UK government put into effect a policy regarding VAT charges for non-refundable deposits of canceled or no-show bookings on 1st March 2019. This came as a surprise to many short-term rental managers, affecting their accounting and revenue-related calculations. But VAT and Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme (TOMS) complexities should not deter you from tracking the tax rules of the hospitality sector. Besides, Brexit and the UK withdrawal from the EU make TOMS not applicable anymore in the UK thereafter. So one needs to consider all these factors when devising a sensible approach to tax accounting.
How have non-refundable deposits been treated to date?
HMRC used to follow a policy of exempting vacation rental businesses from paying VAT on non-refundable deposits received through canceled or no-show bookings. This exemption was justified by the fact that there was no direct connection between the non-refundable deposit and the supply of the items and services provided for the guests.
How are canceled bookings and no-shows to be treated going forward?
An article dated January 4th 2019 on the BDO UK website states:
“HMRC has confirmed a new policy that VAT remains due on a deposit, even if the customer does not use the goods or services for which it was paid”.
So this means that as a vacation rental manager, in case of cancelled or no-show bookings, you will now have to pay VAT on non-refundable deposits. The article goes on to say that the change will primarily affect the hospitality industry,
“which will soon be unable to recover VAT charged on cancellation or ‘no show’ charges…”
How does VAT on cancellations and no-shows affect my vacation rental business operations?
UK governments implemented the VAT on cancellations and No-shows on 1st March 2019. Most noteworthy, if you have not considered this new VAT policy, be sure to take it into account in your business plan.
1. First of all, review your cancellation and no-show policy, and check its terms and conditions.
2. Also, ask your accountant or VAT counselor for advice on how to change your accounting procedures accordingly. Most probably you will need to include non-refundable invoices from canceled bookings in your accounting system or software.
How can I minimise the disruption on my business?
Each time you face a new VAT policy, you need to review the way you operate your vacation rental business. Hence, this time HMRC’s new policy regarding charging VAT for non-refundable deposits of canceled or no-show bookings is going to add to your accounting workload. From now on, you will have to include the invoices for those types of bookings in your VAT declaration.
Luckily there are solutions available. While drawing up invoices is time-consuming work, accounting software such as Xero is a handy solution to the problem. You find it probably even more advantageous to entrust the operation of your short term rentals. You need an all-in-one channel manager. A channel which integrates with an online accounting program to make your tax life hassle-free. Zeevou is an easy-to-use online platform that automates hospitality management. At the time of booking, Zeevou generates a beautifully designed draft invoice for every customer. Even if the guests do not use the services you provide for them, you have the invoice in your database. If knowing more about how Zeevou can help hosts seems interesting to you, please click on this link.
Airbnb hosts are starting to be told that they can employ custom URLs as Superhosts. Airbnb enables eligible hosts to take advantage of this opportunity to create an airbnb custom URL for each of their listings. However, the airbnb Superhost can create only one URL per listing and it is valid only so long as their Airbnb account is active. This also means that airbnb can remove it anytime they decide to do it.
Therefore, Airbnb’s long listing URLs that look like anonymous addresses, and do not make any impression on guests, will eventually be replaceable by ones using the airbnb.com/yourlistingname format, unless someone else has already used that particular name. This functionality was supposed to be released in the fall of 2018. As a matter of fact, that never happened, and Airbnb has still not announced an exact date. According to hosts, emails from Airbnb claim that the final release is coming soon and you can use airbnb custom URL.
Setting up your own custom URL Steps
Setting up your own custom URL is relatively easy. Before starting the process, bear in mind that you are eligible to create only one Airbnb URL per listing. So if you have three listings, you have to make sure you choose three URLs which direct people to each listing you host.
On every listing page, you will find the following items: Amenities, Accessibility features, Title & Description, and Custom Link.
Click on Custom Link and then click on “type your link”, shown in a different color similar to the picture below. Please be aware that you only get to do this once for each listing, so you should make sure to read the terms and conditions of Airbnb Custom URL Policies in detail first.
