Skip to content

Advice & Tips for Holiday Rental Owners

What I have learned from 20 years of being a holiday rental owner

What I have learned from 20 years of being a holiday rental owner

I started renting soon after the world moved on from printed brochures to online listing sites. Those were days when you could put an ad on VRBO for about $100 per year and reel in the bookings like those tuna fishermen hoiking slabs of sea-life over their shoulders. At the time VRBO proudly boasted of its 12,000 listings worldwide and had a…
Direct bookings - what are they and how to get them

Direct bookings - what are they and how to get them

As a short-term rental owner or guest we are less than delighted when we see the amount an OTA (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor) adds as a fee to a booking. But there is something we can do about that. We can keep the OTA out of the loop by booking direct, something that recently has taken on the label of a ‘movement’…
OTA comparison: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor - what are they and which should you be using?

OTA comparison: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor - what are they and which should you be using?

An OTA is what we used to call a rental listing site, it stands for Online Travel Agency, which is not a great name as it doesn’t really explain what it is. It’s a site where you can book and pay for short-term rental accommodation. There are 4 dominant OTAs right now: Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo (aka Homeaway) and Tripadvisor. Basically, if you…
Photographing your holiday rental property

Photographing your holiday rental property

This article is intended for an average rental owner who does not take brilliant photos. If that is not you, you are in the wrong place, but your comments are welcome below. Let’s take it as read that the property is spotlessly clean and tidy, cushions primped, beds made, windows clean, clutter removed, books on shelves straightened. Now here is the first…
OTA ranking factors: how to influence your position in Airbnb/Vrbo search results

OTA ranking factors: how to influence your position in Airbnb/Vrbo search results

A property’s ranking means how high up it is shown for a search on an OTA (Airbnb/Vrbo/Booking/Tripadvisor), assuming it meets all the criteria of the search query. There are various factors at play to determine how well you rank, but they can all be boiled down to one basic question: How much money does the OTA make from you? The two key…
How to increase booking enquiries and conversions

How to increase booking enquiries and conversions

You don’t have to do all of these, but each one you do adopt will increase your enquiries and conversions. Or to put it another way, each one you resist will decrease your bookings… 1. Instant booking is coming whether you like it or not… The first thing to say is if you use an OTA (Airbnb/Vrbo/Booking/Tripadvisor) then set your ad to…

Above section pulls in the Jet Elements Posts module, where the source is set to ‘Portfolios’, currently showing all, but also allows you to specify which categories to show.  The categories are also clickable above the photo to see similar items.

 

What I have learned from 20 years of being a holiday rental owner

What I have learned from 20 years of being a holiday rental owner

I started renting soon after the world moved on from printed brochures to online listing sites. Those were days when you could put an ad on VRBO for about $100 per year and reel in the bookings like those tuna fishermen hoiking slabs of sea-life over their shoulders. At the time VRBO proudly boasted of its 12,000 listings worldwide and had a…
Direct bookings - what are they and how to get them

Direct bookings - what are they and how to get them

As a short-term rental owner or guest we are less than delighted when we see the amount an OTA (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor) adds as a fee to a booking. But there is something we can do about that. We can keep the OTA out of the loop by booking direct, something that recently has taken on the label of a ‘movement’…
OTA comparison: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor - what are they and which should you be using?

OTA comparison: Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking, Tripadvisor - what are they and which should you be using?

An OTA is what we used to call a rental listing site, it stands for Online Travel Agency, which is not a great name as it doesn’t really explain what it is. It’s a site where you can book and pay for short-term rental accommodation. There are 4 dominant OTAs right now: Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo (aka Homeaway) and Tripadvisor. Basically, if you…
Photographing your holiday rental property

Photographing your holiday rental property

This article is intended for an average rental owner who does not take brilliant photos. If that is not you, you are in the wrong place, but your comments are welcome below. Let’s take it as read that the property is spotlessly clean and tidy, cushions primped, beds made, windows clean, clutter removed, books on shelves straightened. Now here is the first…
OTA ranking factors: how to influence your position in Airbnb/Vrbo search results

OTA ranking factors: how to influence your position in Airbnb/Vrbo search results

A property’s ranking means how high up it is shown for a search on an OTA (Airbnb/Vrbo/Booking/Tripadvisor), assuming it meets all the criteria of the search query. There are various factors at play to determine how well you rank, but they can all be boiled down to one basic question: How much money does the OTA make from you? The two key…
How to increase booking enquiries and conversions

How to increase booking enquiries and conversions

You don’t have to do all of these, but each one you do adopt will increase your enquiries and conversions. Or to put it another way, each one you resist will decrease your bookings… 1. Instant booking is coming whether you like it or not… The first thing to say is if you use an OTA (Airbnb/Vrbo/Booking/Tripadvisor) then set your ad to…