Vacation Rental is HOT! There are so many options to advertise your vacation home, that it is easy to feel a bit overwhelmed. Let me help you on your way with these 10 companies to post your vacation rental! Feel free to try all of them!

The 10 Companies Are:

1. Airbnb
2. Clickstay
3. Wimdu
4. Homeaway
5. Perfect Stay
6. TheHolidayLet
7. Trade Station
8. Domegos
9. Euro Direct Rentals
10. Booking.com

The short answer to telling the world about your vacation rental home and increasing your revenue is the internet obviously. It is efficient, reaching a considerable number of people in the shortest amount of time, and it promises quick results. There are few companies that still send out a physical catalogue or advertise in newspapers and on radio commercials. Not so long ago, that used to be the norm. How the world has changed…..

In the myriad of holiday rental websites, picking the ones that suit you best is not an easy task. You would first have to look up the various holiday rental websites, weigh their incentives before narrowing options on the ones that are the best for you.

Before selecting the best holiday vacation rental listing sites, you first need to know how to advertise your property.

Before listing your vacation home online, you need the following: 

• Professionally taken pictures and videos of the property. This is an essential step that must not be taken lightly. Take your potential clients on tour around your vacation rental home, inviting them to a world of relaxation and fun.

• Perfectly and eloquently describe your property. This will be required in the listings, and it is best to have the description at hand. Make the description fun, catchy, and informative. If writing is not your strength, there are various freelance writers you can employ to make your vacation rental home the place to spend the vacation.
  

• Although a website is not mandatory, it is advisable to have one. It will give you cheaper conversion (bookings) and you will keep your independence. Do not rely on only 1 source of guests! Read more about that here.
  

• Ensure that your calendar is up to date and set to your rent price. Remember to put into consideration influencing factors like location, facilities, season, and so on. Guests expect to be able to book and pay and be done with it in minutes.

1. Airbnb For Vacation Rental

The holiday rental listing sites can be free, subscription-based, or commission-based (pay-as-you-book). That last model seems to be the more prevalent now. Below are a few of the listing sites available. 

Airbnb works exclusively on a pay-per-booking system. With a 3% commission fee, it is one of the lowest tariffs available. But you have to keep in mind that the guest is also charged 12% (increasing your price), bringing the total commission fee to an industry standard of about 15%.

This rental service, however, is very popular with short visits and especially for urban homes, so vacation rental managers looking for guests that would want to stay for a more extended period will have little luck here. The average nights booked is 4.

Airbnb has proven itself an unreliable partner for owners during the recent Covid19 crisis. Just have a search on Google if you are interested in that.

2. Clickstay

This is a UK based holiday rental company with an exposure base of over 4 million people a year. It has a sister website, Rentalsystems, which helps manage bookings through other applications and sites like Facebook or your website. All these offered at an activation fee of either £1, €1, or $1. The commission range for bookings made from Clickstay requires a commission range from 10% to 2%  for bookings made on the owner's website via Rentalsystems.

3. Wimdu

It is the biggest platform in Europe for city apartments with over 350,000 properties in popular locations all over the world. Despite that fact, Wimdu doesn’t limit itself to urban flats. It is open to everything from affordable beach cottages to luxury countryside villas. Wimdu allows for free listing of vacation rental properties because the processing fee is added to your set price, which is paid for by the guests. Wimdu operates several other brands as well.

4. The HomeAway Family

HomeAway is the world’s highest and most reputed vacation rental listing site. It has 50 international websites and pulls an average of 75 million visits per month. Owners Direct, Homelidays, Home away.co.UK, VRBO, Abritel, VacationRentals.com, Stayz, Alugue, Temporada, Toprural, Travelmob are all subsidiaries of the HomeAway.

With an annual fee of USD 499, vacation rental owners have access to unlimited bookings for the year, colossal exposure, and access to tools that help in self-managing your vacation rental property.

An alternative option is the pay-per-booking listing, which has no upfront charge. Its commission fees start at 8% per booking, but will result in an about 15% fee when the guests´ part has been taken into account.

5. Perfect Places

Perfect Places' is a very flexible listing site that works with the budget and marketing plans of the vacation rental owners. It presents the options of monthly, yearly, or two-year subscription. All of these payment options come with a professionally designed property listing page. There is also a link to your website and translation into 6 different languages. The Perfect Places' also guarantees excellent exposure through the Perfect Places Vacation Rentals Network, which includes listing sites like for Getaway, CoastRentals, LakeRentals. 

6. TheHolidayLet

TheHolidayLet gives the second-year free upon a £40 subscription the first year. Once the subscription fee is paid, there are no commission fees or service fees to be paid. Their perks include but are not limited to a full-page advert that links to your website, as many as 28 images can be uploaded and the display of seasonal process for your vacation rental home.

