Over the last several months, fast-growing vacation rental companies have begun to describe themselves as "technology-enabled" or "tech-enabled" in the media and in their communications. However, in a sector facing rapid innovations in technology, the differentiation between a tech-enabled vacation rental manager (VRM) and a VRM that simply utilizes technology is becoming less clear.
Last month, over two hundred vacation rental professionals and technology leaders, including Phocuswright, Wyndham, LiveRez, Vacasa, Evolve, East West Resorts, Invited Home, Vacation Rental Pros, Expedia, Streamline, Red Awning, Sky Run, Beyond Pricing, AirDNA, and more, met in Denver to discuss the state of technology in the vacation rental industry.
In the last three years, the industry has seen an explosion in the technology that is available to VRMs. Automated guest-marketing and communications tools have advanced to reach out to travelers from before they first think about going on vacation to the time they choose never to vacation again. For operations, technology is being created to manage every aspect of property care, housekeeping, maintenance, human resource management, expense tracking, smart-home automation, energy management, and more.
Over over seventy VRM functions currently have technology solutions available.
Moreover, over a dozen new platforms in development have not yet reached the marketplace.
Is it reasonable to expect one technology provider to offer the best-in-class solution for all of these functions? Likely not. As more tech tools become available, it is improbable that any single software company will have the resources to be the best supplier of every technology tool the industry needs. Consequently, increased levels of open integration will be necessary, but some software systems have been slow to provide integration.
As vacation rental managers shop for new software systems, they are likely to find it increasingly critical to choose software providers that provide the ability to integrate with the tools that they determine are best for their companies.
For example, in some markets, investing in the best tech solutions for property care yields the biggest gains in revenue and market share. In other markets, investing in channel distribution management produces larger returns. In others, revenue-management technology has the maximum benefit.
Not all technology solutions are right for all businesses. In many cases, the functionality that the primary software system provides addresses the need adequately. For example, the websites and online marketing tools that a software provider offers may work well in a market where the majority of bookings come from third-party channels.
Although the technology solutions needed by each VRM vary greatly, knowing what tech tools are available and understanding how utilization of these tools potentially affects business are imperative in facing the future of property management.
Oddly, many Visitor Bureaus heavily heavily funded by transient taxes have poor tech skills or web presence….embarassing and symptom of poor tax payer oversight.