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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ashevillelookout Jan 4, 2019 10:15 AM (in response to u0999)You are not in the "scheduled" rotation.
I say this because ever since HA was purchased and removed the metallic rankings I have tracked when I am getting inquiries and bookings. It seems to be about a three week cycle of 4-5 contacts all at once then crickets. I try to kickstart it by going in to my listing and making editing changes to the description, adjusting a rate period, adding an amenity or a date block. I do any thing I can think of that might "refresh" my listing to where the algorithm would deign to display it.
This Is just my opinion....
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 4, 2019 10:47 AM (in response to ashevillelookout)I did all that (shuffled photos, changed rates a bit etc). To no avail.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
planthealth Jan 5, 2019 5:55 AM (in response to u0999)Yep, me too, lots of tweaks, normally booking for the summer now and crickets, nothing for summer or off season on my 3 VRs....starting to get nervous.....
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 4, 2019 10:22 AM (in response to u0999)Try using a device you have never used to search HA/VRBO and see where/if your properties are being shown in a search. I have searched my properties at the at the local library on occasion.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 4, 2019 10:46 AM (in response to margaret)Oh , I am sure they are nowhere to be found. 629999, 737717, 1233689. The latter is the worst performance wise
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 4, 2019 10:53 AM (in response to u0999)tell me your town and state and I will search with parameters and see when you show up.
If you dont want to post it publicly, just PM me.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 4, 2019 11:24 AM (in response to georgygirl1955)gatlinburg, Tennessee. I have 3, 4 and 5 bd. TIA
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 5, 2019 11:44 AM (in response to u0999)YOU CAN ignore my opinion...
1. they are showing houses closer to Gatlinburg...
2. would you consider changing your lead photo(s).....I dont think showing the exterior front is the "way to go"
......I would show the game, or the pool table, or the foosball, and second I would show the hot tub. Show how the house is FUN ( in my non valuable opinion)
and I agree...it is not appearing under Gatlingburg.
I hope my input helps.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 16, 2019 2:23 PM (in response to georgygirl1955)everybody in our market has the games - it is standard equipment for cabins larger than 1 bd. It is the exterior/location/architecture that often sets us apart (i,e someone's property may be in a crowded cookie-cutter "resort" surrounded by 200 builder-grade same-architecture and same floor plan cabins vs mine that are custom builds non cookie cutter on the land).
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
sunnycs Jan 4, 2019 10:57 AM (in response to u0999)Is the main search for your area Gatlinburg? I've been to the area so I know Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, but I wonder how most travelers are searching?
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 4, 2019 11:23 AM (in response to sunnycs)gatlinburg for me. I have sevierville address but seviervile town center is like 15 mi away.. gatlinburg is 5 mi
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 5, 2019 11:47 AM (in response to u0999)u0999, did you search your listing by filters? I searched all three in Gatlinburg. They all showed up in Gatlinburg, until I started using filters that is..... I just finished searching Appalachian Escape. I have a number of filters clicked... when I clicked on "Mountains" that listing disappeared.
Same thing happened with Blue Mountain Lodge.
Ridge View Lodge shows up when you click on "Mountains", but not when you click on "properties good for families."
Not sure if this is causing you to have zero bookings, but it certainly can't be helping you.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 8:26 AM (in response to ohst8er)"mountains" check box implies "mountain view". Only one "Ridge View Lodge" actually has mountain view, and I have it checked, so that is what you saw. The other two have wooded view, if I select "mountains", it will mislead renters into thinking that I have mountain view (which I do not). "properties good for families" is no in my control as it is apparently something that HA/VRBO sets and it is not some checkbox that I am missing.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 15, 2019 9:13 AM (in response to u0999)u0999, I have NO IDEA why you are not getting bookings. I wish I had an answer for you. I also have no idea how often people select that "mountains" filter. What I do know is that if some neophyte selects it because they don't really understand your area, they just know they want to go there, you won't be shown. If it were me... I'd go to the owners dash, go into edit property, description, click "mountain view," and type in some sort of info that let's travelers know something about being nestled in the foothills of... or located in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, or SOMETHING.
