When referring to an ‘online travel agent’ (OTA) we’re talking about web-based businesses such as Airbnb, Expedia, VRBO and TripAdvisor. These online platforms allow cottage owners to target the large audiences that these global businesses attract, taking bookings directly for a commission.
However, despite the obvious benefit of volume, there are a number of drawbacks of unpredictability, inflexibility and high levels of competition. Plus, featuring high in OTA search results, avoiding penalties and managing bookings across several OTAs comes with its own challenges.
Why choose a holiday letting agency?
Here at the StayCotswold holiday letting agency we adopt sophisticated variable pricing algorithms, flexible bookings slots, responsive data analysis and Channel Manager software (more on these later) which means that there is so much more to holiday letting your property than you may think!
We often meet owners using OTAs themselves, who settle for, and often celebrate a result that is far below their property’s full potential. Selling premium dates throughout the year whilst leaving unsellable and unmonetised booking slots is a common mistake.
Also, most individual owners do not have access to complex software allowing them to market on multiple online platforms whist maintaining an instant book status on each, which is essential when ensuring a property appears in the top tier of the OTA search results.
Decide to list with StayCotswold, and you get the best of both. As well as using our well-established and trusted brand, loyal customer base, local knowledge and broader online marketing channel expertise, StayCotswold have an arsenal of tools, including using OTAs, that work constantly behind the scenes to ensure unrivalled return on investment.
A dynamic pricing algorithm and flexible booking software means that awkward slots are filled, whilst our self-developed slot-based pricing structure ensures orphaned unsellable dates are always monetised. And our integrated ‘Channel Manager’ software is key to achieving instant book status on all platforms, with 35% of all of our bookings being generated on the OTAs. Working together, this agile marketing strategy can generate an extra 20-30% in otherwise lost revenue.
Stress-free holiday home ownership
Many of our owners tell us that choosing to let their holiday property though StayCotswold means they can relax safe in the knowledge that a lot of the hard work is taken care of. From professional photographs and detailed property descriptions to individual property listings on our bookings website, our entire team are committed to making your holiday home ownership as stress free as possible.
And to ensure we keep your property booked up as often as possible, we work hard to attract guests to book direct by ensuring our bookings website is optimised for many of the major search terms. In addition to listing each property on our own website, we regularly send out emails to our marketing database, and we use many of the major OTA website too. Meaning our owners have are able to reach more potential guests via these third party booking websites, safe in the knowledge that the team at StayCotswold take care of each individual booking – regardless of the source!
If you are new to the idea of working with a holiday letting agency, there’s no reason why you can’t make a serious business out of your beloved property from day one, but there really is only one way to go!
To find out more about our services you can call 01993 259444 or email owners@staycotswold.com
