It was in 2004, and I was looking for a place to stay on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.
I went on to the Stayz website, and made an enquiry to a place called Honeyeater’s Hideaway. As I was wondering what the place would be like, the phone rang. Did I have any questions about Honeyeater’s Hideaway? The charming owner explained she managed the rentals herself.
What the hell? I had enquired barely 2 minutes before.
She had just received an SMS, when she was on a break and had rung me.
Yes, I booked, and never forgot the experience.
A light bulb lit up. Internet booking of holiday houses / vacation rentals was a game changing experience.
I was taking some time off work after building a large survey system inside a big multinational corporation, and understood the advantages of web based systems, but hadn’t thought of it for rentals.
We had a rental managed remotely by a management company, but hadn’t thought of how we could increase occupancy.
Over the years, I tried new ways of using the internet to drive more traffic to our website. Soon, our wonderful but basic little house in the rainforest ‘Treetops’ was the most booked house in the area, equal with another competitor perched on a cliff that had views to die for.
Over the years, we added another two houses, and now manage all three, even when travelling internationally. The game changed for us!
Holiday rentals are a wonderful way for people to take holidays. The more holiday rentals the better. In my own small way, I’m doing what I can to help other owners succeed. That is why this website exists.
Great story, Rex! I think it would be a fantastic start for your future training sessions on how to get to your same occupancy rates.
Keep up the good work, it’s a pleasure to deal with you.
Antonio
Thanks Antonio. Yes I’ll use it at your VR world summit in June. I’m looking forward to it.
Rex