Because even though YOUR SIDE says "mountain view" and you say you don't have a mountain view, the traveler's side says "mountain." What does that mean? Near the mountains, on the mountains, mountain view? It's subject to anyone's interpretation. And anyone who clicks that button kicks two of your listings out of the mix. As an owner, I go by the notion of... take any FAIR, honest advantage you possibly can.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 15, 2019 9:24 AM (in response to ohst8er)If it was me, I would click Mountain View, Mountains, near mountains, or even "thinking about mountains" if that option was there.
I believe you are trying to over think this thing. We are right on the Gulf of Mexico, anything that remotely mentions water, we have it clicked!
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 25, 2019 3:13 PM (in response to ohst8er)So here we go. Turns out I am on one of the top 5 markets according t this Industry News & Upcoming Events
I could never tell judging by the lack of VRBO traffic to 2 properties.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 25, 2019 4:11 PM (in response to u0999)u0999, I WOULD expect that of your market, it's always busy there, and indeed, one of my favorite places to go. I'm just at a loss for you. I wish I had some sort of answer that could help you.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 15, 2019 9:53 AM (in response to u0999)On the traveler side the filter is "Mountains" no mention of view. I don't think it will mislead anyone about the view. Add "wooded view" to your listing description and check the box for mountains.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 12:51 PM (in response to ohst8er)-
Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 15, 2019 1:43 PM (in response to u0999)u0999, yes. And to what I and others are saying, it may say "mountain view" on your end, but it just says "mountains" on the traveler's end. There are other quirks as well between owner view and traveler view between ocean and beach and ocean view and beach view and etc, but I digress...
All you should really care about is what it says for the traveler. And for the traveler, it just says MOUNTAINS (see screen shot) So like what I've been saying, and what margaret has been saying, click that box, Mountain View on ALL your listings on the owner's side, then put the info about your proximity to the mountains, etc in that box. When the filters by Mountains you will come up, and if they click on your listing and read your info, they will see whatever detail you have listed about your proximity to the mountains, or the mountain view, or the wooded view in the mountains or WHATEVER..
Like I said before, I have no idea how many people actually click that box when they filter, but if they DO, you aren't being shown. Take full advantage (honestly and fairly of course) of EVERY angle presented to you by/on VRBO.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 4, 2019 11:38 AM (in response to u0999)Nothing here either, if it was not for my repeats I would be in a world of hurt! December and January are normally our busiest booking times. So far nothing from VRBO/home Away.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
sward6880 Jan 5, 2019 1:41 PM (in response to u0999)Its our peak booking season to and for the first time we are getting many more reservations from Airbnb than from Homeaway.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 5, 2019 1:49 PM (in response to u0999)u0999 did you happen to see my comments about how all 3 of your listings drop off when specific, very important search filters are clicked?
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 8:27 AM (in response to ohst8er)replied above
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 5, 2019 3:41 PM (in response to u0999)I just search Gatlinburg using filters as ohst8er mentioned, when "mountain" is used as a filtered 2 of your properties do indeed drop off only your new one remains. Check your amenities to be sure that mountain has not been removed. If it is still showing on the dashboard try unchecking it, save then checking it again then save. The new one disappears when filtering "good for families" but I think the only way to fix that is to get guests leave a review mentioning it is good for families.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 12:51 PM (in response to margaret)-
Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
feibus Jan 15, 2019 12:57 PM (in response to u0999)you're looking at the owner view... margaret is saying: take a look at how that maps in the traveler view, it might be wrong (by calling it just "mountain") and you should decide whether what you have matches the traveler's view of the filter.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 15, 2019 1:03 PM (in response to u0999)Try checking it then write "Mountain cabin with stunning wooded views" or something to that effect. Once it has updated look at it from the travelers side to see if your listings are showing when "Mountain" is check as a filter. Although you are seeing 'Mountain View" on the traveler side I see "Mountain" so it is not misleading to travelers since you are located in the mountains.
