If you’re a holiday home owner, you’re likely looking for ways to maximise profits during the peak holiday season. One way to do this is by working with an online travel agency (OTA) or a channel management provider, such as AirBnB, Vrbo, Trip Advisor or Booking.com. OTAs can help you to sell more bookings for your holiday home, while channel management providers can help you to manage your bookings more effectively. The online relationship is both similar and interconnected.
1. Introducing OTAs and Channel Management providers
OTAs are companies that act as a middleman between holiday home owners and travellers. They usually have a large database of properties from around the world, and travellers can search through this database to find the perfect holiday home. OTAs usually take a commission on bookings, so it’s important to ensure that you’re getting the best deal possible. Channel Management providers are companies that help holiday home owners manage their online presence. They can help you set up a website, create listings on different booking websites, and manage your bookings. This can be a great way to save time and hassle, and can help you to maximise your profits from your holiday home.
2. Explaining how OTAs and Channel Management providers work
When you are looking for a self catering property, one of the first places you might look is on an online travel agency (OTA) website like Expedia or Orbitz. OTAs list a large number of self catering holiday accommodation and hotels, and they often have special deals that you can’t find anywhere else.
But how do OTAs and channel managers work?
Most OTAs get their self catering holiday accommodation and hotel listings from a channel management provider. A channel management provider is a company that helps hotels manage their online presence such as booking.com or AirBnB. They work with OTAs and other travel websites to make sure that self catering holiday accommodation are listed where they should be,
and that the content information about the holiday properties is correct.
3. How holiday home owners can benefit from using OTAs & Channel Management
providers
Holiday home owners can benefit from using online travel agencies (OTAs) and channel management providers to help them manage their bookings and increase their revenue. OTAs can help holiday home owners to reach a wider audience, and channel management providers can help them to manage their bookings and get the most out of their relationships with OTAs. Most use
what is known as dynamic pricing, or, nightly rate pricing which is controlled through a rental tariff algorithm, using data from a broad range of accommodation providers, at different times of each month with a downside that rental rates can fluctuate wildly according to market conditions. Often travellers become confused with the sudden changes in pricing of a property which can lead to a lack of confidence and sometimes trust in what is being displayed by the advertiser.
Speak to David at Self Cater Cornwall Holiday Lettings to discuss the pros and cons of dynamic pricing and the comparison with local market condition rental pricing.
