A BIG Takeaway from VRBO’s 2021 Consumer Travel Trend Report

This episode of the Boosu podcast is sponsored by xivu. Zivu is the direct booking revolution. They have got PMS Channel Manager. They've got a fantastic service that I recommend that everybody check out. I've known Naim, who's the founder of xivu for a long time now and I've told him since day one, listen, Naim, just crack one thing, get really good at one thing and focus on that. He goes, no, I'm going to do everything. So not only do they have properties, they property management, they do a PMS channel manager, they've got an academy, they do everything. And also as well they now integrate with Google Hotel ads, which is really exciting because Google Hotel ads is going to be a very key area of your marketing in 2021. So if you haven't already, go to boostly b o-o s t-l y.co.uk explore e x p L O R E. That'll take you to a landing page where you can find out a little bit more about Xevu and how they are revelation revolutionizing the direct booking journey. And you can also book a call in and have a chat with them to see if they will be the right PMS for you. I'm also excited to say that XIVU and Boostly websites have now combined together. We have, they and us have come together, We've linked our APIs and it just means that you're direct booking WordPress website with Boostly is now straight connected into Xevu so the guest doesn't have to leave the website to create and complete the booking, which is a game changer. I cannot tell you how much of this is a game changer. It's going to save time. It means that everything will be so smooth and it just knocks out any traction in the guest booking process. So please do go check out Booster Codk Explore and if you want to go check out boostly websites, boostly website.com okay everybody, are you ready for today's episode? It's going to be a good one. Leave a hashtag live in the comments if you're watching with us. Leave a hashtag replay if you're watching on the replay with us. And also as well let us know where you're tuning in from in the world. If you're on the audio, if you're listening in the car or walking the dog, then just literally pick up the phone, send me an Instagram message and let me know where you are watching or tuning in from this. So uk, thank you so much let's get on with today's show. Hello, my name is Mark Simpson and I give hosts just like you the tools, the tactics and the training to get more direct bookings. And in today's episode, I wanted to just dig into a stat from the VRBO consumer report. So this is the consumer travel trend report that VRBO put out for 2021 and there's one thing that really stuck out for me. So number six on the list and you can go and find it by googling VRBO Report, Travel Trend Report. But everyone wants a vaccine do over and more family time. So let's just quickly go for it now. Travel FOMO fear of missing out was at an all time high in 2020. Rather than scrapping a canceled trip completely, families want to make up for lost time. According to Verbo, 54% want to redo their canceled vacation plans. Of those who had a trip canceled due to Covid, 44 are rescheduling and 31 say the main reason they want to travel is to spend quality time with family. And the travel actual bookings and the inquiries that are coming in are matching this as well. So what people like guesty and uplisting and Wheelhouse and all those fantastic companies that are providing actual data based on bookings is that what is happening is that they're getting more bookings as in bigger bookings for bigger properties. And what's happening is that people are booking for a longer period of time. So this is really interesting because I know that people that have got large properties have obviously suffered massively during these big heavy lockdowns, downs because of restrictions and how many people can be in a property at once, etc. But the plus side is that the bounce back and revenge travel is definitely coming for you. So again what you're finding is that families, as in brothers, sisters, siblings, parents are looking to really get together. So if you've got big properties, this is the time now to amend your marketing and really focus on the fact. Try and have it where right now. So say we're looking, this is being recorded obviously April, try and do it where June. So July, August, September, Northern hemisphere people is obviously summer holidays. Try and have it where you're boxing it off for at least a week, maybe even two weeks. Like really have that minimum stay and go strong on it and box it off. So a minimum night is like at least 10 nights, 14 nights because people are going to be doing that. People want to get family together and they don't all want family in their house. They want to get together. So how can you change your marketing? How can you change your minimum stay? How can you amend it all to where you are appealable and it's appealable for someone to stay for maybe two weeks at a time, maybe even three weeks at a time. Again by doing this and by being strong on it now is that what will happen is the inquiries that come in when someone does a search on your website or on an OTA for example then they will see that big block gap of 2, 3 weeks which will make you more appealable now also as well don't rule out this is the Airbnb are favoring month long stays at the moment, you know, so whack it up to a month month, put a bit of a discount on there, amend your prices accordingly. But get creative. This is the time to get creative. Don't just set in the ways of where you were pre covered. This is a post Covid world now that we are living in. So the marketing on your website will change, the wording on your website will change, the social media posts that you put out will change. And this is the time especially for people with large properties to plan accordingly. So again if you need more help and advice, do stick around. Make sure you subscribe to this channel. If you have got a big property which 10 people plus leave little comment below and give your product, give your business a pitch. You know, put the web link in there, tell me where you are in the world. You never know who's going to be watching these videos. So thank you very much for tuning in. If this is the first time like I say please do hit that like button. It really does help more people discover it. Leave a comment and then share it. Share it into a Facebook group, share into a LinkedIn group, share it on your social media profiles and just tell the world about Boostly, the book Direct Movement and everything that we're trying to do here. So my name's been Mark Simpson. Massive thank you to Zevu have sponsored this podcast and I'll be back tomorrow for another episode.