Prospective Holiday Rental Guest Online User Experience

It is likely that each guest that enquires about your property has already visited a number of sites to reach you. You may have a property manager acting on your behalf or you may be owner managing your Australian holiday rental accommodation property. Either way, make sure you reduce the number of steps it takes for the prospective guest to actually book and secure your accommodation.We are so time poor these days. I become increasingly frustrated with a site I visited the other day to purchase a bag for my son. I clicked and clicked and finally came to a registration page and they requested so much information off me. I was distracted by my son asking for something to eat, and then he dropped it on the floor and before you knew it I gave up. I ended up buying that bag in my local shopping centre a few days later.If you will not allow email then ask them to provide their email and a brief question on what they are after. Make it easy for prospective guests to get an answer from you. If you make them wait longer than a day you are likely to lose their business. Personally a phone call is appreciated by so many so consider a free call number or just take the risk and provide your name and mobile number....and answer it. Leaving a message is another link in the chain for prospective guests.Provide as much information as you can with some lovely images of your holiday rental accommodation. A picture tells the story. Don't hide information or be dishonest. It will only threaten your reputation. Focus on the best features and sell your town/city and all it has to offer.If you are really confident about automatic bookings, ie - you don't want to screen your guests, then build in an automatic bookings system. You will have to outlay some $$$ to buy it but it will save you time and grab that prospective guest right when they are feeling great about booking their holiday and staying in your holiday rental. You can even set up the booking system but still have the option to screen your guests before all is confirmed.There are a range of Property Management Systems (PMS) and Booking Engines.Of course this only works if you have your own website, which I encourage by the way. For a small outlay you can build a profile of your short term  holiday rental accommodation in Australia online so prospective guests can reach you direct.If you choose not to have your own holiday rental website and rely on booking sites then be prepared to manage multiple calendars and enquiries and pay out commissions and booking fees.If you employ a property manager to do this on your behalf, ask if they have bookings available from their site and ensure they have a lovely profile of your property on their website and offer to provide images and information to ensure they are presenting your holiday rental property to it's full potential!Visit our Manage page for more tips and to search for industry suppliers.If you would like me to conduct an audit of your digital profiles and user experience please make contact.

Make Information Readily Available And Booking Easy For Prospective Guests

I'm guessing each guest that enquires about your property has already visited a number of sites to reach you. You may have a property manager acting on your behalf or you may be owner managing your Australian short term accommodation property. Either way, make sure you reduce the number of steps it takes for the prospective guest to actually book and secure your accommodation.

We are so time poor these days. I become increasingly frustrated with a site I visited the other day to purchase a bag for my son. I clicked and clicked and finally came to a registration page and they requested so much information off me. I was distracted by my son asking for something to eat, and then he dropped it on the floor and before you knew it I gave up. I ended up buying that bag in my local shopping centre a few days later.

If you will not allow email then ask them to provide their email and a brief question on what they are after. Make it easy for propsective guests to get an answer from you. If you make them wait longer than a day you are likely to lose their business. Personally a phone call is appreciated by so many so consider a free call number or just take the risk and provide your name and mobile number....and answer it. Leaving a message is another link in the chain for prospective guests.

Provide as much information as you can with some lovely images of your short term accommodation. A picture tells the story. Don't hide information or be dishonest. It will only threaten your reputation. Focus on the best features and sell your town/city and all it has to offer. 

If you are really confident about automatic bookings, ie - you don't want to screen your guests, then build in an automatic bookings system. You will have to outlay some $$$ to buy it but it will save you time and grab that prospective guest right when they are feeling great about booking their holiday and staying in your house. You can even set up the booking system but still have the option to screen your guests before all is confirmed. 

Consider Genkan, a Welcome In partner. "GENKAN is a total, "end to end" online holiday rental, villa property management solution for Real Estate agents specialising in holiday property management and reservations. This style of software solution is often referred to as CRM or Customer Relationship Management. With integrated trust accounting, GENKAN features email and SMS marketing, back office, housekeeping, client booking manager and property owner management functionality plus much more."

Of course this only works if you have your own website, which we encourage by the way. For a small outlay you can build a profile of your short term accommodation property in Australia online so prospective guests can reach you direct.

If you choose not to have your own short term accommodation website and rely on booking sites then be prepared to manage multiple calendars and enquiries and pay out commissions and booking fees. 

If you employ a property manager to do this on your behalf, ask if they have bookings available from their site and ensure they have a lovely profile of your property on their website and offer to provide images and information to ensure they are presenting your short term accommodation property to it's full potential!