Alternatively, you might receive a message on your dashboard stating: Promote Listing by a Custom URL. In this case the message will guide you through the steps.
Are Airbnb’s Custom URLs of any use?
What are the pros and cons of using Airbnb’s custom URL? Does an Airbnb’s custom URL improve your SEO?
The advocates of Airbnb’s custom URL say that it will help your listings rank higher. It looks much nicer to have a short and memorable link that can be printed on your business card. you can use it to promote your listing and direct more guests to it.
Opponents of Airbnb’s custom URL criticise some of its features. First of all, the opportunity seems to be unreliable. The existence of this link depends on Airbnb policies; which means it can be suspended if the host loses the Superhost status, or if, for any reason, Airbnb decides to discontinue it. Similar problems have been experienced by entrepreneurs setting up a business through Facebook. Secondly, the opportunity does not benefit all Airbnb hosts. Getting Airbnb’s custom URL is exclusive to Superhosts on Airbnb. While some plus members of Airbnb already have a custom URL, the others have to wait for the new announcement.
Finally, the custom URL does not affect ranking on search engines. When someone clicks on a custom URL, they are simply redirected to your Airbnb listing’s main URL. There are many tutorials on setting up a domain name for your Airbnb listing, which claim to give a personalised character to your vacation rental business and you can google to find also how Airbnb URL Shortener works, but at the end of the day these benefit Airbnb to grow.
And in reality, that’s all it does. The main advantage of using a custom URL seems to be the fact that you get a memorable link that you can share with family, friends, and regular guests. If you are looking for a memorable URL to spread around and help Airbnb strengthen their position in the marketplace and earn more in commissions, this seems to be a great way to go!
However, you may wish to consider setting up your own website to increase direct bookings of your vacation rental business instead. In this way, you will be able to charge your guests more and at the same time offer them a discount, as there’s no middle man that needs a share of the pie!
Increase your Direct Bookings.
A number of channel managers and property management systems for vacation rentals and serviced apartments also offer booking engines. Zeevou is an easy to use online platform that automates hospitality management. One of its aims is to decrease hosts’ dependency on OTAs and listing sites by driving direct bookings. Vacation rental managers setting their website up through Zeevou can use their own domain. The rich SEO tools offered help maximise the chances of showing up on top of search results. Zeevou creates a beautiful, SEO-friendly, modern website which expands visibility and increases the hosts’ profits. If you are interested in knowing more about how Zeevou can help hosts, please click on this link.
Are you wondering how to collect guest email addresses? Why bother? You can message them directly through the app of the site they booked through, right? Not quite. Keep reading.
The Importance of Collecting Guest Email Addresses
Ping – a new booking has come in through Airbnb. We all love that sound. Payment taken care of. Sit back and relax until arrival date. Airbnb sorts it all out for us. How nice. Or maybe not quite? Have you ever wondered why Airbnb conceals as much as possible in way of contact details of your guests? You’re surely aware that all you get sent is a forwarding e-mail address that usually ends in “@guest.airbnb.com”. Booking.com adopts a similar trick.
While this is all done under the guise of safety and preserving anonymity, there’s probably an underlying reason. And that is the power of data. If the booking site keeps your guests’ contact details to themselves, they’re effectively not your guests. The guests will, very likely, just book through the booking site again, even if they are looking to stay at your property as a repeat guest. If you are trying to increase your direct bookings, it is imperative to start thinking about how to collect your guests’ email addresses. Once you decide to do so, the next step will be to try and automate this, so that it does not take up any of your precious time!
