One of the major hurdles for people who own vacation rentals is getting their property the visibility it needs to attract customers. While you’ve built a beautiful and comfortable living space for your visitors, people aren’t going to troop in because of that, especially when they don’t even know your rental exists. Like every other business, you need to invest in advertising to reach your audience.
One of the popular ways to market rental properties is by listing them on vacation rental websites. You can choose numerous options to connect you to the clients you need. Some even allow you to list your property for free. However, we’d recommend you advertise your home on more than one of these platforms, as they have over millions of holiday rentals on offer, making the market very competitive.
Briefly, here are the top 10 vacation rental websites you can choose from as a property manager:
1. Airbnb
If you’re looking for the perfect platform to advertise your vacation rental, then Airbnb is where your property should be. In just over ten years of its existence, Airbnb has grown into an extensive network of six million property listings spread across 100,000 cities in over 190 countries worldwide. Its audience base is even more impressive, with an estimated 150 million users.
What’s more? There’s no charge to list your property on the platform. Airbnb only requests a 3% host service fee from property managers on every reservation. There are also guest service fees, which can go as high as 20%.
Furthermore, landlords have the freedom to decide what to charge visitors while there’s a $1 million Host Guarantee Insurance Policy to protect rentals from accidents and damage. Other measures are in place, as well, to ensure property owners and travelers do not engage in fraudulent activities on the website.
2. TripAdvisor
Another one of the best sites to advertise a holiday rental property, TripAdvisor has over 800,000 property listings in 190 countries globally. An audience network of over 300 million monthly visitors means your vacation rental is sure to get the visibility you desire. Furthermore, once you have your property listed on TripAdvisor, it appears across its other rental booking websites, such as HouseTrip, FlipKey, and HolidayLettings.
TripAdvisor also charges 3% of every booking from landlords and 8-16% from visitors. Besides these fees, listing on the website is entirely free, with no subscription costs.
3. Booking.Com
Currently the largest travel e-commerce website worldwide, Booking.com offers property managers free listing and access to an audience of over 400 million users. The platform is also home to an estimated 30 million property listings, including over five million holiday rentals. This extensive accommodation coverage makes it a very competitive space to advertise your vacation rental, so you’ll need to make sure you stand out from the crowd to reach your audience.
Like the other vacation rentals we’ve reviewed, Booking.com doesn’t charge you to list your property. However, there’s a commission fee that varies depending on the location of your home. Usually, it’s somewhere around 10-25%. Where Booking.com stands out is that they do not charge guests from their booking fee. Furthermore, when you advertise your holiday rental on Booking.com, your property appears on top search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing alongside Google Maps.
4. VRBO
Vacation Rental by Owner, or VRBO, is a member of the HomeAway family of vacation rental services. The website has over two million property listings worldwide and an extensive network of users. However, unlike the other platforms on this list, there are two ways to advertise your holiday rental on VRBO.
For the first option, property managers pay an annual subscription fee of $499. This charge gives them access to visibility across 20 international websites, an interactive map, a range of digital tools to help optimize your listing, and 50 HD pictures. The second option is the commission charge for every booking. This fee is usually somewhere around 8%. You can choose any of the options that work for you.
5. Clickstay
Clickstay has an audience of over 4 million users, which means you get the exposure you need for your property when you advertise it on the website. The platform also has over 50,000 holiday rentals spread across 76 nations. Property managers have to pay a start-up fee of $1 before listing their properties on Clickstay. Afterward, the website charges a commission of around 10% for every booking.
6. HomeStay
HomeStay offers free listing services to property managers, with access to an extensive user base. The website has holiday rentals in over 160 countries and charges a 3% commission fee for every booking. Landlords can also interact with visitors using video call technology ahead of stays. Travelers can also negotiate special services like laundry with property managers.
7. HomeAway
HomeAway operates a family of accommodation booking websites, including VRBO, Homelidays, Stayz, HomeAwayUK, and Abritel. It has over six million listings across 150 nations globally. Its 480 million visitors and 1.5 million daily bookings also mean you have all the visibility you need when you advertise your vacation rental with HomeAway. Furthermore, since HomeAway is a part of Expedia, you’ll have your home listed there, as well.
There are several methods to choose from to list your home on the platform. The first involves an annual subscription of $349. You could also opt for the premium package of $999. Lastly, there’s the choice of paying a commission fee of around 10-13% for every booking.
8. Wimdu
Wimdu is a popular name in the accommodation booking market in Europe. The platform has over 350,000 homes across several destinations in Europe and the rest of the world, including luxury apartments and beach cottages. Property managers can market their apartments on the platform for free, with visitors paying the commission fee.
9. OwnerDirect
OwnerDirect has been in the accommodation booking industry for over two decades. It offers free advertising services to property managers alongside the freedom and flexibility to manage their holiday rental listings. Landlords can also market multiple properties on the platform. However, the platform charges a 10% commission on every reservation.
10. Perfect Places
Perfect Places allows you to list your holiday rental home on their website in exchange for a monthly, annually, or two-year subscription package. They also offer extensive visibility, as your property will appear on other listing platforms, such as forGetaway, MointainSkiRentals, LakeRentals, AOL, and Tripping. You can also link your property listing page to your website.