Edit: Your wooded views are in the mountains
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
susaninrehoboth Jan 16, 2019 5:33 AM (in response to margaret)This is true for oceanview, oceanfront and similar terms in VRBO filters. I would much prefer that only rentals that really were what is filtered instead of "only one mile for beautiful ocean view", just a few blocks to the beach", etc.. It's called marketing, it's deceptive, IMO, but such is life. My listing has every water related filter checked.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
susaninrehoboth Jan 5, 2019 3:42 PM (in response to u0999)In year's past, have you had winter photos this time of year yet were getting summer bookings? Try using summer photos on one listing and see what happens.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
grant570 Jan 5, 2019 11:16 PM (in response to u0999)There are a lot of choices in Gatlinburg. I get 863 results in a $150-$250 per night range for a weekend in May. Most people are looking on there phone these days. looking through some, I doubt I'd look at more than a few dozen before picking one to rent...Ones with the first picture of the view got me to look first, I think when there is so many that first picture is often all you have to catch their attention...
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
tnmountainmama Jan 7, 2019 10:09 AM (in response to u0999)I am in Sevierville. (I will caveat this statement by saying that last year was our first full year, so I don't know what's considered normal for me.) Last year, we did not get a single summer booking until March. Then, it was one after the other and by April, we had 95% of the summer booked solidly. This year has been completely different, so I don't know how it will go normally. We had 60% of the summer booked by October last year.
So, I think you are fine. Apparently March is a good month for lookers since we got our complete summer booked that month last year. I think your calendars look great! My husband doesn't really want to book the winter, so we have priced ourselves higher, and we don't have a single booking until March so your first half of the year looks very good.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 7, 2019 10:39 AM (in response to tnmountainmama)I am pretty sure u0999 is posting about the lack of leads from HA/VRBO. Her calendars may be looking good but I believe the question she posted is due to the fact that those bookings are coming from other sources.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
feibus Jan 7, 2019 10:49 AM (in response to margaret)My view from everything that's been said on this topic: Search results and ranking are related to how much of your calendar is open and whether HA filled those dates. So, booking too much elsewhere means HA won't place you in the search results as highly as necessary to get more bookings. Kind of feeds on itself that way.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 7, 2019 11:17 AM (in response to feibus)Agreed but u0999 has 2 properties that disappear when the filter for mountain is checked so that could be an issue since her properties are in the mountains.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
feibus Jan 7, 2019 11:30 AM (in response to margaret)Agreed, for her specific property. But there are others seeing similar and it could just be related to not booking enough through the platform and having an already-busy calendar.
Not sure if I was booking in Gatlinburg that I'd even think to click the "mountain" filter, just because... well, they're everywhere there, but that could just be me. I probably wouldn't think to book in Sevierville unless I was familiar with the area.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
tnmountainmama Jan 8, 2019 10:13 AM (in response to margaret)Honestly, I don't know what the mountain filter even means. When I joined, there was only a "mountain view" filter, which was replaced by "mountain." If everyone should check that filter just by being in the Smoky Mountain area, then it is a useless filter and doesn't mean much.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 8, 2019 10:34 AM (in response to tnmountainmama)I agree but apparently owners need to have mountain checked off in order to be shown in a search for Gatlinburg. I searched for u0999 3 properties and 2 of them disappear when the filter for mountain was chosen as a traveler.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
feibus Jan 8, 2019 10:41 AM (in response to margaret)If the filter isn't picked, it disappears??