How to Build Up your Marketing List
OK, great. we could convince you. You’re going to take a deep breath and have a nice chat with every guest. when you go to check them in with a Meet & Greet. You could ask where they are coming from. Or perhaps, what they’re in town for, and, once you’ve made friends, what their contact details are. Except for – hang on – what if you’re a single bloke and it’s a young lady staying? That might not go down too well. And, what’s more, you actually let people check-in by themselves, so doing a Meet & Greet just for this seems like a lot of extra work…
Well, perhaps it’s best to contact them before arrival, or even at the time of booking, and just ask them for their contact details upright to collect guest email addresses. But how are you going to keep track of it all? Perhaps you could use a spreadsheet and record them there. Alternatively, you could use a Google Form and send the link out in the booking confirmation email. Why not be even smarter and sign up for a free Hubspot account so you can arrange things even more neatly in there? That way you’ll be able to easily follow up with your customers in the future. But, hang on, that makes it the third form that your guests have to fill in! Plus, Hubspot won’t tell you where or when they stayed, or how much they paid, or whether they’ll be coming back again!
Automating the Collection of Guest Email Addresses
So, is there a neat solution? The answer is, it depends on whether your channel manager or PMS can handle this for you. For example, Zeevou Book‘s unique 5-Step Booking Confirmation Process fully automates the collection of guests’ email addresses. Zeevou identifies hidden email addresses of guests in OTAs websites. While it uses the forwarding address to send the guest an initial email, the forwarding address is hidden from the guest when they are shown the details that you hold for them. There is an obligation in Zeevou for guests to provide you with their real e-mail address. It helps you to update your record. To help ensure compliance with GDPR requirements, Zeevou also enables you to collect consent for future marketing from guests, allowing them to unsubscribe from any marketing emails sent through Zeevou.
To find out more about Zeevou’s features, you can request a Free Demo by clicking here.
Have you recently started a hospitality business or are thinking of getting into serviced accommodation in the near future? No matter how large or small your vacation rental business, you may still be doing things manually or linking channel calendars up to each other via iCal. You may have heard of channel managers or PMSes. However, you may not be sure about why they are needed. Perhaps you’ve already done your research, but now are left with one burning question. At what point do I need a channel manager? Do I get one before starting my business? If I’m running one unit, do I wait until I have 5? Hopefully the points raised in this article will help you make up your mind.
What is a channel manager or PMS and why do I need one?
In brief, they are pieces of software which, either on their own or in conjunction with each other, allow you to automate parts of your business. They help you distribute your rates and availability to multiple OTAs or listings sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com. Some of them, like Zeevou, also provide you with a website for direct bookings and a whole host of other useful features.
Do I need a channel manager?
If you are serious about running a successful hospitality business, the question is probably not whether or not your need a channel manager, but at what stage you need one. We frequently get asked this question by people who are just starting off or who are only managing a handful of units. Of course, it is possible to do without one. Perhaps, you could even be led into thinking that you can just save the amount it would cost you each month to pay for one.
Once you start reseraching channel managers, it will soon become clear that at some point or other you probably want to start using one, the question is when. It might seem a good idea to minimise your costs as you start off and leave signing up with one until further down the line, however both in the short run and in the long run, that could end up costing you a lot more.
At what point do I need a channel manager?
We recommend you sign up for a channel manager from the word go. Yes, you can manage without one. However, there are a few reasons why you should not wait before you choose one:
1. If not now, when?
When are you going to draw the line and convince yourself to invest in your business? It’s likely to be one of the smallest investments you make, but could be one of the most rewarding ones if done right. The argument that you’ve only got one apartment doesn’t stand. Why is 2 any different than one? Or 3 any different to 2? Does anything change at 5, 10, 50, or 100? The only time there’s a marked change is when you go from 0 to 1! And if you’re thinking that it will be worth your while whenever you need a VA and can save on your VA costs by getting a software, then you’re suggesting that your time is worth less than that of a VA up to that point, which is most definitely not the case.
2. Get direct bookings from the start.
One of the aspects of your business that you need to pay sufficient attention to is getting direct bookings. Many channel managers will provide you a booking widget to add to your own website, some will even provide you a full website with an integrated booking engine. This means you’ll be able to save on commission fees. It will also help you get on the ladder of search engines immediately. The savings can far outweigh the cost of your channel manager. Make sure to ask the channel managers or PMSes that you are considering how good their direct booking website actually is. Is it SEO optimised? Does it have rich snippets built in? Can you specify your own keywords and other meta data? Are you able to run a blog off it? How about adding custom pages?
