Which listing sites are most effective?

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
christine guest

Which listing sites are most effective?

Post by christine guest »

:?:
there are so many advertisers trying to persuade me to use their site I just wonder what names others would recommend. I have found Holidaybank and International Rentals very effective - do others go it alone or do they use any that they would recommend?

Christine in Portugal
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Welcome to the forum, Christine! Image

The first thing I would say is that any company soliciting for your business is not reputable, and should be ignored.

There is an EU directive against sending unsolicited commercial email, and while not all countries have implemented it yet, any serious organisation does not send out spam.

Can you give a little more detail about your property?
- Location
- Type of accommodation
- Target markets - nationality, age, families/couples/retired
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Deedee
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Post by Deedee »

Hi. We have four villas on the Algarve. We use www.holiday-rentals.com and have some terrific results. One of the villas is nearly full for 2005 already! I find that about 70% of our enquires come through H-R, and I immediately tell them to go to our own website (www.onrochabrava.com) which has loads more photos. H-R is not cheap, but they have over 8,000 properties all over the world, and are a very popular place to look for holiday properties. Your own page is all changeable online, and has an interactive availability chart. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.
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John Borg
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Post by John Borg »

I have to agree with Deedee about www.holiday-rentals.com. A superb site. As I have already stated on a different page, this site is targeted at English speaking guests. Another very good site, in fact even better, is www.vacationvillas.net. This site targets mainly Germans, Swiss and Austrians. They are both very good sites, not exactly cheap, but worth every penny!
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Post by paolo »

Holiday-rentals.com has a great user interface. A potential renter can explore the listings in all sorts of ways, not least by availability, which is a real bonus. And any rental listing site worth its salt will let you change any of the text online for free, instantly.
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Post by ChrisR »

For homes in Orlando holiday-rentals just does not work. There are too many homes in that location listed and you can only get to the top once a week. Before you know it you are back on page 6 and never looked at. 3 years ago it worked for me but then went bad.
I havent tried it for a year so its possible it may have improved.
Linda Freese
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Post by Linda Freese »

I have found holiday-rentals fantastic for advertising my properties on the Costa del Sol. I used to advertise my properties on Villarama which was a good site the first year but in recent years the site has become overloaded and is a real mess. Very difficult to search for particular properties. Not to be recommended at all!
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tansy
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rental listing sites

Post by tansy »

We have 2 properties on the beach here in Normandy, one on Utah Beach itself, the other on the west coast St Germain Sur Ay, we had 44 bookings for last year all through holiday-rentals - we have been thrilled with them especially when The Observer chose our house on St Germain as one of the top 15 beach rentals in the world.....then The Sunday Telegraph chose the beach as one of the top 22 in France via h-r's PR department - but I am slightly concerned as the level of enquiries appears to be dropping - a couple of years ago we were about the only house on the peninsular here - now there are lots....is the market saturated do you think...are there too many rental houses now? I also do think that this summers horrible weather has had an effect as well....would really appreciate knowing what other folk think is going on.
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Re: rental listing sites

Post by paolo »

tansy wrote:is the market saturated do you think...are there too many rental houses now?
I don't know about saturation but there are an awful lot of British people who now own property in France. This has a two-fold effect, neither of them good: there are more rental properties to choose from, and there are fewer potential renters of those properties.

How to get noticed amid the competition? Differentiate - offer what others don't. Find out how by reading Lay My Hat and joining in this forum :wink:
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Put time into your ads...

Post by BungleBob »

Totally agree - Paolo's advice on making your adverts stand out is spot on!

We see some "appalling" submissions: good property pictures are something of a rarity. And some of the sales descriptions aren't exactly inspiring: "2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and kitchen" probably isn't very helpful to renters. In a couple of extreme cases, owners wrote more about their hatred of smokers and pets than they did about the property!

Although I don't want to sit and defend the cause of the advertising sites, there is one rule that has ALWAYS been true:

The more effort you put in, the more bookings you get

It can be a total nightmare getting ads to stand out in busy categories. There are also a million reasons why adverts don't garner interest, including the advertising service being just plain awful!

BUT it's worth remembering that these services love getting "good" adverts. If they're doing they're job, they know they'll get bookings and you'll keep paying the fee!
Richard Speigal, Editor, España Breaks
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tansy
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Post by tansy »

In defence I didn't think our ad's were bad at all....in fact the sales manager at h-r complimented us on keeping our availability chart always up to date and on our photos...my husband was a fleet street photographer for over 25 years..so the snaps should be OK!!! Do have a look - I'd be interested in what you think www.holiday-rentals.com property numbers 7114 & 10652 Yes we need to review them and we will be doing another photoshoot soon - but I don't think it is necessarily our ad being the reason for less enquiries...I think something is going on - I see lots of British cars around but I like many others are not getting enquiries - so where are they staying...we're not cheap, but for our locations and facilities I think our prices are correct - therefore are folk aiming for very cheap & cheerful off season? With the availability increasing dramatically from the influx of British here all starting a 'gite' has this phenomenon perhaps changed the market place. Virtually every single person who has bought a property here is starting a gite - that is now over 50% of the market place according to estate agent and Notary figures....it is a concern I think...these TV programmes aren't helping either....still at last they are showing the negative side of things!!
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Post by Linda Freese »

Tansy, I think your adverts look fine but if you are not getting the same amount of rentals as in previous years, perhaps you should look at your pricing. Have you checked out how much other rentals are in your area recently? I do this on a regular basis and change my prices accordingly. As the area becomes more popular for rentals, the prices will become more competitive and you have to keep up or you loose the business. Better to be competitive and rent at a slightly lower rent than be over priced and miss out because someone is offering better value.
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Post by tansy »

Hi Linda

Yes we do look at other prices.

However as we are totally unique with both properties actually opening onto beaches - it is not a case of stand on a packing case and crane your neck, you'll see the sea between the chimneys...our prices are very competitive with other properties that are in the same sort of location - a few in Brittany -

I did try one year and lowered the prices, I got really awful people and had my fingers burnt - the expense we had to go to to repair everything was ridiculous and also heartbreaking as we have furnished the 2 houses with everything brand new and put a huge amount of effort into it....

Sorry if I sound as if I am whinging I don't mean to - I am very interested in how the market is going, (even our Notary is buying an apartment to rent out for holiday lets!!), I don't want to fall into the trap of stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap. I'm trying to adopt the ethic of work smarter not harder! You guys out there are the ones with the knowledge and experience so do please share your thoughts.
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John Borg
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Post by John Borg »

I cannot but agree with Tansy's logic re pricing. I myself prefer to keep the price reasonable, though not cheap as this serves as a "filter", attracting thr prefered type of guests. Obviously, you must bear in mind that the price should reflect the standard of the premises. I also believe that if you reduce the price, you will attract customers who will not appreciate your hard work and investment, thus the damage as experienced by Tansy!
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Post by paolo »

Here's a stupid idea I am throwing out there - do you think your decreased bookings this year could be down to your properties being on the D-Day landing beaches and 2004 being the 60th anniversary remembrance? Might the idea of cavorting and holidaying on these beaches/battlefields, this year, have put people off, even if only subconsciously?
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