The Online Economy & Holiday Rentals

by Alex Adams Freelance Writer / Blogger

The online economy is growing at a hare's pace, and it is changing the way people are doing business across a range of sectors. This is perhaps nowhere more true than in the tourism industry – specifically, in the hospitality industry. Whereas once, holiday bookings required either personal contacts with your destination, an agent or a foreign copy of the Yellow Pages, these days anybody planning a holiday can see thousands upon thousands of properties anywhere in the world at the touch of a button. Instead of a brief write-up or a word of mouth account, they can leaf through photographs, read the reviews of previous customers, explore the local area on their browser and, ultimately, book a holiday without ever having to leave the kitchen table.

This is of great interest to property owners in the holiday rentals business. For one thing, it presents a huge challenge to surmount. As the online economy grows seemingly exponentially, it is crucial for anybody who has their eye on long-term growth to get online now. Whether through third party online holiday letting agencies or rental portals, or whether by setting up a website of your own, if you are a property owner in the holiday rentals business, online is very much where it's all happening.

This is, of course, as much good news as it is challenging. After all, never has the task of getting exposure for your property been easier. And with some of the great innovations in the industry in recent years, you do not need to be a technology expert to make the most of it. One of the best ways to take advantage of the new commercial landscape (or rather, e-landscape) that is emerging is to use a dedicated website builder to create an industry-specific website advertising your property, to list your property on a number of popular online property agencies and to take advantages of one of the rental property management software products out there to organise your business. Putting these three elements together is a great way to get into pole position in the race to your potential guests' attention.

Software of this sort has a number of advantages. For one thing, you can synchronise your property portfolio with your website – thus ensuring that your online presence is fully up to date without you having to do a thing. For another, integrated features such as vacancy calendars that automatically update online when you update your offline records and bookings & payment procedures will make your life far easier as a business owner. Customers will also be more likely to book with a website that they can trust, so an all-in-one product that can show your properties at their best, automatically stay up to date with your records and – in doing so – cut down on your workload has got to be a good idea.

And if there is one thing that we have learned comprehensively about the online economy, it is that a good idea can go very far, very fast.