3. Keep your data clean.
The other thing that your channel manager or central reservation system (CRS) is likely to become, is your main database. It will containt all your guest data and contact information. You want to make sure that you have all your booking data in one system too. Doing so will allow you to run year-on-year reports in the future to analyse trends in your business. At the same time, you want to make sure that the channel manager you go with automates the collection of guests’ real email addresses. This will enable you to start building up your very own direct email marketing list from the word go. Check that the channel manager can also take care of GDPR opt-in/unsubscribe requirements for you.
Data migration between channel managers is extremely difficult as most providers only allow you to export a very limited amount of information if you’re trying to leave them. Hence, it is even more important to pay great attention to choosing who you decide to go with from the start. This will ensure that you can build your business on a safe base. It will give you confidence that the information that you are gathering is systematised and won’t be lost in the long-run.
How do I decide which provider is the right one for me?
If you’ve decided to start using a hospitality management software, make sure to look into every claim in detail. This way you can ensure that it does what it says on the tin the way you want it to. Check their full feature list. Try to find out how dynamic they are in releasing new features and keeping up with the times.
Figure out how much time using one is going to save you. Calculate how much you are going to be able to save in OTA commissions. Finally, look at their pricing. See if it makes sense as good value per money, rather than absolute cost. Make sure you get yourself the best channel manager out there for your needs. You don’t want to regret it further down the line! (For a full blog post on what the difference is between a PMS and a channel manager, and how to choose one, click here.)
Should you need any help in choosing a channel manager that suits your needs, drop us a line and a member of our team will be happy to guide you.
1. Cash is King but why not to use someone else’s money instead and grow Grow your serviced accommodation business.
As the saying goes, “Cash is King”. If your serviced accommodation business runs out of cash you can’t pay your costs , wages or bills and can’t grow youe services business accomodation, it won’t be long before you have to stop trading. When it comes to buying the goods and equipment your business needs to operate. some people still work under the policy of “if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it”, which is one way of doing things.
Another school of thought is this – why would you spend your cash reserves on refurbishing your property, when :
a)the goods depreciate rapidly, meaning the value of your assets reduces the second you pay for them.
b) you can use someone else’s money instead.
Yes you do have to pay interest on the money you borrow, but you will keep hold of your cash which you can use to invest in other parts of your business that are going to give you a bigger return. you will have a pot of valuable cash in case of any slow periods or for a rainy day.
Here’s how it works in practice and grow your serviced accommodation business – you could either spend £50k of your cash refurbishing a property paying for furniture, kitchen goods, carpets and soft furnishings; OR you could put the refurbishment on a 5 year finance agreement, such as a Lease, Hire Purchase which isn’t secured against the property, and use the £50k cash as a deposit to buy another property with, meaning you would then double your income.
How long would you have to wait for a second property by taking the profits from just having one? Having the ability to use a separate finance facility which is not linked to the property or its mortgage, allows you to free up the cash you would have spent fitting it out, otherwise.
2. Try Alternatives and grow your serviced accommodation business.
In the last 20 years, there has been a gradual rise in the “Alternative” finance market. You may see the occasional TV advert or Facebook post but in general most of the lenders behind this movement have chosen to go under the radar. They don’t advertise in the news, radio or on TV, and they don’t spend large amount marketing on social media on the internet. This is because they have a ready-made group of people to bring business to them – Brokers.
And so why would they spend money on advertising when they don’t need to? Brokers are not directly employed by the lenders – they don’t need to have an employment contract and don’t need to be paid a pension. More and more lenders have come into the finance market in recent times and their first port of call is to announce their arrival to the broker market as they realise the benefit a broker can bring to a transaction.
