by Bill Furlong, CEO
One of the biggest developments in the vacation rental industry in the past year has been TripAdvisor's commitment to the category. With tab-level visibility for vacation rentals, home page promotions on TripAdvisor and creative approaches like their hotel/vacation rental price comparison tool, TripAdvisor is making a clear commitment to the category.
TripAdvisor's CEO, Stephen Kaufer, gave a talk at VRMA on TripAdvisor and their approach to the category. Much of the presentation was focused on TripAdvisor itself; though there was some interesting information about how they see the challenges and opportunity in the category:
...TripAdvisor's overall focus in the category
- TripAdvisor is here to grow the vacation rental market by putting it in front of the millions of hotel eyeballs that they have already on their site.
- They want to bring the TripAdvisor reputation for trust and transparency to VRs.
- They want to remove the reasons why people don't try vacation rentals.
...Their perception of vacation rental challenges
- Awareness: only 10% of people have stayed in a VR. TripAdvisor is addressing that by introducing vacation homes and giving them a high level of visibility.
- Confidence: TripAdvisor are facilitating guest reviews. Photos are key; their stats suggest that more photos mean more bookings. 20+ photos lead to a 150% increase in inquiries.
- Trust in owner/manager: 37% are worried that they won't have an emergency contact. TripAdvisor survey suggests that people will pay more for the reliabity that comes with professional management; of 177 people surveyed, 53% would rent from a PM even if it may cost more, 47% said they prefer to rent from an owner because it may cost less.
...TripAdvisor is helping differentiate VR managers from RBOs.
- TripAdvisor clearly labels a listing as being from a "certified owner" or a professional manager.
- The manager has an opportunity to present their brand, provide aggregate rating information, describe their company and have a link to their site.
...Repeat travel is huge
- 24% have stayed in a vacation home 10+ times.
- 14% stay in the same vacation rental property every year.
...Family focus is big
- 66% stayed in a vacation home because they can sleep more people
- 64% like having a kitchen for cooking meals.
- 60% like having more hang-out space.
Tripadvisor must be a reliable source for planning to travel or having a vacation..
Posted by: Lea | November 15, 2009 at 07:06 PM
I may want to check site first before going on a vacation.
Posted by: online casino | November 15, 2009 at 09:02 PM