TheHolidayLet encourages discussion between the potential clients and the vacation rental homes by ensuring that all inquires to be sent to the email provided by the vacation homeowner. For a token of £15 a month, you can advertise on their homepage to gain extra exposure.

7. TradeStation

TravelStaytion was founded in 2013, and it describes itself as an online platform for professionally managed holiday, and short term let rentals. Unlike the other sites listed above, TravelStaytion is completely free. It also comes with art the tools needed to boost rental occupancy and revenue. TravelStaytion provides 24/7 customer care support, exposure to at least 25,0000 travelers all over the world, and a secure payment system.

8. Domegos

This is another excellent listing site that exposes your vacation rental home to the international community. Domegos will automatically translate your listing into 5 different languages and distribute it across all the Domegos country networks, which includes the sites in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy,  Switzerland, Austria,  South Africa, and New Zealand. For a token, they ca. also create a mobile-friendly website for your vacation rental for those who have not created a website

9. Euro Direct Rentals

Euro Direct Rentals offers landlords and managers with European holiday properties the opportunity to show off their wealth to the world and potential clients with no charge. Hosts with the free 10-year membership can manage up to 5 property listings from one control panel. Euro Direct Rentals encourages communication between potential clients and vacation rental homes owners by allowing bookings to be made directly with the owners.

10. Booking.com

This is a new kid on the block for the vacation rental space, but this company was already a hotel behemoth. Jumping into the vacation rental market was a good idea as the market seems to be taking over the hotel market with regards to revenue. Yes, it is that big.

Booking.com charges a 15% fee and has a huge reach and strong brandname in Europe. Really, this is one not to miss.

Conclusion for Posting Your Vacation Rental

As you can see, there are any options to choose from when advertising your vacation property. Don´t put all your eggs in one basket though. This will seriously limit your independence.

With our rental company, Club Villamar, we generate 90% of our bookings directly. That means with our own website and marketing channels. It is good to keep your dependance on the OTAs (Online Travel Agencies as listed above) well balanced.

Your best option would be to team up with a local rental agency that is connected to all the mayor players in the VR scene and have their own strong channel that will give you even more bookings. Most of the times these companies can look after the guests for you during their stay as well: A Perfect Combination to boost profit!

 So you have a vacation rental home, preparing the property for the first guests, but have no idea what to put in it? Let me help you out with a couple of tips!

A vacation rental home is a well-furnished apartment or house which temporarily houses guests that are travellers or tourists who would not like to stay in a hotel. 

Many of them like the illusion of a ´home´ away from home while some could not find a hotel to accommodate them, maybe in the cases of those traveling with pets or a large family.

More and more people choose to stay in a vacation rental in stead of a hotel. 2020 Is probably the first year that the Vacation Rental revenue exceeds the hotel branch revenue. Yes, that big.

Make A Home Away From Home

A Vacation Property guest

In any case, a vacation rental home is expected to provide top-notch services, and the amenities provided can turn a one-time guest to a dedicated client.

 Even beyond the free toiletries, certain niceties are expected of a vacation rental home. Below is a list of comforts that speak volumes in ensuring the support of a traveling guest.

24-hour Check-in Service

Things do not always go as planned. Flights get canceled. Trains are delayed, the weather is unpredictable. Anything. It would ease the mind of an incoming guest to be assured that no matter what time he or she arrives, the home would be waiting rather than spending extra getting a hotel room to pass the night of the storm. There are automated check-in systems that ensure there is no need for additional human resources to man the desk 24 hours a day. Technology is really helping out the vacation rental market here!

Cable TV or Streaming Services

Just because one is on vacation is no excuse to miss one’s favourite TV series in this age and time. It is, therefore, imperative that every vacation rental home provides cable TV and/or streaming services for guests who have to catch up on their movies or would like to relax watching the television. Who is not on Netflix nowadays?

Dvds And Books

While some like DVDs there is those who are more partial to books. An extensive DVD collection and library will strike a chord in the hearts of vacationers, slowly turning them from one time guests to committed members.

Books will also convince people to slow down a bit and get into the (good) habit of reading. In our properties we see that books are added by the guests every year, leading to full libraries in many of the villas.

Fast And Convenient WiFi

Perhaps the one thing more infuriating than no internet connection is slow Wi-Fi. Unless the purpose of the trip is to stay off-grid and to take a break from the internet, a good and steady Wi-Fi connection must be available at all times.

Most of your guests will work during their stay in this 24h economy. If there are tasks they cannot complete (or take ages), they will not have a great feeling the rest of the day.

Your guests need to be able to upload and download easily. If you do not have state of the art wifi, you will hear about it in the reviews.

Game Console And Family Friendly Games

A vacation means a chance to spend the whole day playing video games and bonding with the family. Game consoles, as well as a variety of gaming options, can help create and strengthen family bonds. For those with younger kids or those who aren’t into video games, board games like snakes and ladders, dungeons and dragons, Twisters can also provide a fun-filled evening.