They can pre-screen everything, collect the right information and deal with the customer every step of the way, whilst the lender sits and waits for all the correct information to arrive on their desk so they can come to a decision on whether to lend or not, and pay out the cash to the relevant parties, if they have given an approval.
Since the financial crisis of 2008/9, we have seen the major High Street banks pull back from lending to Small to Medium Sized Businesses (SME’s) in the UK. In some cases they are paying Challenger Banks to take customers of their hands – perhaps they became too big? There was too much risk lending to all of these SME’s for low-value assets, and for unsecured loans.
In many cases, the High Street Banks are now taking a month to come back with an answer or initial feedback on a loan application before asking for more information and coming back in another few weeks with a decline or an acceptance with onerous conditions, which is basically the Bank saying it’s a decline but they’ll do the finance if you accept something crazy – it’s a tactic used to let businesses down gently without saying a direct “No”.
Quite often the acceptance conditions make the finance “approval” completely untenable. I know this through first-hand experience, as many of my customers have been through exactly that experience. And in the main, I have benefitted from the High Street Bank’s lack of appetite with these clients. They are happy lending against Cars and Machinery, which have a decent resale value, but anything outside of that is not given much of a chance.
In the Alternative finance market there a number of specialist lenders that will finance low-value assets. They are willing to take the risk as there is a large market out there for customers looking to finance furniture, IT equipment, software, and the entire costs of a refurbishment/ fit-outs of a business premises.
The focus moves away from the asset that’s being financed, to the strength of the customer lending the money and their ability to repay the loan. This means an established SME trading for 3 years or more can get funding at reasonable rates, not too distant from the banks rates, with a decision in roughly 1 working day. That’s a far cry from the month you wait with a bank. And what’s more is the broker doesn’t charge a fee to the Business borrowing the money – we take our fee from the Lender. So it’s a win-win-win for everyone. The lender gets the loan, the broker gets paid for sourcing the loan at the best rates possible, and more importantly, the business / customer gets the finance for the refurbishment and keeps hold of its cash.
This offering can also be extended to Start-Up companies and let them grow their serviced accommodation business – those business trading between 0 and 3 year. Once you have filed 2 sets of Annual Accounts at Companies House it is generally considered that you are no longer a start-up business, in the eyes of the underwriters at least. There are however some differences – interest rates for start-ups are higher because of the perceived extra risk to lend to them – there is no trading history and therefore no historic data to base a finance decision on.
On top of this, the lenders will always ask for Personal Guarantees from the Directors, and they will need to be home-owners, to show there is some wealth sat behind them. As mentioned before, the finance is not secured against a property so just because they want the Directors to be homeowners, there is no direct link between the refurbishment finance and the Director’s properties, on the Personal Guarantee. All it states is this – should the business not be able to make the finance payments for whatever reason, the Directors will cover them with their own wealth.
The process to get a decision on the finance is a straight forward one. At first we provide our clients with a quote that can have as many options as they want – Lease, Hire Purchase or Unsecured Loan; anything up to 5 years. The goods being financed can be anything you buy for your business. If you want to go ahead and grow your serviced accommodation business, we ask for some basic financial information – generally a full set of Annual Accounts and some up-to date trading figures for the current trading year, if available.
If it’s a new start business, we will want a business plan with financial projections and maybe some bank statements. We will then write our proposal our present it to the underwriters with the best interest rates – we will always go to the lender with the lowest rates, first. If we get a decline, we can go to another lender, if it’s approved we can then write the finance agreement for you to sign. Then we will get an invoice from the supplier of the refurbishment goods – these invoices will only be paid with your authority.
The day they are paid your monthly payments begin. If it’s an unsecured loan, the cash will go directly to your business account and you will pay the suppliers yourself – but remember Unsecured Loans will always require Personal Guarantees from the Directors; whereas Lease & Hire Purchase generally don’t. This will all come down to each individual case and the financial strength of your business, and the view of the Underwriters, but it’s not a pre-requisite with a HP or Lease, like it is with an Unsecured business loan.
