3 Ways to Get More Bookings on Expedia & Booking.com
Vacation rental property managers who want to get more bookings on Expedia and Booking.com have numerous different strategies at their disposal. Unfortunately, though, many of these tools get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day responsibilities as property managers juggle time crunches, pandemic concerns, and staff shortages that are affecting the entire hospitality industry.
But getting more bookings on Expedia and Booking.com doesn’t have to be complicated.
Here are three easy-to-implement strategies you can start today to grow your business, stand out from the competition, and ultimately, increase conversions on two of the largest OTAs in the world.
1. Clustering Properties on Expedia & Booking.com
Clustering is a tool that allows you to combine multiple units under one listing. When you cluster, that one listing benefits from multiple-units availability—as well as reviews and conversion.
That sounds pretty great, right? Well, here’s the catch: clustering is only available on Expedia and Booking.com.
Any property managers with units that share an address can cluster, but the tool is exclusive to those two channels. It’s absolutely worth implementing, too: on average, VacayHome Connect has seen a 40% booking increase for property managers who cluster. Even better, some properties have experienced up to a seven-fold increase in production. On our easy-to-use platform, you can cluster properties with a simple click.
2. The Expedia Group Network
In 2021, Expedia Group was responsible for $4.24 billion of global travel.
It goes without saying, but the upside of listing on Expedia is monumental—especially when you have access to the entire network. VacayHome Connect helps property managers list on Egencia (corporate travel), Expedia Rewards, and Amex Travel; our Expedia connection also includes loyalty programs such as Chase Credit Card, as well as 550+ airlines and 15,000+ rental car agencies.
Egencia Corporate Travel: VacayHome Connect provides access to Egencia’s corporate travel network. Why is that important? Because corporate travelers are truly “golden guests” of the industry: they spend more than average travelers, they cancel less, and they stay longer.
Expedia Rewards: More than 100 million users are part of Expedia Group’s loyalty programs, which allow members to collect points and unlock special perks on major channels including Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Hotels.com. VacayHome Connect bridges the gap between property managers and those tens of millions of travelers: we convert loyalty points to cash so Expedia users can book your properties.
Expedia Packages: Roughly one-third to half of our bookings are through packages and the Expedia Affiliate Network. These bundled deals are extremely popular—not to mention they are a natural fit for vacation rentals and property managers who want to package accommodations with other perks, such as flights and car rentals.
It’s pretty simple: once an Expedia guest books a flight or car rental, a pop-up appears in their shopping cart. Your units show up there as available to rent, allowing for a “packaged deal” to occur. Other distribution platforms (ahem, our competitors) do not offer this type of integration, but you can tap into this massive market today through VacayHome Connect.
3. Promotions & Merchandising
Channel promotions and merchandising opportunities are powerful tools designed to help you generate short-term revenue and secure steady future bookings. As it turns out, Expedia and Booking.com offer some of the best promotions in the industry that aren’t available on other OTAs. VacayHome Connect can not only implement these opportunities for you, but we can also personalize your promotional efforts based on your business’s needs and goals.
Visibility Boosters: Roughly 75% of click traffic goes to the first 15 spots in search results, so where your listings rank is absolutely critical to your success. Expedia’s Accelerator and Booking.com’s Visibility Boosters are designed to maximize your visibility and elevate your listings’ placement in search results.
Our personalized promotional campaigns not only increase your rank in search results, but they’re also customizable with blackout dates and can be targeted by country and region. Boosters can also be utilized to improve your listings’ search position for select days, meaning your listings will show up higher in traveler search results.
- Promotions: Your discounted rates are fully customizable according to your business needs. Expedia and Booking.com
allow blackout dates, booking windows that target specific travelers (such as early bookers, last-minute bookers, and mobile users), and much more. When you implement these promotions through VacayHome Connect, we’ll help you increase bookings and convert more efficiently, build long-term value for future bookings, capitalize on seasonality, and encourage longer lengths of stay.
- Campaigns: Campaigns pack mega marketing power. When you opt-in, your properties receive special placement in search results, email marketing, banner advertising, and additional promotion filters. On Expedia and Booking.com, your participation in campaigns can also include special listing badges and supplementary marketing juice from the channels themselves (such as pay-per-click promotions).
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Ready to get more bookings on Expedia and Booking.com? Give us a call at (847)-784-9990 or click the link below to learn more.