Key Takeaways for Vacation Rental Managers:
- Hostaway’s recent report reveals a disparity in AI adoption among vacation rental managers, with smaller companies (managing under 10 properties) lagging behind larger ones.
- Only 34% of smaller managers utilize AI, compared to 53% of larger managers (over 50 properties), the latter aligning with industry standards as reported by a recent McKinsey Global Survey.
- The report identifies increased competition for property owners as the main challenge for managers, with 81% acknowledging this issue.
- Despite the intense competition, a hopeful outlook prevails with 79% of managers expecting to expand their inventory in 2024 and reporting a 37% increase in Average Daily Rate (ADR) in 2023.
- While 67% of managers are satisfied with their current technology stack, 29% believe improved use of technology and business intelligence tools could enhance their operations.
- Earlier this year, Hostaway introduced a ChatGPT-powered AI tool to its support customers in managing listings and increasing bookings. This tool is designed to adapt to each operator’s brand voice and style, promoting brand consistency regardless of portfolio size.
About Hostaway:
- Hostaway is a comprehensive software solution designed for growing property managers in the vacation rental industry. It offers an array of tools to streamline operations, including marketing, sales, communication, and accounting, thereby allowing managers to focus on scaling their business rather than getting caught up in day-to-day tasks.
- In addition to its core features, Hostaway also hosts a marketplace for vacation rental software and tools for revenue management, guest communication, or housekeeping coordination, and more.
Uvika’s View:
- As we delve into the findings of Hostaway’s recent survey, it’s important to consider who exactly contributed to these insights. The survey was completed by 304 members of the short-term/vacation rental community from more than 30 countries.
- While it’s not explicitly stated how many of the respondents were owners versus managers, we know that there was a fifty-fifty split among these two groups.
- In terms of location, the respondents were slightly skewed towards non-urban (beach, small town/rural) locations.
- One finding that particularly stands out is that despite citing increased competition as their number one challenge – a sentiment currently echoing across both the US and Europe – the respondents indicated a strong inclination towards investing in growing their portfolios. This may seem counterintuitive at first glance, but upon closer examination, it could signal a deeper understanding of the market dynamics at play.
- These property managers and owners might be identifying lucrative opportunities to acquire certain property types that they believe will yield higher profits for their businesses, despite the heightened competition.
Key Takeaways for Vacation Rental Managers:
- Boostly announces strategic integrations with PriceLabs, Jurny, Direct Booking Tools and Dtravel to drive direct booking in the short-term rental industry.
- The new partnerships allow hosts and property managers to sync all four platforms with a Boostly website, reducing dependence on third-party online travel agents (OTAs).
- Integration with PriceLabs provides a data-driven approach to property pricing, using advanced algorithms that analyse market supply and demand in real-time.
- Partnership with Jurny, an AI-powered property management platform, offers tools to streamline guest experience from booking to post-stay reviews.
- Direct Booking Tools integration allows real-time price comparison with OTAs on the Boostly website. It also includes access to forward booking demand analytics dashboard, a leading Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) tool.
- Dtravel integration gives Boostly users access to a web3 ecosystem and direct booking infrastructure, allowing operators to accept bookings without intermediaries.
About Boostly:
- Boostly, founded in 2016, has helped over 2,500 operators scale their businesses, offering online training, content creation, WordPress website design and marketing services.
- The company continues to innovate with recent updates like integrating multiple property management systems into one website and launching a new integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system.
- Founder Mark Simpson emphasizes Boostly’s mission to make it easy for property managers to generate direct bookings and expresses excitement over the new partnerships.
Uvika’s View:
- By fostering a shift away from heavy reliance on OTAs, Boostly aims to empower property managers, offering them autonomy and the tools needed to navigate an evolving market landscape.
- These partnerships are indeed well thought out, as they address four critical aspects of short-term rental management and integrate them into the Boostly ecosystem.
- By doing so, operators looking to grow their direct bookings now have access to the same level of tools as when listing on third-party channels.
Related Read: Key insights from Boostly’s Mark Simpson and other industry experts on how to make the most out of your listings on Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo.
Key Takeaways for Vacation Rental Managers:
- Bob W, a climate-neutral hospitality provider, reveals its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per guest night in a campaign called ‘Show Us Your Numbers’ in a bid to encourage transparency in the hospitality industry’s environmental reporting.
- Bob W reports an average of 29 kg of carbon emissions per guest night, lower than the standard hotel’s 40 kg.
- The company uses a ‘per guest night’ calculation to measure its carbon footprint, which is straightforward, less manipulable, and easy for consumers to understand.
- Bob W’s website allows guests to see the emissions associated with each night of their stay, empowering them to make more sustainable choices.
- Bob W offsets emissions through South Pole action projects but aims to do more by reducing emissions further.
- The company has achieved high sustainability scores for its properties in Europe, including the highest LEED score for design and a BREEAM rating of 72.4%.
- Bob W partners with environmentally aligned property owners and suppliers, promotes local businesses, and encourages guests to minimize their impact during their stay.
- Niko Karstikko, CEO of Bob W, urges the industry to innovate, share best practices, and be transparent about their environmental impact. He emphasizes that while they are not the greenest, they strive to be the most honest.
About Bob W:
- Backed by prominent investors including byFounders, IDC Ventures, Elevator Ventures, among others, the investment in Bob W from leading venture capitalists, family offices, and entrepreneurs signals strong support for its business model and future growth potential.
- The company operates 27 aparthotel and co-living properties across Europe, including key locations such as the UK, Spain, Finland, Italy, Norway, Greece, and Estonia.
- Offering daily, weekly, and monthly rates, the company caters to both short-term visitors and long-term residents, underscoring its versatility and adaptability.
- One of the distinguishing features of Bob W. is its pursuit of sustainable and autonomous hospitality technology that aims to provide guests with a local, contactless, five-star experience at scale, revolutionizing the way hospitality services are delivered.
Uvika’s View:
- Transparency in sustainability reporting has long been a contentious issue across various industries. Many companies, largely operating on a voluntary basis, have been accused of underreporting their environmental impact. In some instances, businesses have opted out of reporting altogether.
- However, as governments worldwide begin to tighten regulations around energy use, this laissez-faire approach is becoming increasingly untenable.
- The short-term rental industry is still in the relatively early stages of standardization, presenting a unique opportunity for operators to lead by example.
- With growing awareness and demand among travelers for sustainable accommodation options, it is in the best interests of businesses within this sector to adopt transparent reporting practices.
- Bob W.’s recent initiative, revealing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per guest night, is an excellent example of this proactive transparency. Not only is this a smart business strategy, but it is also a refreshing deviation from the self-aggrandizing narratives that are often associated with corporate sustainability efforts.
- In a candid statement, Bob W.’s CEO and Co-Founder Niko Karstikko acknowledged, “We know we’re not the greenest accommodation provider but we are determined to be the most honest, and we’re working really hard to help our guests make informed decisions… This is not a stunt. This is a race we all have to win, and we are totally open to hearing what other providers think the industry’s standardized sustainability metric should be.”
- This level of transparency and openness is commendable and sets a precedent for other players in the industry. It’s clear that the future of the short-term rental business will be shaped by operators who prioritize sustainability and communicate their efforts honestly and explicitly.
- For those operators seeking resources on becoming more sustainable, organizations like EnviroRental offer a wealth of information. They provide comprehensive guides and actionable insights to empower businesses in their pursuit of sustainability, demonstrating that environmentally conscious operations are not just possible but profitable too.
