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Four Ways to Thrive in the Global Vacation Rental Market

The vacation rental market is moving at record speed. As the industry continues to mature and evolve amidst many challenges, keeping in pace with the latest trends and needs is critical.

Here are four ways to position your company for success and thrive in the vacation rental market:

1. Maintain scalability during property acquisitions

One great way to grow your business is through the acquisition of new properties. Several multi-destination vacation rental management companies are raising funds and attempting to consolidate supply into managed brands.

But the vacation rental industry is difficult to scale. Maintaining a high level of quality is challenging while acquiring new properties. Scaling services for successful vacation rental management has not been perfected, and opportunities for disruption continue to exist in developing multi-destination processes that decrease expenses, maintain quality and encourage guest loyalty.

Another challenge is convincing new owners of the unique company value while attempting to set expectations for what the management will look like if they are signed. Vacation rental managers need to qualify the owner as the type of client that will promote growth, and communicating the right value proposition to the property owners is key. Juggling multiple systems to maintain each property can inhibit the growth pace. An all-in-one solution resolves scalability and assists in property acquisitions.

2. Build a brand

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have created a booking path that mirrors hotels, albeit one notable exception: OTAs still prominently display the hotel brand but not the vacation rental management company name. Since property management companies don’t always have control over the furniture, location, and amenities at properties, building a true brand experience can present significant challenges.

A channel manager that ties all the pieces together through standardization and synchronization across third-party websites and portals provides a seamless guest experience and promotes brand building. Merging and managing all online bookings and inquiries in one universal reservation platform offers uniformity and a direct connection of the brand with the traveler.

3. Simplify and safeguard payments

The vacation rental industry has historically lacked a complete solution for global payments. Many existing payment processing solutions are fragmented and create complexities in reconciling information and chargebacks.

Also, the travel industry remains one of the high-risk underwriting profiles for payments companies. It is difficult for short-term rental companies to setup a merchant account because most processors requiring prior credit card-issuing experience, and they struggle when trying to reconcile information and dispute chargebacks.

KigoPay empowers verified property managers with state-of-the-art payments and real-time guest screening technology that ensures every booking is secure. KigoPay processes multi-currency transactions quickly and safely from one centralized location, making it easier to monitor the flow of funds from different countries.

4. Control and elevate the guest experience

Guests generally expect a level of service similar or superior to that of a hotel. Having a hospitality mindset can elevate the vacation rental guest experience and ultimately the success of your business.

Guests who rent apartments are often frustrated by the lack of service they get, because many serviced apartment owners and managers don’t realize they’ve entered the hospitality world. Guest communication is more important than ever and allows property managers to create an elevated guest experience that drives repeat bookings.

Property managers need to develop basic standards of guest memorable experience for their brand and control the whole process end-to-end. The mobile portal in Kigo Marketplace allows property managers to send greetings, travel details, updates and more, providing guests with the convenience and security they want. It also gives property managers the ability to upsell, extend stays and provide first-rate online hospitality.

Learn how Kigo Marketplace can make it possible for vacation rental businesses to thrive in the global market.

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