July 18, 2022
How To Turn Summer Vacation Rental Guests into Repeat Guests
3 Tips to Turn Summer Vacation Rental Guests into Repeat Guests
Today marks the halfway point of the Summer season. These are some of the busiest months for many vacation rental property managers. According to TripIt from Concur, 82% of Americans traveled during the summer of 2021. In the same survey, 87% of respondents planned to do so this summer.
Memorial Day through Labor Day marks a particular season of group travel: it’s the season for big family gatherings or meeting up with friends for fun in the sun, which may mean more new guests are enjoying your vacation rentals.
So how do you keep these summer vacationers coming back for more good times in your vacation rentals? Here are three great ways to turn summer visitors into repeat bookers.
1. Capture Summer Guests’ Information
First and foremost, you’ll want to collect as much guest information as possible. And not just from the person booking the trip—while there might be one person leading the charge on booking and paying for this trip, there might be others in the group who’ll want to take their vacation at some other time.
Here are a few ways to collect important guest information.
Invite Guests to a Trip Portal
Offer all of the members of booking access to a trip portal, so they have access to important information about their trip, like check-in and check-out times, directions to the vacation rental, entry information, and nearby attractions.
Use Smart Technology in the Home
Now’s a great time to invest in guest-first, smart technology for your vacation rentals to collect guest information. Add technology like tablets and voice-activated assistants to the property, then ask for a guest’s email address to log in. In-rental tablets are also a great way to engage guests by asking for mid-vacation reviews and offering guest service assistance.
2. (Re)Market Specifically to Them
Once you have a guest’s information, it’s time to plug them into your CRM so you can retarget them in marketing campaigns like paid ads, social media, and the like. It’s also an excellent time to add them to a nurture stream of content relevant to their needs and interests. For example:
Invite Them to Plan Next Summer’s Getaway
Retargeting strategies encouraging guests to plan their next trip works well if your vacation rental market is a summer-specific one, where booking windows are long, and guests make reservations months in advance. Use emails and paid ads to entice summer guests back for another adventure, either in the first property or in something new.
Bring Them Back for Another Season
If your vacation rental market includes a second peak season, use your marketing to remind guests to enjoy your offerings at another time of year. Targeted paid ads or content-rich emails could work well in this case. If you know that a summer vacation rental guest was traveling with family or a large group of friends, maybe they want to get together again for the holiday season, even in the same rental?
3. Offer Personalized Deals Through Your Website
Of course, one of the most enticing ways to get summer vacation rental guests to book again is to offer them a special deal unique to them. Design these discounts for your website to encourage guests to book directly with you.
Invite Them to Join a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs aren’t just for big box stores. Incentives like a certain percentage of the booking total, a fifth or seventh night free, or a point system to work towards a free stay are great ways to turn summertime guests into return guests.
Give Them Priority Access to Closing Booking Windows
Don’t you love those “exclusive,” “secret” sales consumer brands sometimes hold, where you get first dibs at the sale rack? Why not try a similar tactic by closing booking windows?
As booking windows for specific properties start to close, your dynamic pricing tool and/or your revenue management team may recommend dropping the price to encourage last-minute bookings. Why not take the opportunity to invite previous summer guests to book another vacation, playing off of the spontaneity of summertime to encourage guests to return?
Turning summer vacation rental guests into repeat guests is crucial to keeping your occupancy rates high and building a loyal customer base. Make their fun in the sun (or snow, or whatever joy your market brings!) a regular thing with a solid remarketing strategy and a deal or two, and you’ll be swimming in a sea of return guests.
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