Rental site: the choice of communication, top 10 best features for rental sites.
The features of rental websites,
Owners of accommodation, whether seasonal or not, whether a flat or several houses, short or long term, each need certain features for rental sites, specific to their websites. The aim of every owner is to have their accommodation filled all year round. Here are a few essential features that will help you achieve this.
In France, cities such as Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Marseille alone account for 19% of rental searches (according to a study by locservice.fr). Tenants are always looking for the best price, the best deal. Estate agencies are less attractive to consumers. They tend to go to private websites to avoid agency fees.
With this in mind, a website specially designed for rental accommodation is the solution. A website with a booking engine and good search engine optimisation will not only increase your profile on the internet, but will also increase your direct bookings.
It is possible to have a website with the best features for rental sites. In other words, both a booking engine that will allow visitors to book directly on your website. But also an interface for managing bookings and customer follow-up.
This solution has already been adopted by several owners of rented flats or houses and seems to be working well.
Functionality
1
A booking engine
The booking engine is the essential tool for all those involved in the hotel and restaurant industry. It is a module grafted onto your site that allows you to show your visitors the availability and price of your rooms. It will also provide your customers with access to book directly on your site without going through the OTAs. The booking engine is a door which, once crossed by the visitor, transforms him into a customer. It's the best way today to increase direct bookings and improve the customer experience. For more information, take a look at our articles Comparison of the best booking engines & Booking engine for hotels and accommodation.
2
A multilingual site
With no less than 324 million overnight stays in tourist establishments In 2021 in France, expect a lot of foreign visitors. To make sure you don't miss out on any bookings, your holiday rental website must be in at least 2 languages. French, of course, and English to make it easier for foreigners to understand. If you are used to having a large number of customers from a certain country, don't hesitate to add their language to your site to improve their experience and build loyalty.
3
Centralisation of bookings
OTAs have become essential tools for all players in the world of tourism. And platforms such as Booking, Expedia and Air BnB are multiplying all the time. To cope with this influx and manage it as effectively as possible, there are channel managers that enable you to centralise, synchronise and manage your bookings in a single place. I invite you to find out more about the different channel managers in our article Comparison of the best channel managers
4
Automatic emailing
Emailing is a good way of building customer loyalty and reminding them of good times on holiday. By sending special offers, newsletters or thank-you notes, you can personalise the customer experience. In the tourism and travel sector on average the email open rate is 23.60% and the click rate is 1.39%. This ranks it 10th out of 20 sectors for click-through rate. This means that, compared with other sectors, customers are more likely to interact with the emails they receive when it comes to tourism and travel. So email automation will help you reach as many people as possible and save you time.
5
Invoice in 1 click
Business customers are a significant part of the tourism sector, they represent 20% of total tourism. Business trips, conferences and professional events very often mean that companies have to travel to other countries. For their accommodation, some opt for short-term rentals. But business means invoicing, and writing an invoice by hand without forgetting a comma can be easy, or stressful. If you don't want to make any more mistakes, you can use the booking engine on your website to generate breaks in just one click, which is a real time-saver.
6
Choice of payment method
Stipe, Paypal or most French banks, these online payment tools will allow your customers to pay directly from your website. booking engine in a 100% secure way. Thanks to the booking engine you can also impose your own conditions, for example: a deposit of 30% of the price of the holiday at the time of booking. This feature also allows you to obtain the customer's bank imprint for pre-authorisation or to debit the card at the end of the stay if there have been any extras.
7
Blocking bookings on all platforms at once
Surely the most important feature of your site. The booking engine must be able to synchronise all the bookings from the different booking platforms on your site. Just like a channel manager. This applies to OTAs such as Booking, Expedia and Airbnb. If a booking is made on your site but not updated by the OTAs, you run the risk of having duplicate bookings. It is therefore important to have this feature to block the booking on all the platforms simultaneously.
8
Adding live bookings
From the moment a visitor makes a reservation and validates all the booking stages, you will be informed. You will receive a confirmation email and the booking will automatically appear on your calendar. Regardless of the booking platform, your site or the OTAs, the booking will be visible on the calendar instantly. The visitor will then officially become your customer.
9
Manage your ancillary services
Breakfast, activities, special services and extras are all features that need to be taken into account and integrated into the booking process to boost sales. It's a strategic part of the package for those who want to make the most of their stay. Yield management. Maximise profits and occupancy.
10
Google Hotel direct booking links
Google has set up free booking links that appear when visitors search, "Google Hotel. Hotel Web Design has a partnership with the search engine so that your establishment can be listed directly on the Google Hotel space. This feature enables people looking for accommodation to come across your property directly. Google will then display the rates and booking availabilities and a link leading directly to the hotel. booking engine on your official website.
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