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9 min read
by LUGGit Marketing Team
Published August 05, 2024
| vacation rental industry | rental technology | trends |
The vacation rental industry is quickly transforming, with businesses using technology to enhance guest experiences and maintain a competitive edge. Adopting new technologies can significantly improve guest satisfaction, operational efficiency, and overall profitability.
This shift isn’t merely a response to technological advancement, but also to consumers’ evolving expectations of personalization and convenience. To be successful in such a competitive industry, staying ahead of these trends is becoming necessary. In this article, we leave you the top technology trends transforming vacation rentals in 2024 and how you can integrate them into your operations.
AI-powered chatbots
AI-powered chatbots can assist your guests in real time 24/7. They can handle a wide range of tasks, from answering inquiries and making bookings to providing personalized recommendations.
Say goodbye to answering the same questions over and over again and avoid wasting time on routine tasks. This allows you to free space in your calendar and increase your guest satisfaction through immediate and personalized assistance.
💡 Implementation tips:
- Select a chatbot platform that allows easy customization to match your brand’s voice and style.
- Ensure it can integrate with your existing systems, like booking engines, CRM software, and property management systems.
Smart locks
One of your priorities as a host is providing security to your guests and ensuring your property is secure at all times. There’s a reason why the smart lock industry is estimated to be valued at 2.77 billion $ and is expected to grow even more. Smart locks make check-in and check-out easier, eliminating the inconvenience of traditional key exchanges (and the nightmare of a guest losing their keys).
Each guest can receive a unique digital key on their phone which automatically expires after check-out. Also, it allows you to control and manage access to your property remotely, which makes hosting remotely a lot easier.
💡 Implementation tips:
- Ensure that your smart locks integrate seamlessly with your other smart home devices and are compatible with your property management software.
- Smart locks operate with batteries (perfect in case of power outages!), so you’ll need to change the batteries frequently and update the software to ensure they are secure and functioning optimally.
Dynamic pricing tools
More than a third of property managers use dynamic pricing tools. These tools analyze trends in demand, competitor pricing, or time of day to adjust the price of each of your listings. For example, during periods of high demand, such as holidays or special events, prices can be automatically increased to capitalize on consumers' willingness to pay more.
By adapting to market dynamics in real time, you can optimize your pricing strategy and increase your chances of getting bookings.
💡 Implementation tips:
- If you list your properties exclusively on Airbnb, you can use its integrated smart pricing tool. Note that some hosts believe this sets their prices too low, so make sure you set a minimum price.
- If you choose a third-party service, you have options with a monthly fee or commissions for every booking and you can integrate it with different booking platforms.
Virtual reality tours
By providing a 360-degree, immersive experience, VR tours allow prospective guests to explore vacation rentals as if they were physically present. They’re a way to let your guests get a closer feel of what your property looks like, building trust and leading to higher booking rates.
It’s also a way to stand out among all the static images that saturate the vacation rental market, attracting more attention to your properties.
💡 Implementation tips:
- They’re best experienced with a VR headset, but can also be made available on social media like Facebook or on your website, using 360 video technology.
- High-quality 360-degree equipment can be expensive, so consider hiring professionals specialized in VR tour creation.
Smart home devices
Smart thermostats, lighting, and appliances can enhance your guest experience by providing convenience and control over their environment. And with features like remote access via smartphone, you can monitor and reduce energy consumption, ensuring that lights, heating, and cooling are not left on unnecessarily.
Your guests will appreciate it. In fact, 60% of guests would pay extra if you have smart home features in your rental. At the same time, you can save time by avoiding unnecessary property visits and have more control over your utilities costs.
💡 Implementation tips:
- There's a huge variety of smart devices you can choose from, including security cameras, plugs, virtual assistants, or smoke detectors. These can be a big investment, so choose the ones that best suit your property's needs.
- When choosing a device, consider how user-friendly and intuitive they are to make life easier for your guests. You can also add instructions on how to use them in your welcome book.
Guest screening software
This technology helps hosts assess potential guests before confirming bookings, by verifying the identity of guests and checking their backgrounds, including checks against criminal databases.
It can help you filter out guests with a history of problematic behavior like noise complaints, late payments, or disrespect for property rules. This reduces risks to your business and property and lessens your anxiety (and your neighbors’).
💡 Implementation tips:
- Some booking websites like Airbnb and Vrbo have a guest screening process, however, it’s usually very limited. Your best option is to choose a third-party service.
- Ensure the software you use complies with legal privacy regulations like GDPR or other local laws.
At LUGGit we partner with hosts to provide their guests with a luggage pick-up, storage, and delivery service. Becoming a partner is free and you earn commissions every time your guests book LUGGit!