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Jan 8, 2019 10:58 AM (in response to feibus)No the opposite. u0999 3 listings are shown in a search of Gatlinburg until the filter for "mountain" is check once that fitler is chosen 2 of her properties drop off and are no longer shown in the search.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 8:22 AM (in response to margaret)I think "mountain" means "mountain view". only one of my properties has actual view of mountains, the other two have wooded view although all three are IN the mountains.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 8:21 AM (in response to feibus)One of my properties only has handful of booking whether on HA or elsewhere. So it is not
fullness" of calendar issue.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 12:53 PM (in response to tnmountainmama)we book year round. in 2017 jan and feb were booked almost solid.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 22, 2019 6:10 AM (in response to u0999)we bombed this January. Bust. I should have closed and gone to Asia.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 15, 2019 8:32 AM (in response to u0999)so since I have had a few booking on my one (existing) property and only one booking on the new property. Still way below the amount of activity same time last year and year before.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
moosebigd Jan 16, 2019 11:05 AM (in response to u0999)We have the same concerns about the lack of activity for our listing in Myrtle Beach. 73 inquiries in 2017; 23 inquiries in 2018. ONE inquiry since October! ONE seven day VRBO booking in July! We have 56 Five Star reviews; regularly change heading on the listing and update seasonal messages; accepted a free Virtual Tour in August (which is active on our listing); accepted the invitation to be a Premiere Partner. We contacted a CS rep... "listing looks good". They said the only thing they see that might contribute to our dilemma is not being signed up for IB, so now we reluctantly have IB. Some of our competitors have 200-300 property views. We feel fortunate when we have 20! We have been with VRBO since 2015 and it seems like there has been a steady downward spiral every year since then.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
planthealth Jan 21, 2019 11:03 AM (in response to moosebigd)Moosebigd, I am just north of you in NMB. Mostly 5 star, REGULARLY change heading, tweak fees (dynamic pricing-ha!), PP, AND IB and March is prime golf season, wide open, crickets....
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 21, 2019 12:52 PM (in response to planthealth)We Are in Hilton Head. We finished 2018 with 230 nights booked at an ADR of $184. Right now 2019 is at 105 nights booked at a current ADR of $189. We still have 6 peak weeks left to book at a rate of $239. The occupancy For peak season is 100%.
Considering most of our bookings book in the year for the year I can honestly say that it isn’t the VRBO site. It must be something else, or a combination of several something else’s that are causing “crickets“ in your area.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 21, 2019 6:28 PM (in response to u0999)For some reason activity off of VRBO/Home Away has really slowed down for us. Two years ago we were 80% VRBO, the balance repeat bookings. In 2018 we were 65% VRBO, about 6% Facebook, 2% Home Escape and the balance repeats. So far this year we are already 69% booked compared to prior years, we are only 36% VRBO, 4% Facebook, and 60% Repeats. Definitely something is going on.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 22, 2019 6:09 AM (in response to u0999)I think the lack of bookings may be in the pricing.
I am willing to consider that the properties at lower prices "may" be getting shown more often
I would consider testing this by lowering your rates for a few days before the weekend when people are looking, and then raise back during booking times.
See if that gets your properties seen more and in front of more eyeballs without taking a huge financial ding.
You may end up with a couple of unwanted bookings at the lower rate, and that can be costly, but the others who fall in love with your house may not notice that the price has changed because they were browsing with emotion, and not pricing.
I know this sounds weird, but I think low price is a driving factor of being seen although I am not sure this is a metric or widely discussed.
I had my busiest booking day ever in 9 years yesterday! I could barely keep up with the requests, inquiries and instant bookings coming in one after the other......and I had lowered my rates for a few days last week, but then had second thoughts and upped them again....but wah lah ....the traffic it produced was amazing. And nobody asked me about the rate increase.
I also reduced my minimum # of nights. I needed to fill dates in.
coincidence? yes of course maybe.
hmmmmmmmm
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 22, 2019 7:18 AM (in response to georgygirl1955)I mentioned this when the new rates editor started last year. Every time I've lowered my rates, even for something as small as a five day gap, I've gotten a booking within 24 hours. I think it worked about 80% of the time.
Two days ago I lowered the rate in two 5 day booking windows just to try to close them and within a few hours I had receive a booking. NOT in those days, but a booking nonetheless.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 22, 2019 8:24 AM (in response to georgygirl1955)Tried that already (lowering) with no effect. How low can I go? A 5 bedroom new upscale mountain home that sleeps up to 16 for $209 a night! before cleaning and taxes.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 22, 2019 8:51 AM (in response to u0999)u0999, if you have exhausted ALL your options on the platform for making sure your listing is optimized (did you try clicking the mountain button on your end?) then I would probably say to you, VRBO is neither the problem, NOR the solution.
