Single or muliple portal - What is your game?

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1

Hi
I m curious as I use multiple portals here in Europe.
The superhost status is of no interest as I think it is a gimmick.
For the fee my guests and I pay @ bnb I do get pref. treatment and positioning at other portals.
It also gives access to different guest profiles / groups that each have their own quirks - cancellations - communication - short term - long term - etc.
Yes, fewer reviews per portal but a way better distribution for searches or keywords.
The synchronization is an issue but manageable.
For me, it works well as it allows to play with the calendars which make the properties rarer on a portal which interestingly boosts positioning and desirability.

Any thoughts?

2

We use the main three, Airbnb, BDC and VRBO. We did have our places on TA, but I couldn’t be arsed soliciting enough dodgy reviews to make it worthwhile.

In addition, for next season I’m looking at Clickstay (EU market) Spain-Holiday (for UK market), e-Domizil (for German market) and Rentalia (for domestic Spanish market). Also looking into Trip for the Asian market as Flamenco is very popular in China, Taiwan etc.

Until now we’ve been happy enough with the usual three, but I think next season may still be challenging, especially for Spain, so looking to cast our net a little wider.

The biggest challenge will calendar synch, I like the simplicity of IB and all we really care about with guests is that they have a valid credit card and a pulse. The pulse is optional, only required at check in as we have a wheel barrow and bushes round the corner for those who lose theirs during a stay.

Unfortunately, with several of the above iCal is the only option, not the most efficient or effective method of updating.

We’ve got a decent enough rate for directs, mainly returners from the big three, but now we’ve got the square root of feck all guests for the next wee while i think I’ll spend some time working on our web site.

On the basis I’ve just revealed our marketing strategy for the next twelve months, that’s several glasses of Oloroso you owe me when you decide to leave the rain forests of Galicia and venture south to the land of Sherry, Flamenco, horses and sunshine :wink:

JF

2 Likes
3

I had built my own site and it was ok. I use OwnerRes for my channel manager and now I use their built in website, worth the extra money for me.

RR

4

oh yes - rainforest - the future for sunbaked dehydrated affluent Spanish…
We have menzia and mountain water …
I only use IB on the two. VRBO bought all the little guys and then got bought by expedia - bit dodgy some of them… oh and they own TA…
At present use the big G ical seems to even keep air in ceck…
UK well lost cause…
Next year concentrate on local site like tourismo.gal own site and word of mouth… main aim Spanish with pasta and fed up with med… we ll see

5

As BDC are quietly doing (euphemistically known as partnerships) with everything east of Istanbul, and west of Seattle…

JF

6

As someone who has two apartments that are normally booked back-to-back, who cleans, who has more or less full-time freelance work plus a part-time job, calendar sync is something I want to avoid.

I have so little time so I use only Airbnb. Airbnb along with repeats, referrals, my own site, social media and networking keep both apartments full.

7

just wonder when search will wisen up on just three gorillas…
G business could hang them out to dry…

8

I’ve had my share-server domain and simple web sit that links to air for booking since I opened, in part to get the SEO built up over time.

My tour business is already a member of our local tour bureau, which is largely funded by room taxes and tour ship port fees (for the info booths and supervision of the 20,000 jaywalkers we get every day most summers), so this fall my B&B will join, in order to get on their web site and eventually in their printed book they mail out to queries, and, most important, to get my cards in the card racks at their kiosks and booths.

Once I have rack cards, I will also take a short ferry trip to neighboring towns and visit other B&Bs, offering to trade rack cards with other hosts, and put cards in racks in ferry terminals and airports.

The rack cards have paid for themselves for tours in the past, and I’m sure they will also for STR. Many of my guests are independent travelers arriving on the Alaska Marine Highway, our ferry system. I know many crew members (my brother retired from the ferries 6 yrs ago) and and they will put cards in racks on board.

I really recommend joining your local convention bureau and taking part in their events as a networking method. In many cases they are a great referral service, and if the volunteers are familiar with your STR, it really helps, and a small open house event only costs a few canapes and a couple of bottles of wine.

After all, my guests pay 9% to support the bureau, and I need to take advantage of that channel, and then have an off-season volunteer and staff familiarization event and show off the house, especially for volunteers that work the booths for incoming flights and ferries. During the annual pre-season volunteer training, we get 5 minutes to pitch our tours or businesses to the volunteers.

Mine sends me lists of upcoming meetings and conventions (or they will once they start happening again) far enough in advance that I can create rulesets to raise prices, or if it’s during the off season, making special offers through the bureau and the convention sponsor.

I think that we sometimes forget that folks have been in the STR and vacation rental business for years – it’s just that AirBnB and other online bookers have made it so much easier to find and book alternative to hotels. If we want to have influence over the way travel and tourism develops in our communities, good and bad, we need to get active and build allegiances, and your local travel and convention agency is a great way to do that.