Today, we’re announcing our new status as a 2021 Vrbo Elite Connectivity Partner. This is a big deal and something very hard to achieve. Vrbo has certified hundreds of integrated software partners, but only 16 are "preferred" and only 7 are "elite". OwnerRez is now one of those 7 elite partners.
Last year, as COVID was taking off, we quietly mentioned that OwnerRez had achieved Preferred Partner status with Vrbo. This was something we were super proud of at the time because it took us a few years to become a partner in the first place, and then many months more to work through the requirements and build the best channel manager integration in the industry. But we weren't finished there. As it said at the end of that blog post: "Elite status - here we come". Well... we've arrived!
Elite Connectivity Partners are an exclusive group of top-performing vacation rental connectivity providers who offer the highest-quality connection to Vrbo and optimized products and services. This designation is a result of our commitment to:
- Developing software integrations to a high standard with advanced tools and features.
- Providing a quality technical connection to Vrbo with a reliable user experience.
- Maintaining strong performance on Vrbo and engaging with the Vrbo team to continually optimize.
To be clear, Elite status is not a list you can pay to be included in. Vrbo constantly measures partner performance across many metrics - server up time, speed of responses, booking quality, listing quality, error rates, etc - and meets with our team regularly to discuss. Only those that meet the highest quality across all those metrics, across a long period of time, are given Elite status.
What does this mean for you? Quite a bit actually. Elite partners get access to the newest settings and features that are available on the Vrbo IPM/API side, so OwnerRez users will be able to access features before other Vrbo users. Over the next year, we're working with Vrbo to bring reviews, messaging and special offers (ie. custom quotes) to our Vrbo integration. Our reputation carries a lot of weight, and we have important meaningful conversations with Vrbo on a regular basis about these things.
We'd like to thank Vrbo for the great work they've done with our team and their commitment to the vacation rental industry. To: Shelby, Jill, Trilok and the gang - a big thank you!
