Many beginners have chosen to start their careers as short-term rental managers by co-hosting for property owners and/or through a channel manager. If this is your case, it is perfectly understandable to initially focus your activity on the American industry giant Airbnb. Indeed, Airbnb is often the number one platform to start with. It has the advantage of reassuring many novice professionals like you, who wish to rely on a comprehensive range of features. These are especially important for ensuring you attract the best possible tenants for your properties. However, depending on the type of properties managed and the geographical area, among other factors, this may no longer be sufficient, and you may need to consider Airbnb alternatives.
Therefore, through this article, we aim to help you understand what other options are available to reach different types of travellers interested in vacation rentals. With RentalReady, managing your properties across these platforms becomes easier, and you can benefit from tools designed to enhance your visibility and optimise your business growth.
Reminder of the benefits of listing your properties on Airbnb
It is not without reason that you likely chose to initially list your properties exclusively on Airbnb. Over the years, the American platform has made the process of listing your properties increasingly easy and seamless. Airbnb has particularly allowed many aspiring managers and concierge services to gain experience and grow confidently, ensuring that the travellers staying in their accommodations would not cause them any harm.
To achieve this, Airbnb has implemented measures to minimise the risk of encountering unscrupulous tenants and to mitigate the impact on your business should one of them unfortunately slip through the cracks. Among other methods to secure your rentals, we can cite:
- Aircover: This comprehensive protection for hosts includes systematic verification of guests’ identities and bookings. The package also includes host damage protection and host liability insurance (covering bodily injuries, property damage or theft experienced by your guests during their stay for which you could be held legally responsible).
- Reviews of and by guests: These reviews help you gauge the mindset of your guests during their Airbnb stay. If you notice that a guest frequently finds fault with the places they stay, they might do the same with your property. Similarly, feedback from other hosts about certain guests can alert you to their behaviour, encouraging you to prioritise other potential guests.
- Settings for instant bookings: As you probably know, most rental platforms encourage (or even require) instant booking. Airbnb likely offers the most safeguards for this feature (requiring guests to provide identification, have good reviews, and be recommended by other hosts).
It is for these reasons (among others) that Airbnb is the preferred platform for many short-term rental property managers. However, as we mentioned in the introduction, you would benefit from diversifying your distribution channels if you want to grow, particularly to reach as many travellers as possible.
Different categories of travellers
Several types of tenants may be attracted to your properties, depending on their geographical locations, configurations, amenities and the duration of the stays offered. Here are some examples:
Families
Particularly those with young children, need accommodation that is suitable and safe. They generally look for properties in tourist-friendly areas, close to attractions and activities that appeal to all family members, such as:
- Beaches
- Walking trails
- Amusement parks
If these guests have a positive experience, they are likely to become repeat customers and recommend you to their friends. It is essential to target this significant segment of your clientele on the right platforms.
Couples
These travellers often seek a romantic getaway to enjoy with their partner. They might prefer distribution channels that feature more unique or less mainstream properties, which they can rent for a weekend, for example.
Business travellers
They tend to look for accommodations in city centres, near business districts, or strategically located (close to a train station, airport, or public transportation). They need a place that offers a dedicated workspace with suitable amenities (such as a printer or scanner) and, most importantly, fast and stable Wi-Fi. If they like the property, they are likely to make it their regular base and frequently use a particular platform to book it.
International travellers
To attract an international clientele, you should list your properties on Airbnb alternatives that are most commonly used by these travellers. It is also beneficial to adapt your properties accordingly (e.g., providing a welcome booklet in multiple languages).
Eco-conscious travellers
In recent years, environmental concerns have become a priority for many, and more people are seeking environmentally friendly accommodations. If your properties meet the standards for sustainable tourism, you should highlight them on appropriate sites or platforms.
Those interested in mid-term rentals
The short-term rental market has seen a rise in demand for longer stays in recent years. Since COVID-19, remote work has become more common and it is not unusual for some freelancers or employees to seek relocation for several weeks or even months.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive. To reach all these types of travellers, you should explore various booking platforms beyond Airbnb.
What are the best Airbnb alternatives?
We have decided to mention three of the most widely used alternatives on the market.
VRBO
VRBO merged with HomeAway in 2007 and is now part of the American Expedia Group. It is the main competitor to Airbnb. The group has an international reach, with VRBO available in 190 countries (compared to 191 for Airbnb). People visiting Abritel/VRBO are usually looking for houses or other complete properties for family stays. By listing your properties here, you can be sure of global visibility, as your listings will appear on about fifty affiliated sites of this enormous group. Regarding commissions, Abritel offers two options:
- An annual subscription at €299.
- 8% commission on each booking (excluding VAT).
There are no listing fees (unlike Airbnb).
Booking.com
This website also has an international reputation, with over 110 million users worldwide. On Booking.com, people have always booked hotel rooms but the increasing number of vacation rental listings makes it an ideal channel for managers like you who want to showcase villas or apartments from your catalogue for even more visibility. The platform also promotes special offers and other promotions, so if this aligns with your strategy, don’t hesitate to list your properties to attract even more new tenants.
Additionally, if you want to reach a clientele looking for a sustainable Airbnb alternative, Booking.com features a “sustainable tourism” label that can help promote your eco-friendly properties. This strategy can be quite effective and allows you to stand out.
For more information, you can read Booking.com’s study on sustainable travel.
RentalReady: a tool that unlocks even more opportunities
RentalReady, an all-in-one PMS/Channel manager primarily designed for professional short-term rental managers, positions itself as a leader in the PMS market. Our software incorporates most of the necessary features for the daily management of your business, whereas our competitors often need to supplement their solutions with third-party applications. It is important to note that our tool is developed by GuestReady, an international property management company. RentalReady allows perfect synchronisation across all the platforms mentioned above, simplifying the management of all your calendars and preventing double bookings. Additionally, our software allows you to list your properties on our exclusive platform book.guestready.com. This not only centralises your management but also allows your listings to appear on Google Vacation Rentals.
Launched in 2019, Google Vacation Rentals enables thousands of travellers to access vacation rental options and book them in just a few clicks directly from Google. While initially reserved for certain online travel agencies or managers handling at least 5,000 properties, using GuestReady (or another partner) allows your properties to be listed on Google, even if you manage far fewer properties. This is a significant advantage, given that Google is the most popular search engine in the world. As a Google Vacation Rentals partner, you benefit from several advantages:
- You can share your availability, rates, and all information about your vacation rental properties on Google.
- You reach a much larger number of potential travellers thanks to this increased visibility.
- You can list your properties and obtain more bookings through Google without any additional fees, leveraging the traffic generated by the renowned search engine.
It is important to note that Google’s search engine is much more powerful than those of booking platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and others, no matter how significant they are.
You can see that there are many Airbnb alternatives for listing your vacation rental properties to a broader audience. For managing these properties, you can always rely on our RentalReady software.