In episode seven of the Skift Ideas Podcast, we are joined by Michael Canning, co-founder and chief brand officer at Exceptional Alien, a travel platform leveraging the power of creatives and influencers to curate travel communities in order to highlight unique experiences through its ‘Travel Playbooks’.
Vrbo Severed Ties with Hosts for Cancelling Guest Bookings
25.10.2023 - 18:41 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Southwest Airlines
Vrbo has recently severed ties with “a large number” of its vacation rental hosts who have cancelled too many guest bookings without valid reasons.
That was the word this week from Tim Rosolio, vice president of vacation rental partner success at Expedia Group, as he addressed Vrbo’s moves to penalize hosts who cancel too frequently. One of the little-known parts of the new strategy is that Vrbo, an Expedia Group brand, has essentially been firing hosts, and cleaning out bad actors from its ranks.
“There are a large number of partners that we’ve looked at their cancellation history. And we’ve called them over the past two months,” Rosolio said during a panel discussion at the Vacation Rental Management Association conference in Orlando on Monday. “And we’ve told them that we’re not going to work with you anymore. We’ve done that pruning of the marketplace. It’s mostly individual owners.”
Rosolio said Vrbo has plenty of vacation rental supply and he’s “always viewed just how many properties we have as a little bit of a vanity number.”
More important, he said, is to avoid Vrbo hosts’ unnecessary cancellations, which can anger guests and turn them off from ever booking a vacation rental again.
Vrbo also decided to levy penalties of up to 50% of a gross booking against hosts who cancel too much. Vrbos is also making it tougher for hosts to qualify as premier hosts, a status that can elevate their homes’ positions in search results.
The panel at the vacation rental conference focused on so-called “OTA wars” — meaning vacation rental competition among online travel agencies. Several participants took shots at a familiar target, Google and its grip on search.
“You get on the paid search spend wagon and it’s really hard to get off, and then Google wins, and everyone else loses,” said Rich Au, Airbnb’s head of global business development.
Airbnb has downplayed its use of Google paid search over the years, and claims that 90% of its site visitors come direct — although that includes those who land on Airbnb via Google’s free links.
Ian Ackland, regional director, North America at Booking.com, which spends billions of dollars annually on Google paid search, disagreed. “A blend of things work,” Ackland said. “You can’t give up Google. I think it has to be part of your strategy.”
He argued that travel businesses need to seek sponsorships, such as Booking’s with Major League Baseball in the U.S., ICC Cricket in India, and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Travel companies should also broaden distribution partnerships, he said. For example, Ackland said, Booking provides lodging supply to Southwest Airlines and Apple Maps.
Valentin Grüber, chief operating officer of HomeToGo, said the travel comparison and booking
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I visited Los Angeles with my 60-year-old mom. Here are 4 things I'd do again and 2 I'd skip next time.
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01.11.2023 / 12:47
Hotels Celebrate The Holidays With Festive Activities
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01.11.2023 / 00:01
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30.10.2023 / 09:41
Maui’s Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Has Reopened To Travelers And Is Ready For Your Holiday Booking
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26.10.2023 / 11:57
Ghosts Haunt Hollywood At Halloween And All Year Round
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26.10.2023 / 09:13
Designing a Sustainable Legacy, with Bill Bensley: Podcast
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Carnival went ahead with a cruise despite the 'significant risk' of a coronavirus outbreak, judge rules
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Beyonce Boosts Hotel Bookings
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How to look stylish at the airport without sacrificing comfort, according to a celebrity stylist
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23.10.2023 / 16:05
These cities go all out for Day of the Dead. Here’s where to stay.
Marigold-strewn altars to deceased loved ones, revelers dressed as skeletons, and colorful parades make Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) a big spectacle in Mexico and U.S. border states. The somber-meets-celebratory holiday November 1 and 2 honors the dead with a fusion of Catholic and pre-Columbian traditions. It sees locals decorating family graves at cemeteries and travelers joining public celebrations from Mexico City to California.