All products, services, or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used and/or recommend. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
If you’re like most vacation rental owners, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on your Spring reservations. The shelter-in-place guidelines and mandates have caused many guests to cancel reservations across the globe.
As a result of these cancellations, we likely have some extra time on our hands as we wait it out. In this article, I’m giving vacation rental owners some suggestions for improving the way they operate their vacation rental business.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.” ~ Winston Churchill
Now is the perfect time to make some changes to critical areas of your business. Look for ways to improve hospitality and provide a better guest experience.
Building relationships with your guests is one of the best ways to improve your vacation rental operations. Guests are more likely to respect your rules and your property when they sense a personal connection.
Many times during the booking process, we are rushed and don’t have a chance to make a connection with our guests. Use the current downtime to build those connections.
Get your guest newsletter started! Check out Vacation Rental Newsletter Ideas – 5 Things to Include.
Stay connected with your guests through social media. Continue to highlight things to do in your area to keep your audience excited about making a future reservation. Local Facebook groups are an excellent place to share current information about closings and regulatory changes during the pandemic.
Your upcoming guests are seeking information about their vacation destination and how it is handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Be proactive. Send an email or a newsletter to let them know their reservation is secure for now. Emphasize your cancelation policy and how you’re handling refunds during these extenuating circumstances.
Remind your past guests that your area will be ready and waiting to host them again once the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Include past guests in your newsletter email where you highlight new businesses and projected opening dates for area attractions.
Schedule deep cleanings while your vacation rental calendar is empty. Guests will be worried about the COVID-19 virus for quite some time. You can reassure your guests by providing information about your deep cleaning processes.
If there is one thing your guests will notice about your property, it is the cleanliness (or lack thereof). And you can bet the COVID-19 pandemic will make them extra vigilant in looking for evidence of how clean your property is.
Scheduled deep cleans will help you improve vacation rental operations by surfacing often overlooked small maintenance issues.
Use my Deep Spring Cleaning Checklist for Vacation Rentals to make sure nothing gets missed.
Scheduling time for maintenance issues is a real hassle when you have a busy vacation rental. Now is the perfect time to schedule those maintenance tasks!
Even small to medium size renovations are possible to complete during the COVID-19 downtime.
Check out Download this Routine Maintenance Checklist for ideas of things to get accomplished during this unexpected downtime. Keeping up on routine maintenance items will improve vacation operations by helping to avoid big problems that can cost you more money when things break or cause major damage.
With so many people looking for work during these hard times, you should have plenty of help with DIY maintenance items. Or if you’re not a DIYer, local tradesmen will be happy to have the work during this economic downturn.
Are there some amenities you might want to change as a result of COVID-19?
If you typically provide a welcome basket of fruit and snacks, consider offering a basket of sample-size cleaning supplies, tissues, gloves, cleaning clothes, etc.
Help reboot the local economy by providing coupons, vouchers, and gift cards for local restaurants and shops. Many of these businesses will be struggling to get back on their feet after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Help reboot the local economy: instead of providing coffee pods for the Keurig, leave a gift card for the local coffee shop.
As we prepare to reopen our vacation rentals after COVID-19, consider eliminating unnecessary amenities that could be a virus magnet or make your property harder to clean.
Some owners are discussing removing bed quilts. As a “cleaner” alternative, they are triple sheeting. Triple sheeting allows easy washing of the top bed cover (the third sheet) after every guest.
For more tips, read How to Help Guests Prevent the Spread of Flu & Colds
and COVID-19 Coronavirus Tips for Vacation Rentals
The OTAs have been inconsistent with how they have handled cancellations and refunds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though owners have cancellation policies in place, Airbnb and Vrbo have not been ideal in how they handled many of the situations.
In instances where the OTA approved a refund, some owners and guests are reporting long delays in receiving payment. It is a difficult situation, and these circumstances emphasize the old adage,
“Don’t put all your eggs into one basket.”
No matter who is handling the cancellations and no matter what your policy is, this whole ordeal has been frustrating. There is little doubt that some owners will not be able to dig themselves out of this unforeseen economic disaster.
While there is a break in the reservation schedule, why not improve vacation rental operations by exploring how you can take direct bookings?
What do you have to lose? Nothing! What do you have to gain? LOTS!
It’s not as hard as you think!
At the very least, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught many of us that we probably need to review and make some updates to our rental agreements and cancellation policy.
This article, COVID-19 Guest Cancellations and Refunds, will give you some ideas for rental agreement and policy changes you might consider.
You’ll learn unique marketing strategies for social media that will generate more revenue for your business.
Social Media Marketing Bootcamp is a self-paced, 5-Part course designed exclusively for vacation rental owners. The content will be specific to the vacation rental industry, and you’ll have access to exclusive content, worksheets, and questions/answers as you move through the course.
Learn more about how to effectively market your vacation rental on social media, in my Facebook & Instagram Course Exclusively for Vacation Rental Hosts.
Here are some of the topics included in the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp Course:
Take the quiz to find out how the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp course will help your vacation rental business.
After taking the quiz, you’ll see a personalized report explaining whether you’re a good candidate for the course.
You don’t want to miss any of my weekly vacation rental management and marketing tips! You’ll also get my FREE Download – 9 Steps to Preparing Your Vacation Rental Business to #BookDirect!
Would you like to take Direct Bookings for your vacation rental, but you don’t know where to start? Evaluate where you are and what steps you need to take to gain back control of your vacation rental business. It’s not as hard as you might think.
Learn what Trendy Hospitality is all about. And learn more about me and why I have such a passion for vacation rental management and marketing.
I would jump for joy if you’d share my blog posts on your favorite social media platforms, including Facebook groups ! ↓
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