Did you know that Booking.com was the most downloaded travel app in 2020? It’s also one of the top five booking channels worldwide. Those are some compelling statistics! You can take advantage of that trend and tap into a huge subset of travelers by diversifying your distribution with online travel agencies (OTAs) like Booking.com, Airbnb, and Vrbo.
Booking.com not only has a large following in the continental US, but they also have clients worldwide … and that’s to your benefit. The diverse audience of domestic and international travelers who visit Booking.com are searching for a destination and don’t know which type of accommodation they want. By listing your vacation rental properties on this channel, there’s a unique opportunity for exposure to this globe-trotting customer base.
In addition, Booking.com is known for investing in their client partners. When you list with Booking.com, your properties are marketed across search engines and on more than 15,000 trusted websites. That’s a lot of eyeballs on your listings! As another bonus, Booking.com is launching the “Welcome Back America” campaign in April 2021 to provide post-stay promotional travel credits to American travelers. Learn more about the campaign here.
In addition, Booking.com is known for investing in their client partners. When you list with Booking.com, your properties are marketed across search engines and on more than 15,000 trusted websites. That’s a lot of eyeballs on your listings! As another bonus, Booking.com is launching the “Welcome Back America” campaign in April 2021 to provide post-stay promotional travel credits to American travelers. Learn more about the campaign here.
With campaigns like the one mentioned above, Booking.com helps you capitalize on 2020 trends that are here to stay, such as:
- People traveling closer to home — road trip!
- People booking longer stays for remote work (or learning).
- People choosing rural destinations for added privacy and space (think: socially distanced properties).
- People preferring vacation rentals over hotels.
The benefits of a diverse distribution strategy don’t end with added OTA bookings. It might sound strange, but 35% of all direct bookings originate from OTAs. The trend is called the billboard effect and it happens when the new generation of travelers use OTAs to research and discover vacation rentals. After completing their research, these modern travelers will often book their chosen property directly on the vacation rental company’s website. Can you imagine increasing your direct bookings by more than a third? With numbers like that, it’s a “no brainer” to tap into channels like Booking.com.
As the data has shown above, expanding your booking strategy to include online travel agencies helps feed and support direct bookings, too. Wondering how to get started? Bluetent’s channel management solution — Rezfusion Boost™ — connects your properties to Booking.com and more. With a focus on quality over quantity, Boost™ connects you to the most robust channel partners. Learn more about plugging into OTAs through Boost™ here.