportunity to PAY FOR BOOKINGS. I am not talking about "leads." I'm talking about PAID BOOKINGS. To illustrate my point, if I were to hand you an envelope with a check for $1,000 and a signed rental agreement, would you pay me $100 for it? If I gave you $1 million with signed rental agreements, would you give me $100,000 for it? Most people would say yes, yet most people don't do it!

For those of you using Escapia's software and not using EscapiaNET, it's time to rethink why, especially in this economy. Listing your units across dozens of booking sites is absolutely free. You only pay for actual bookings if and when they happen. The fact of the matter is that many managers spend far more than 10 percent on marketing their units, be it with SEO services, pay-per-click, mailers, postage, web site development, and an endless list of other things that may or may not be measurable.

It has been said that "desperate times require desperate measures." While these are indeed desperate times, the great thing about what we are doing for our clients is that while EscapiaNET may be a game-changing measure, it comes with virtually zero risk to you.

It's time to think about letting EscapiaNET do the heavy lifting marketing for you, especially since you only pay money when you make more of it. Now that's power.

Vacation Rental Perks to Push

By Parag Vaish, Vice President of Consumer Marketing

Everyone appreciates upgrades and incentives.  Special perks – some of which you may already offer – are one way to elevate your property in the eyes of discerning renters and boost bookings in a competitive economy.  You just have to know which perks renters will pursue and showcase them up front.  Here are a few of the most popular perks to get you started:

Free Wi-Fi
Traditionally, people have seen vacations as opportunities to “get away from it all,” but the newest generation of travelers doesn’t find disconnecting as desirable.  Plug your free wireless in your property listing and you’ll be sure to put some minds at ease.  Whether your renters are professionals or gamers, no one wants to sit at the Laundromat for internet access.

Tickets
Many travelers are looking for ways to avoid spending a lot of money on vacation after they’ve sprung for your rental.  By offering discounted or free tickets to shows, parks, restaurants, or other attractions within the vicinity of your unit, you can really get an edge on the competition.   These perks can even be as simple as visitor access at a gym or beach chair rental.

Free Nights
Now more than ever, everyone is looking for the best deal available.  One way to encourage potential renters to bite on your minimum stay is to reward them with a free night.  While they may not have been looking to pay for four nights, they may be much more willing to when they’re paying for four but getting five.

For more ideas, read about Marketing a Vacation Home.  Or, try looking for a vacation home that you would rent.  Chances are any perks that stand out to you will do the same for renters reading your ad.

2009 Vacation rental bookings off to a soft start

By Bill Furlong, CEO

The biggest booking month of the year is underway, and the results are in from the first week of that big month.  Escapia Research data indicates that bookings were down 17% for the week ending January 4th compared to the same period a year earlier.  Looking on the bright side, bookings for that week were 51% higher than for the previous week as we exit the duldrums of December (at least from a VR booking perspective).

 

Keep in mind that the first week is naturally quirky because of the timing of the New Years holiday.  For example, this year New Years Day was a Thursday and a lot of people took the day off on Friday -- making for a long, long weekend (normally weekends are slower for bookings).  Last year New Years Day was a Tuesday and people were generally back to work the next day.

We'll be keeping a close eye on the next few weeks.  As the chart shows, December was looking somewhat better than October and November with year over year declines of less than 10%.  So we'll be watching whether the 17% decline for that first week of the year holds up as the month progresses.

2009 Travel Trends - It's Crystal Ball Time!

By Bill Furlong, CEO

We're in the 3 or 4 week period where pundits, writers, bloggers, editors and anyone else who has time to prognosticate throw out their forecasts for the year ahead.  I was recently sent a list of travel trends for the year ahead that I thought was interesting.

YPartnership 2009 Travel Trends

Do you have any forecasts for what the year ahead holds for vacation rentals?  If so, please share them.  We can't let the vacation rental industry get away without our own look into the crystal ball!