If you would like to discuss financing the
refurbishment of your Serviced Accommodation, Property Developments, Hotels,
Offices, Pub, Café, Restaurant or any other types of business, feel free to get
in touch. We have a panel of over 70 lenders to finance all types of equipment,
and another panel of over 130 lenders for all forms of Property Finance.
What are the Booking.com Bidding Restrictions that have been removed?
You may have received an email by Booking.com over the last few days. The subject line reads “URGENT | Updated GDT”. It advises that they have now removed their Bidding Restrictions. If you have been left wondering what they are, you’re not alone! So what are these Booking.com Bidding Restrictions and why should you worry about them?
What did the email say?
The image above shows the full wording of the email. The key paragraph is the one below.
1. Remove the Bidding Restrictions from our agreement with you. This means that you are free to bid on Booking.com via online search engines if you wish to, which is in line with the recent EU-ruling on this topic. The removal will apply to all accommodations.
“URGENT | Updated GDT” email by Booking.com dated July 2019 advising removal of Bidding Restrictions
What does it all mean?
Many hosts seem to have been left perplexed by this email. Does it require them to do something? Well, the answer is yes! – that is, if you want to increase your direct bookings! To find out more about what it means exactly, our team at Zeevou contacted Booking.com. While as a channel manager we are one of their Premier Connectivity Partners, it’s not always clear even to us what their changes mean! Unsuprisingly, it was excruciatingly difficult to get any further details from them. What we did manage to ascertain is the fact that while this all started due to EU laws, the change is being rolled our worldwide and will be effective as of today as Booking.com’s policy in any country around the globe.
What’s changing and why?
They were vague on which piece of EU legislation caused the change. We ended up having to call multiple times and talk to various representatives and account managers. Everyone kept giving conflicting information. To conclude, it turned out that there used to be a restriction which meant you were not allowed to bid for Booking.com’s name on paid search results on search engines such as Google. This restriction has now been lifted.
Restrictions on keyword bidding on SEO, SEM and Paid Search have been removed. Each Partner is now free to bid on any search term on online search engines. This includes the freedom to bid on “Booking.com” for its own web marketing advertising.
In practice, this means that partners can: – bid on “Booking.com” or other trade-mark protected words; or – bid on generic search terms (for example, bid on “hotels in London” on Google).
Follow-up email received from Booking.com after further enquiries
Hence, if you carefully set things up, you now stand a chance to show up higher than Booking.com while using their own name or a generic name as a keyword for your ad. What’s better, according to Google’s guidance, the search result ranking is not all about how much you’re prepared to pay.
The most important thing to remember is that even if your competition bids higher than you, you can still win a higher position — at a lower price — with highly relevant keywords and ads.
So, what’s next? With the changes that Google is introducing to Google Hotel Ads moving over to Google Ads, this is now a space that you should really be giving adequate attention to.
We suggest it’s time to get your marketing skills brushed up, and start bidding on generic search terms as well as considering doing so on Booking.com’s for your area! If you need help in figuring out exactly what to do, take a look at the Boostly Academy – the best way for a hospitality owner to improve their #BookDirect marketing and increase their occupancy levels.
Wondering how to increase your occupancy levels using Google?
Increasing your occupancy levels can be given a boost if you learn how to use Google to your advantage. Besides organic SEO, Google can help you increase occupancy levels in other ways. Continue reading below to find out how.
Google My Business Listings are a fantastic tool for driving more business to your SA property. They act as the front window for your business on Google. Aside from the information you put in, they also display reviews and allow guests to book directly from the search engine.
If you haven’t already claimed your Google My Business listing, SEO+ have a great article about how you can do this. Once you’ve done that, these are the steps you can take to optimise it so it works perfectly for your business.
Make sure information is up to date on Google My Business to help increase your occupancy levels
Fuel Travel mentioned in their blog on the topic that your Google My Business Listing acts like a virtual storefront. This is your opportunity to sell your business to future guests. You therefore have to keep all of your information accurate. If you already have a listing, check from time to time that all of the information on it is accurate. It can be easy to forget any minor changes that might need to be made throughout the process of owning a business. Your Google My Business Listing should be as up to date as the sign outside of your property.