VRBO is doing quite well. I've had two more bookings in just the last two days. My prime weeks are going quickly, even at an $11 a night rate higher than last year. Others are experiencing same. So, if VRBO is doing well for others then it can't be VRBO the listing site.
Is it your location that just isn't the hot destination it used to be? I have no idea how your competitors are doing, but I've lived near the Smoky's long enough to know that as long as there's been mountains there, there's been people who want to BE in those mountains.... but have the numbers dropped at all recently? Did the fire scare people off and send them to other destinations?
Is it that there's just too much competition relative to when you first started? If that's the case, there's nothing much you can do about that.
Is it that folks are booking your area from sites OTHER THAN VRBO? That would be something to ferret out. Perhaps you need to diversify, if you haven't already.
Good luck to you, I hope this works itself out.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 22, 2019 9:53 AM (in response to ohst8er)all valid points.. except they do not exactly fit. I have my existing 4 bd property ON THE SAME STREET with the one in question (basically across from each other few hundred feet) that does pretty decent. So it is NOT destination, market, or fire. Fire DID NOT scare people. in fact, after fire happened in Nov 2016, I had 2017 my best year ever. My 3 bd all of a sudden has no traffic on VRBO (it was renting like crazy last year - but that does not worry me yet as it is established property).
And no, VRBO is not doing well for others are not doing well across the board. One of my acquaintances in the same market experiencing similar situation - her 3 bd does well and 2 bd is lagging. like some sort of lottery.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 22, 2019 9:56 AM (in response to u0999)Is the 3 bedroom the one that doesn't have the "good for families" designation? And, did you set the filter for "mountains" yet?
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 23, 2019 11:54 AM (in response to ohst8er)yes it does have "good for families" designation. and yes added mountains
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 22, 2019 5:49 PM (in response to u0999)could you be caught in a "catch-22" ?
You aren't booking due to lack of reviews, and you cant get reviews while the property doesnt book..... ??
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 23, 2019 11:53 AM (in response to georgygirl1955)Possibly. But then there is no way out of Catch 22. Or there may be yet another catch 22. VRBO does not show my property bc I have (almost) no bookings through them. I get no bookings because VRBO does not show my property to guests.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
grant570 Jan 23, 2019 3:31 PM (in response to georgygirl1955)I have a brand new build with no reviews. I am doing great with bookings compared to previous years with the cottage we sold. Not that there is any comparison in my market to u0999's, just pointing out no reviews has not been an issue for us...
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 22, 2019 5:48 PM (in response to u0999)UGH - that is too low. Yuck
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
moosebigd Jan 23, 2019 12:26 PM (in response to u0999)Lowering prices will definitely bring more interest, but will it bring the quality of guest you would want staying in your home? We lowered our rates for our Myrtle Beach condo almost two weeks ago, which has resulted in one inquiry. Our rates are consistent with other comparable condos in our area. We are not the least expensive, but we are not the highest price either. And still the crickets chirp. As I said before, this is an issue that has escalated through the years.
I did notice something when I researched a condo that "Won" a booking and we did not in our Dashboard information. That condo was listed for $115 per night on the website; we are listed at $125. Not much of a difference but when computed for the duration of a stay, it can be significant. The average nightly rate made it appear that we are more costly. And even though the potential guest might have "viewed" our listing, they moved on to seek something less expensive. When I checked the breakdown of the fees for our competition, there was a "Property Fee" of $59, a cleaning fee of $185, the Service Fee, etc., etc. When it came to the bottom line for the cost of our property versus theirs, the difference was $4. Perhaps the "Average Nightly Rate" needs to include ALL additional fees to put every property on an even playing field.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 24, 2019 11:42 AM (in response to u0999)still crickets
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
twomoreyears Jan 25, 2019 10:08 PM (in response to u0999)I think at least part is because there is something wrong with the government (no, I am not trying to start a political debate). With the trade wars with China, the government shutdown, and the general mess the government is in right now, it's spilled over and consumer confidence is down. The growth of the economy is slowing, and I believe people are more hesitant to plan as far ahead as they used to plan.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 26, 2019 7:06 AM (in response to twomoreyears)twomoreyears, I have wondered about that too.
