Vacation Rental Technology

Vacation rental technology is at the forefront of facilitating property manager tasks and there has been an exponential growth in technological advances in the vacation rental industry. Property managers want to ensure their home is secure, their guests have an excellent experience and they maximize their revenue. Property managers are competing with an increasing number of listings and so it is crucial to invest in technology to reduce operating costs.

According to Transparent’s European Vacation Rental Survey in 2018, there are only two main technologies adopted by property managers: Property Management Software and Channel Managers. 67% of property managers said they used a Channel Manager and 59% of Property Managers said they used a Property Management Software. Less than 25% of property managers said they used any other technology.

Use of Technology:

European Vacation Rental Survey 2018 Report

Technology-enabled disciplines - revenue management, distribution, connected home - separate large from small property managers. While technology enabled disciplines can drive PM performance, adoption varies widely. Larger PMs tend to use more technology than smaller PMs. For example, each size cohort of PMs has greater usage of PMSs and Channel Managers than the cohort below it. This adoption matters because these technology-based disciplines have the potential to drive performance on a per listing basis.

▶ Different Vacation Rental Technology Tools

The vacation rental industry has seen a boom in the number of technology startups launched in the past few years. These companies aim to solve some of the challenges that property managers face with Technology..

There are a variety of different technology services that help property managers and their guests. The future of the vacation rental industry is partly down to technology offering the utmost customer service to ensure consistency and a high-quality service to Property Managers and their guests.

The main technologies used in the vacation rental industry are:

Channel Managers t put your listings on multiple platforms whilst syncing all the information. When a booking is made on one channel, it will be synced across all of them. This prevents overbookings and allows property managers to list their properties on an array of channels, increasing their visibility.

Property Management Software (PMS) helps property managers by organising and automating their daily tasks and allowing them to focus on what really matters.

Keyless entry allows property managers to send their guests time-sensitive access codes, creating an efficient, secure and time-saving method to the old-fashioned key exchange process.

Connected thermostat allows property managers to control the temperature of their homes remotely, helping property managers cut down on monthly bills and ensuring their guests have a pleasant stay.

Operations Management technology reduces operation costs and increases efficiency, allowing property managers to spend more time on generating bookings.

Guest Management technology provides property managers with features and functions to help manage their guests and reservations.

Smart home apps improve the safety and security of a property and can help guests have a more comfortable and convenient stay. It can also increase the efficiency of a property, reducing costs and the environmental impact.

The most effective tools:

For more information on Property Management Software and Channel Managers, click here.

▶ Why is technology important to use when managing your Vacation rental

Property Managers must ensure smooth business operations across their multiple listings and technology that centralizes and automates this can facilitate their tasks.

Managing multiple properties can be tiresome, time-consuming and fallible. Technology automates processes, reducing the workload and enabling property managers to spend less time managing individual properties. The cost of distribution continues increasing as OTAs and vacation rental platforms grow bigger, so it is important to have a systemized operation to increase your margins. Although operating a business manually may seem like the cheapest option, it prevents scalability and reduces efficiency. Technology is an essential investment that will enable you to compete with larger PMs and improve your business strategy.