This information should also be enticing. Odd Dog Media highlight the importance of having an engaging business description. It should have all the important information from your business – but have a little fun with it. This is your chance to set the tone for your business. It’s the first thing that many potential guests will see, so let them know exactly what your business is about. Keep your writing appropriate to the kind of guest you want to attract.
Use the booking button
This feature is highlighted by Moz, who suggest this is of utmost importance for hospitality businesses. By including a booking button, guests won’t even need to leave Google to book a stay at your property. With many potential bookers these days seeking to secure their accommodation as quickly as possible, this adds another level of convenience and makes it easier for them to simply book it on the spot.
You will need to make sure you have a scheduling platform that is compatible with Google. They have provided a handy list of these platforms. There’s also a list of platforms they will be working with soon, so if you are already with one of these you can just wait it out a little bit. The Google My Business Listing will draw all of the pricing, dates and room information from these platforms, so make sure that information is also up to date.
Get more reviews on Google
With Google set to become the largest platform for finding reviews, you should already be encouraging guests to leave them there anyway. It will also help boost your Google My Business Listing and thus help you in increasing your occupancy levels using Google. Drive Traffic suggest that you can include a link to your review page in emails you send to the guests after their stay. It could also be a good idea to include a handy review button on newsletters. This will remind any previous guests that have not already posted reviews.
Reputation Loop also mention Google’s feature where you can respond to guest reviews. This allows you to interact with customers after they have left you a review. If it is a very good review, a simple thank you will go a long way to show customers you care. For negative reviews, pick out any of the issues they have and make it clear that you are working to fix them. This shows future customers that you are invested in their experience. It is also great for remarketing, as guests are more likely to return to businesses they’ve had positive experiences with.
Including great photos helps in increasing occupancy levels using Google
As mentioned by Ice Portal, visuals are probably the most important content you need to consider. These will be the first thing potential guests will notice. Keep the images on your Google My Business Listing up to date and high quality. If your photography skills aren’t the best, bringing a professional in is one of the best investments you can make. You want them to be eye catching, but also to show off how great your property is.
Google have quite precise specifications for images on the platform, and Travel Tripper have a good guide for this. They also emphasise the three main photos your business needs to have – a profile photo, cover photo and logo photo. Your profile photo and cover photo are the most important. Make sure the photo that best shows off your property is the profile photo. Cover photos are great for wider shots where you want to take in a large space, such as a lobby or outdoor area. The logo needs to be square so it fits in perfectly with Google’s platform.
Keep everything consistent to help Google increase your occupancy levels
Not only should your information be accurate, but it should be consistent across all the platforms you use. Raj Nijjer highlights the importance of having the information be the same on directories and search engines on Search Engine Watch. This prevents your potential guests from being confused as to what is accurate and boosts your rankings.
Pick A Web state that the most important step to ensure this is to make sure your NAP data matches the data on your website. NAP stands for name, address and phone number. These are three details most important to guests, as well as the information Google algorithms take into account when promoting your Google My Business Listing. Google takes into account all of the information from your business across the web – not just what you enter. Updating everything makes sure this remains correct on your listing. If you run multiple properties under the same business name, make sure your website has addresses and phone numbers for all of them.
It can’t be said enough – this listing is your virtual storefront. You should be performing regular maintenance on your online presence, so make sure to add this to your routine. By keeping the information accurate, reviews positive and images enticing you will start to notice a significant improvement in bookings. This is one of the easiest ways to pull your business away from relying on OTAs.
I hope you have enjoyed this guest blog for Zeevou about ways of increasing your occupancy levels using Google. If you want to come and find out more about Boostly, then head over to boostly.co.uk.