I've also wondered if my aggressive rates are what's causing slower bookings, but when I go to lower my rates I stop myself and don't, and then we get a booking anyway. We are definitely booking more slowly, but we are still booking.
Part of it might also be location as it relates to the travelers who frequent there. The kind of travelers who head to my locale aren't affected as fast by economic hiccups, real or perceived. Locations that tend to attract alot of working class people would probably feel the first affects of this. Hilton Head Island has the reputation of not being a "cheap" vacation, so folks who are on a tight budget might not necessarily look to us as their vacation destination even in a thriving economy.
I grew up in a working class to middle class neighborhood. Where we vacationed (when we could afford it) was Gatlinburg, parts of Florida--Disney, alot of my friends went to Myrtle Beach.....
Unfortunately we cannot really point to ONE thing as the answer. Slow bookings could be because:
An economic downturn
A perceived economic downturn
...we could list several subcategories under both these
_______________location isn't the hot market anymore
VRBO isn't the booking vehicle of choice for __________ market anymore
_____________ market is too flooded with VR's
And for some locations, it could be several of those factors.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 26, 2019 8:14 AM (in response to ohst8er)Personally I think it is a combination of several things, very little has to do with the economy:
I believe Airbnb is making great inroads into locations that used to be almost 100% VRBO. Several management companies on PCB have dropped HA/VRBO and picked up Airbnb. In speaking to owners, the bookings have not fallen off for them.
Until very recently Expedia has been pushing the Home Away brand instead of the bread a butter VRBO which has further eroded market share. Ignoring VRBO by HA was a terrible miscalculation on their part.
With all the changes and increased cost associated with the Home Away Family of sites, this has brought about an influx of numerous additional listing sites which tends to dilute Home Aways market share.
More guests are going direct to the owners instead of using a 3rd party. The additional costs, restrictions, and confusion generated by the HA changes have pushed guests in this direction.
Our bookings for 2019 are up as we are 71% booked compared to 2018 but our VRBO booking are way down, almost half of what they were in 2018, 1/3 of what they were in 2017.
All JMO of course.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
moosebigd Jan 27, 2019 2:27 PM (in response to greggt)I'm not exactly sure that I agree with your comment that Expedia has "been pushing the HomeAway brand... and "ignoring VRBO". When I search my VRBO listing on the HomeAway website, it shows up. It is my opinion that VRBO and HomeAway are one and the same for all intents and purposes.
What appears to have been happening since Expedia took over both VRBO/HomeAway, is prioritizing listings that are able to offer meal/activity vouchers, transportation, and many hotel-style amenities, which we, as small property owners, are typically unable to compete with. Expedia in turn has provided the small property owners with Metrics, rankings, payment plans, strategies for being respectable property owners, et al. Some of this information is useful but what I am truly interested in... and why I originally subscribed to VRBO... is an advertising venue for my home. That simple, basic, advertising is no longer the focus of Expedia and I suspect why we are seeing a decline in listing activity for our properties.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 27, 2019 3:35 PM (in response to moosebigd)I'm speaking of advertising, when HA FINALY decided to do some advertising other than paying Google money, it was all about Home Away.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
feibus Jan 26, 2019 7:37 AM (in response to twomoreyears)I'm definitely NOT going to go down the road of a political debate, but let me go all "economic" here:
10 years of continuous economic growth is not the norm. A recession after such a long streak of growth would be normal, not at all surprising. Are we already in a recession? Ask the economists in about 2 years when they figure it out. And for some owners, this will be the first downturn they've experienced, so watch how they respond to see what's happening in your market.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 26, 2019 9:28 PM (in response to twomoreyears)I do not think so as there was a thread on FB group and majority replied that their bookings are on par with last year i.e no effect
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
greggt Jan 27, 2019 8:38 AM (in response to u0999)My thoughts too u999, our bookings are about the same maybe even up from last year despite the hurricane that ravaged our area. Our complex suffered around 6 million in damages. Most all units that are rentable, are booking better than prior year, just not through VRBO. Several property managers on our beach have actually dropped HA/VRBO in favor of Airbnb due to activity.
