Dear Rental Scale-Up member, TEST, I’ve now been through Airbnb, Booking, and Vrbo’s guidelines and ticked the relevant boxes in their respective dashboards and extranet. Have you? I am still not sure how they will enforce or control whatever I have put there. Vrbo and Booking’s approaches are similar: Here are some guidelines, let us know which ones of these you are following. Airbnb is more ambitious, with a 5-step protocol (and a 38-page long cleaning handbook) that you have to commit to.Will you be following these instructions? Please let me know either way, as I’d like to insert quotes from you into my next article on the topic. Just hit reply and tell me what you think of Airbnb, Booking, and Vrbo’s cleaning protocols, information collection, and guidelines enforcement.

THIS WEEK’S EXCLUSIVE ARTICLES ON RENTAL SCALE-UP

We passed the Airbnb cleaning protocol test for you: Discover the 5-step protocol, the 38-page cleaning handbook, and the final quiz On June 7, Airbnb rolled out its Cleaning Commitment: More educational content, a 38-page cleaning handbook, an 18-page starter guide, and ab online quiz about this Enhanced Cleaning Protocol.Airbnb hosts who learn about the 5-step protocol (Prepare, Clean, Sanitize, Check, and Reset) and complete the quiz are then able to commit to the cleaning protocol. Hosts who do so will get a special cleaning highlight on their listing page and will be able to display a “Committed to clean” sign at their property. READ MORE

Vrbo and HomeAway enforce Mandatory Price Consistency for All Property Managers This is NOT about price parity!If you are listing your properties on Vrbo and its sister sites, you may have received a communication stating that starting 31st August 2020, it will be mandatory for all property managers to be Price Consistent on Vrbo / HomeAway. What does it mean? Who is this message addressed to? Should you care? How to set up price consistency on Vrbo? What happens if you do not act? READ MORE

Booking.com rolls out Healthy, Safety, and Cleaning guidelines and mentions on property pagesBooking.com is now allowing its partners to indicate on their listings which health and safety, physical distancing, and food safety measures they have taken. The company has also released its safety and cleaning guidelines to help hotels and vacation rentals keep their property safe, and their staff and guests healthy and protected. These actions mark the platform’s most significant effort so far to help its partners show what they are doing to regain the trust of travelers. READ MORE

Airbnb’s Go Near: A global campaign to promote domestic travelAs Summer 2020 is supposed to be about domestic travel and drive-to destinations, Airbnb has launched an impressive global campaign called Airbnb: Go Near. Not only does the Airbnb recommends peaceful destinations and family-friends nearby, but also it has partnered with 15 local organizations such as Visit Florida and VisitDenmark around the world to promote domestic travel. The company is also using this PR campaign to share positive business news (e.g. Airbnb has more listings now — more than 7 million — than it did on January 1; From May 17 to June 6, its U.S. bookings were greater than the same period a year ago. ) READ MORE

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Want to share your insights and write an article for Rental Scale-Up? We are looking for fresh and unique voices to share actionable advice with owners and property managers. Can your experience benefit others? Do you have tips and strategies that others can use when working with OTAs, using Instagram, catering to a special traveler niche, for instance? If so, just hit reply and tell me more about your topic and about your experience. Free replay of  BookingPal’s” Insight from Experts: Why marketing to domestic travelers will be key to your COVID-19 Recovery plan?”  ​Last week, I joined a great panel of industry experts to talk about domestic travel. I liked the on-the-ground advice about revenue management, for instance. Replay is here (you need to register). Find / Offer a vacation rental industry job with Vrinsider. Our friend Eric Mason is using the power of his network to help out great people who have lost their jobs. Vrinsider.com is a simple site to help displaced vacation rental professionals and staffers find work and help employers find staff.

Best regards,Thibault MassonFounder, Rental Scale-Up