Visit our Manage page for more tips and to search for industry suppliers.

Connect With Tourism Australia & Other Tourism Bodies

Contact your local visitor centre who should direct you to your regional tourism organisation, state and national tourism organisations. All will have a plethora of information to offer guests who stay in your short term accommodation properties.

Take note of your local, region, state and national tourism branding. It is multi layered but mostly connected into the bigger picture in terms of marketing Australia to Australian's and the rest of the world. Visit our Tourism page. It summarises each state and region and provide links to familiarise yourselves and visitors with each brand and unique offering.

You want visitors to leave feeling like they have experienced the culture of your community when they leave. What gives them that lasting impression? What makes your town/city so unique and memorable to prompt a discussion when they’re back home with their friends and family?

For me travelling through the Gibb River Road in the Kimberly - I have such fond memories of having to shower at a camp site in cold water in freezing temperatures at dusk. I said to my husband that I just can't do it. He suggested I go and do it before the sun went down - there was no roof on the toilet block. It was either shower or be stinky. I opted for the shower and oh my how invigorating! Very very memorable for me. A freezing cold shower at sunset followed by warm clothes and a red wine by the fire under the stars. Now that's living!:)

Provide your unique tourism information on your Australian short term accommodation websites and in your guest file. Make information easy to find, at their fingertips. Your guests will be grateful. 

Follow this link to connect with Tourism Australia.

When my family and I travel we are continually seeking out unique and community based tourism events like local community markets, free family events, amazing parks with great facilities.

We encourage each of you to have your own website presence for each property you offer to short term accommodation guests in Australia. There are many sites out there offering to promote and book your properties on your behalf however if you spend the time building up your own website, including tourism information for Australian visitors, and providing contact details, you will notice that enquiries start coming through direct to you and no one pays commissions or booking fees. It keeps the price of short term accommodation in Australia affordable in comparison to serviced hotel/motel stays.

The idea is to work alongside your local/regional tourism stakeholders. Connect with all of these businesses and jointly promote each other. Work together and link from each others sites, mention them in conversations with your guests. All of this activity and support boosts your local economy and encourages the visitors to stay a little longer and to feel at home while they're away. That local personal touch.

Get to know the tourism brands you sit under and work with these organisations who work tirelessly to market your communities to visitors in Australia and international guests.

Contact us anytime if you want any advice on how to locate local tourism organisations. Your local government or visitor centre is the best first point of call.

Does Your Holiday Rental Have Personality?

As the owner/ manager of a holiday rental -  have you considered giving your investment property personality?In the past, as a prospective tenant of holiday rental accommodation in Australia, I've sifted through listings in holiday hot spots around Australia. I have to say the ones that catch my eye are those with personality that jump right out at me with a catchy name and some highly appealing images on a professional website.I'm usually looking for a property that's appealing to me and my family especially when I'm seeking holiday rental accommodation for longer stays.With a name and personality a manager can develop a logo and build this into a property profile website, incorporate a basic holiday rental online booking system and market widely.It's amazing what a name, great logo, appealing images and consistent content and marketing messages can do to generate bookings.By naming your holiday rental property it can be promoted much easily through word of mouth. For example we've received many referrals and positive feedback on our Perth Hills property, The Rocks. Holiday rental guests love to tell their friends about properties that left a lasting impression - those with a name have somewhat of an advantage!

Does Your Short Term Accommodation Have Personality?

As an investor of a short term accommodation (holiday, corporate or other) have you considered giving your investment property personality?

In the past, as a prospective tenant of short term accommodation in Australia, I've sifted through listings in holiday hot spots around Australia. I have to say the ones that catch my eye are those with personality that jump right out at me with a catchy name and some high quality images on a professional property website.

I'm usually looking for a property that's appealing to me and my family especially when I'm seeking short term accommodation for longer stays.

With a name and personality an investor can develop a logo and build this into a property profile website, incorporate a basic booking system and market widely on short term accommodation sites like Welcome In - The Short Term Accommodation Specialists. A Place to BUY, STAY in and MANAGE short term accommodation in Australia.

It's amazing what a name, great logo, professional online property profile and consistent marketing messages can do to generate bookings. 

By naming your short term accommodation property it can be promoted much easily through word of mouth. For example we've received many referrals and positive feedback on our Perth Hills property, The Rocks. Short term accommodation tenants (holiday, corporate or other) love to tell their friends about properties that left a lasting impression - those with a name have somewhat of an advantage!