Happy #BookDirect Day!
If you didn't know this was a thing, then prepare to be educated! Today is also known as ‘Guest Education Day’ and the goal is to explain the mutual benefits for both guests and hosts to #BookDirect. This initiative was created by VRM Intel in 2017 when major OTA's introduced traveler booking fees. According to VRM Intel & Key Data, some of the advantages when taking direct bookings include higher valued bookings, longer stays, longer average booking windows and an increased chance of repeat bookings.
OwnerRez is a strong believer in #BookDirect. We believe it is important to build your brand and start driving customers to your own website instead of third party channels. This is why we offer hosted websites built on renowned OwnerRez engineering and attention to detail. If you don't already have your own hosted site, now is the time!
NO BOOKING FEES! Unlike other vacation rental software companies, we don't charge booking fees. When you take a direct booking, you get the full amount for that booking, minus payment processor fees of course. This leads into another major aspect of #BookDirect, using your own payment processor. As an independent software product, we do not dictate what specific payment method you use. We integrate with a variety of payment methods, so that you have the tools you need to work in the way that is best for you.
Wondering how fast you can set up your own direct booking website, including taking credit card payments, from scratch?
In roughly 10 minutes, this video will take you from a brand new empty account through adding your property, rates, calendar, credit card payment method and setting up a website that can take live bookings. This shows a quick run-through of the main things you need to get from nothing to a full website with guest bookings. Each of the areas this video goes through has many options and features, which you can learn about in other support articles and videos, but this video doesn't get bogged down in that. We stay at a high level and show the full end to end process.