To follow my journey, I record daily vlogs on my Instagram account where I show you how you can increase your direct bookings and document how I am taking on the Online Travel Agents on a daily basis. Follow here
Which 5 sites bring the most bookings is a question that is often asked and discussed within hospitality circles. Any hospitality owner will be aware of the importance of driving their direct bookings. At the same time, it is common knowledge that it is not sufficient to only count on them. Almost no short term accommodation provider can survive without advertising their offering on Online Travel Aggregators (OTAs).
The detailed breakdown of actual figures depends heavily on where you are located and who your target market is. However, below is a rough guide as to which sites will get you the largest number of bookings flowing through (ranked alphabetically rather than in order of importance):
1. Agoda
Agoda is Asia’s largest online travel agency, so it’s sure to bring you some good bookings. The number of bookings you receive may not be as high as some of the others on this list. However, its customers generally seem to be happy to pay high price tags for properties that they like. Hopefully this will land you the odd high-value booking!
Airbnb is a very large listing site based in the USA. It started off as Airbed And Breakfast (the idea being that you could rent out spare rooms in your home to travellers. The site has quickly grown to become one of the largest listing sites for entire homes. It is very popular with tourists and travellers. More recently, Airbnb has been attempting to cater to business guests. It has also launched Airbnb Plus, a hand-picked list of curated homes.
Booking.com is a relatively young company, and it has grown aggressively over the past few years and is now the leading booking site for hotels and alternative accommodation providers such as holiday homes, vacation rentals and serviced apartments in Europe. Most channel managers and property management systems link to Booking.com. It can bring a large amount of bookings with a healthy mix of leisure and corporate customers.
List your property on Booking.com by clicking here and get 5 commission-free bookings!
4. Ctrip
Ctrip is probably the least well-known out of this list of sites. It is China’s largest online travel agency, so if you list on here make sure to try and cater to things that Chinese guests may find appealing. Top tips include providing slippers and pot noodles. Make sure to take a close-up photo of a pot noodle and add it to your listing. If you’re ready to tackle this massive market and are up for a challenge in how to attract a larger number of guests, you want to look into this.
Expedia is a massive group that owns dozens of other sites, and distributes your inventory across all of them. This site can help you attract a fair amount of corporate clients. However, as there are often many systems involved in the distribution of inventory and retrieval of bookings, it is not always easy to make contact with the guest booking the accommodation ahead of time, so if there is no reception at the property, you need to spend some more time and energy in trying to make contact with the guest through Expedia once you get a booking.
Note: Some of the above sites manage payments and security deposits for hosts, others manage them partly or not at all. If you wish to automate the distribution of your rates and availability, retrieval of bookings and processing of payments, security deposits, communications, and guest vetting, you may wish to take a look at Zeevou Book‘s 5-Step Booking Confirmation Process.
Which 5 Sites Bring The Most Bookings? Is Yours One Of Them?
In this article we have been talking about 5 OTAs and large listing sites where you should be advertising your properties. This will help you increase your occupancy levels for your short term rental. However, the number one site that you should be focusing on is your own website. Promoting this correctly will help you drive direct, commission-free bookings. Many softwares for Serviced Accommodation operators or Guesthouse/B&B owners will automatically generate a website for you (for example, take a look at Zeevou Show).
Always Book Direct
However, not every provider will give you a website that is good enough to rank highly on search engines such as Google. Moreover, it will not necessarily provide a good booking engine. You should be looking for one that allows you to offer promotions or voucher codes for direct bookings. You may be unhappy with what your channel manager or property management system currently has on offer. If this is the case, take a look at the Boostly Websites. Furthermore, Boostly allows you to easily set up your own #bookdirect website which will attract the attention of bots and humans alike. Finally, it allows you to link that up to your booking engine to convert interested visitors to your site into paying guests.
NB: If you’re looking for a hands-off solution, then you may wish to enquire about the Boostly Done For You Websites. If you’d like to find out more about this service, which includes a free marketing review, fill in this form and a member of Boostly will reach out to book in the job and explain the process.