There is no question HA/VRBO has issues in attracting travelers and it seems to be getting worse as time goes on. In our case, 35% VRBO so far in 2019, 65% in 2018, and in 2017 85% tells the story there is a serious issue.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
georgygirl1955 Jan 27, 2019 3:03 PM (in response to u0999)I still wish you would change your lead photo.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
myrtlebeachgirl Jan 27, 2019 2:45 PM (in response to u0999)I agree with the responses below. I'm active for awhile then silence. I book in Myrtle Beach and it seems to be going as normal for me. I have been on VRBO since January 2016.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Jan 27, 2019 2:58 PM (in response to myrtlebeachgirl)myrtlebeachgirl, we are plugging along just fine as well. I sure would like to know why some are doing well, and others are getting nothing. If it's something to do with the site and algorithms it could just as easily be US next go around.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
twomoreyears Jan 27, 2019 3:17 PM (in response to ohst8er)We are behind last year at this time by about 30% for the entire year 2019, but the difference is in the out months (mostly July and forward)
For us, it's probably a combination of a few factors: this isn't the busy booking season for us (it's the high occupancy season for the Caribbean), people seem to be booking nearer to their travel than they used to, and I've nudged the prices up a bit for the out months.
We're getting new pictures in March of our recent upgrades (new furniture for several area, etc) and I have ideas for better staging (romantic candlelight dinner for two overlooking the Caribbean, anyone?). We're looking into doing the virtual tour, too. So I'm not lowering the prices yet. I've steeled my resolve to ignore those "You lost a booking" cards I get for bookings numerous months in advance.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
planthealth Jan 27, 2019 3:54 PM (in response to myrtlebeachgirl)I'm in NMB and January weather was almost fall like at NMB and yet January was DEAD. I attributed it to lack of snowstorms and bad weather driving snow birds south for relief. February is shaping up "ok" but slower than last year and summer is booking much slower for us. It used to be we would get flurries of inquiries with maddening questions where the answers were clearly "up front" in our listing. Now we get few questions and when people book it is one question/exchange then book.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
moosebigd Jan 27, 2019 7:00 PM (in response to planthealth)Down in MB, we have 13 days booked for the entire year of 2019 through VRBO... 7 days were booked back in September 2018 and we just got the other 6 days last week! February tends to be more active for us, but it has never been this quiet for this long since we subscribed to VRBO in 2015. In the past we might not have gotten instant bookings in our off months but at least we had a consistent number of inquiries and interest. Since we signed up for IB (which we did reluctantly a few weeks ago), our page views have increased and our placement has moved up the page somewhat, but that is not producing inquiries or bookings. Our higher metric ranking hasn't been of any benefit either since we became a PP.
Earlier in this thread there had been discussion about the number of reviews possibly being a factor in the activity on listings. There are 210 properties listed in our area. We have the third highest number of five star reviews... with that many accolades, one would think that our listing is burning up our computer with business. Ha! So I don't think getting reviews is necessarily the solution to draw guests to a property.
We have been playing by the rules since Day 1 and taken all suggestions for improving our listing. And still we continue the downward spiral. It is very frustrating to be paying for the services of VRBO and not have the results that one would expect.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Jan 27, 2019 7:44 PM (in response to u0999) -
Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
floridarob Jan 29, 2019 3:42 AM (in response to u0999)Hey u0999
One thing that hasn't been discussed (or perhaps I missed it); how is your market rank doing? Do you track it? Do you know what it was last year vs. what it is this year? I'm not asking you to publicize it, but certainly it is something that I would consider in attempting to answer your question.
In my experience/opinion, REVIEWS on the site by travelers is the number one factor affecting market rank, and market rank is the number one factor affecting exposure, which affects views, which affect inquiries, which affects bookings. (I know you know that...)
