How to work effectively with multiple online travel agents. Wake up to booking.yeah

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1 How to work effectively with multiple online travel agents Wake up to booking.yeah

2 With as many as 76% of people booking their holiday online, it's safe to say that during the lower seasons, it's more important than ever that your holiday rental has a large online presence. So if you are already online and working with an online travel agent (such as Booking.com, Airbnb, HomeAway), but they are only providing you with enough bookings to reach an occupancy of 80%, what can you do to fill the missing 20%? Well...listing with more than one online travel website might be the answer you re looking for. This may however be challenging - managing availability, updating calendars or choosing rates. Thankfully, we have something that will make your life easier - channel managers! Channel managers are tools which offer you a simplified and centralised view of all the sites and online travel platforms which feature your holiday rental enabling you to manage your bookings and amend your rates quickly and easily. Here are some pros and cons 76% of people book their holiday online i. Source: i Ecommnet Technologies 02

3 Administrative support In a holiday rental, things can change. Your facilities can improve, your rates can increase/decrease, and your booking availability can reach capacity. The process of updating this information with just one website can bring sweat to your brow, so the thought of doing it across many is almost unbearable. However, channel manager tools can make this a whole lot easier. These solutions function as a central point for your holiday rental details, so any changes you make here will be fed out to your relevant pages across the internet. Gone are the days of logging into each individual online travel platform and updating your profile pages. Now, you have the ability to react dynamically and make changes as and when they suit you and your business opportunities. Tip 1: Ensure your channel manager updates your property changes on all profiles as quickly as possible Tip 2: Use channel manager booking tools to ensure double-booking never happens Tip 3: Look for opportunities to rapidly change your rates and increase bookings (e.g. around local events) 03

4 Data and insights As with most online tools, the real value is in the data and insight that they capture and it s no different for channel managers. Whether it s booking channels, rates, locations, or a variety of other factors, all this information is tracked when travellers use an online travel platform which connects to your channel manager. Now, if the information is tracked, then it should be available for you to analyse and put to good use. For example, if you are finding that you are receiving no bookings from a particular online travel platform, then you also know it s not worth your time maintaining a profile there. Equally, if you are receiving the majority of your bookings from a certain website or a particular type of traveller, then you can invest more here in future. Tip 4: Partner with channel managers that offer access to valuable insights Tip 5: Choose managers who will assist you in identifying booking opportunities as shown in the data Tip 6: Use data, insight, and information to target your best markets via your top-performing online travel agent When using an online travel agent all tracked information is available for you to analyse and put to good use 04

5 Support and training It s clear that channel managers offer holiday rental owners a variety of great benefits. But many of these can go unrealised without the right support and training. It s unlikely that you ll have comprehensive knowledge of a fairly complex computer program as soon as you log in, so you ll need some help. When reviewing potential channel managers, specifically look for those that offer training and support staff which will help you get the best from the tool. Multiple OTA connections will be of little help if you don t know how to feature on them, so take on board all the guidance and advice you can get your hands on. Also, review channel manager websites to find those who provide helpful hints and tips to improving your booking numbers. Tip 7: Find a channel manager that provides full-scale support and training Tip 8: Use any guidance and advice that is given to you regarding the software program Tip 9: Check websites to see which channel managers offer hints, tips, and advice on improving your bookings 05

6 Costs and charges Channel managers costs can range from 1 per booking through to long-term commission-per-booking structures, which leaves the door open to finding the solution which suits you and your budget. Some providers may offer fixed monthly costs with no contract agreement, whereas others may require more of a commitment. But thankfully, free trials are industry standard. This means that you should have the ability to sign up and try a range of channel managers to find the one that suits you best before determining which offers the best value for money. Tip 10: Use as many free trials to find the channel manager which suits your needs Tip 11: Be wary of commissionper-booking pricing structures as these can slow your business growth Tip 12: Only opt for the solution which best suits your budget don t over commit yourself 06

7 The Booking.com way We re the world s number 1 accommodation site, but more importantly, we care about the success of your holiday rental just as much as you do. So when you choose a channel manager, be sure it enables you to register your property with us. We don t just market your property to millions of travellers across the globe, we also give you all the tools and support you need to boost your bookings. For example, central calendars to manage all your bookings (even from other OTAs), competitor analysis, rate comparison tools, booking insights, and much more. You can even message guests before their stay in their own language thanks to our Pulse app. So, if you want to open your holiday rentals to guests from around the world and provide superior service at your properties, join Booking.com today. Join.booking.com Sign up here 07