But how does your market rank compare this year to last year? And how many reviews have you had posted on HA sites in the last two months of 2018 vs. 2017?
Just a thought/question for your consideration.
If you read things like VRMIntel, they report that Property Managers are reporting that inquiries from HA sites are dramatically down across the board.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
victoriam Feb 3, 2019 4:27 PM (in response to u0999)I have had no inquiries for 3 months, then 3 in one day! No idea what's up with that. I've given up trying to figure this out. Will probably just switch out of vacation rentals and do 2-3 month stays, visiting nurses, professors, interns etc.
In the good old days, before Expedia, I used to start getting a flood of inquiries for Spring/summer (Washington DC - very popular Spring Break destination) in September, then another flood in January. By late Jan. I used to be pretty much booked solid from March 1-July 31. Now - basically zip. The market is flooded - with so many bad listings - that I understand potential guests are just getting frustrated and fed up, but **** it still hurts!
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
grant570 Feb 3, 2019 4:41 PM (in response to u0999)Remembering someone bringing up website traffic.... I looked on alexa.com. VRBO traffic looks like a normal seasonal fluctuation. Homeaway is a whole other story..Homeaway was ranked about 5000th last year, but this year down to 7,500 for traffic..A significant drop...where VRBO is ranked 2,777 and was about 3,000 last year this time, a much more similar ranking.... People just aren't using homeaway like they did last year....
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
ohst8er Feb 3, 2019 4:56 PM (in response to grant570)I don't know... I have booked my spring and prime summer weeks at a much quicker pace than last year, at a higher rate than last year. In fact we've increased our rates every year since we started, as high as a 17% increase for prime season since we started in Feb 2015. We only use VRBO. It's worked well for us. Our prime season nights for our 3 bedroom condo in 2015 was $199 a night. This year I rented them for $239 a night and I only have 1 week in July and the last two weeks of August left.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
u0999 Feb 4, 2019 11:07 AM (in response to ohst8er)here is another interesting thing. Out of my 2 existing properties, the one that was ALWAYS ahead in years past is now lagging. The other that was lagging came ahead so far. If I am not mistaken, the new property only received ONE more VRBO booking (high season) since this thread started. So I am thinking it is not the "newness" of the new property.. it is some other mysterious algorithm change that also caused 2 existing properties to basically "trade places" in terms of activity and bookings.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
margaret Feb 4, 2019 9:16 AM (in response to grant570)That's interesting since I have noticed that VRBO is now being advertised when for the past couple of years it seems only HA was being advertised. That said, I don't know why that would account for fewer bookings since all listings are on both HA & VRBO.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
myrtlebeachgirl Feb 20, 2019 4:36 PM (in response to u0999)In Myrtle Beach I am doing about the same as the last two years. I clear caches and cookies every time I go into VRBO. I do believe they show certain properties for awhile, then display other properties. Our rentals can't possibly be on the 1st page every time, but that would be nice. Haha If you search for Myrtle Beach there are hundreds of properties. If you use their filters it narrows it some but there are a lot of owners who advertise their unit as oceanfront when it is not. And they falsely advertise other filters too. If you break down more from Myrtle Beach to an area or resort or building it is much easier for the traveler to search and our properties show up much better in a smaller area. But, some travelers don't know to do that, they just search a large area like MB. I do believe ranking is a big factor and that's why they have that now. If you watch their videos and things like bad photos will hurt your listing, I don't believe that. I see many on the 1st page with horrible photos, descriptions and their info in not informative. I believe it all goes back to algorithm.
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Re: Is something wrong with the site? Busy booking season, and 0 activity
funfla22 Feb 20, 2019 5:03 PM (in response to u0999)recently I was loookng for a place to go later this year I noticed that evolve had many listing in that area here on vrbo each of those under owner fees listed not only cleaning but another fee if the property was owner run that fee didn't show now I had to search to find this
I wonder if vrbo fees and now half the listing out there have even more fees if we aren't chasing the users away !!!!!!!!