Are your kids avid gamers? Then you know what we are talking about. For these kids it´s like oxygen. Be sure to mention in the description that you have this option in your house, as it will convince people to book with you.

Chargers And Electrical Adapters

One of the most infuriating things that happen to the best of us is forgotten or spoilt chargers. With a supply of electrical adapters and chargers, vacationers will be spared the horror of going through their entire vacation without their electrical devices.

Yes, I know that just about every version of a new Apple product has its own 100 USD charger, so no need to go overboard here.

Your guests just need to charge their devices, it will be one of the first thing they do after a day of travelling.

Guidebooks And Recommendations

With the help of the various applications like Google maps and Yelp, strangers in a new place have a specific idea of where they are going and what to expect. This, however, doesn't negate the human touch. A list of recommendations and how to get there would further endear guests to the vacation rental home as it speaks to them that they are personally taken care of.

It will be a lot easier for you to tell your guests what the best restaurant in the neighbourhood is, then them figuring it out themselves.

It is also a great way to stimulate your guests´spending at places that really need and value it. You might even be able to offer your guests a discount voucher for whatever place you want to support. Most restaurant owners really like to participate in this.

A  Complimentary Welcome Basket

Everyone loves feeling like royalty, and taking the time to prepare a complimentary welcome package for guests leaves them with a sense of importance which charms your guests.

Everybody has their own preferences, that is why we (at our villas) make sure there is water, wine, beer, fruit, chocolade etc. You cannot go wrong with these items. Maybe you want to add some artisan, local products.

Tour Packages

Vacations are not supposed to be hard work or a daunting assignment. Take the stress off your potential clients by partnering with local businesses packaging them as add-ons to your vacation rental home. Services like a chauffeur, picking them off from the airport, and driving them around, tour guides, and so on would be a great draw in attracting new clients as well.

Custom Stocked Fridge

A well-stocked refrigerator filled with supplies and complimentary snacks and drinks will go a long way in making them feel at home, especially when you know that your guests will be arriving late in the evening and all shops will be closed.

Of course you can also offer this as an upsell.

Kids And Pet-Friendly Equipment

Some are partial to vacation rental homes because there are no restrictions about their pets and small children. To cater to that, pet necessities and childproof equipment will be highly appreciated.

There is no better way to show ´you care´ by adding these options.

Toiletries And Fresh Towels 

Just because the travelers and guests aren’t lodged in a hotel does not mean they do not desire hotel-like hospitality. Basic bathroom amenities like travel-size toiletries like soap, shampoos, toothbrushes, toothpaste are highly encouraged. Also, fluffy fresh, sweet-smelling towels add a nice touch to any vacation rental home. They love it and can be purchased cheaply in bulk, especially when you are a vacation rental business owner.

Grooming And Beauty Appliances

Creating the illusion of a home away from home means providing not just the necessities but also some extras. Apart from the essential hairdryer, straighteners, curling irons. Disposable razors, makeup samples, and so on are little touches that create fond memories in the hearts of guests.

Just think: ´What would I appreciate?´

Premium Bedding

Nothing beats a good night's sleep, and the quality of sleep is often associated with the surroundings, specifically the bed. Good quality linens and soft pillows will seduce guests to a blissful night’s rest and give your guests the ´Hotel Feeling´.

Better Sleep

Many people find it difficult to sleep or have specific arrangements before falling off to slumber. Various provisions such as sleep masks, earplugs, blackout curtains, alarms can be provided, all to ensure a smooth journey to a peaceful slumber.

Tired guests are grumpy guests.

Bedroom Arrangements

When arranging the room, the head of the bed must be positioned close to the outlets. Also, the provision of mosquito nets on the bedroom windows to avoid mosquito bites is very important.

Cleaning Amenities

The provision of the cleaning amendment would much encourage guests to clean the house and doing their laundry. The presence of recognizable brands and special instructions for needed places will reduce the impression that it is a difficult chore. In the absence of a washing machine, detailed directions to the nearest laundromat are essential. 

Of course you can never expect your guests to leave your property ´cleanish´ unless you provide them with some tools to do this 😉

Fully Equipped Kitchen

Make sure that you have everything that your guests can be used to. A coffee machine with the right coffee cups. Enough plates for 2x the amount of guests that can stay at your property. Same with cups, glasses, cutlery etc. Toaster, Blender, Juicer, Microwave, high quality pans.

Related questions:

Where to advertise my vacation rental property?

How can I make the best pictures of my vacation rental?

There are many vacation rental platforms out there today, but one of the better ones is Vrbo (Formally Vacation Rental by Owner). They started out in 1995 (pre internet days!) and evolved to one of the best places to advertise your vacation rental. They were recently acquired by the Homeaway Group and this is part of the Expedia Giant.

They provide vacation homes in almost all countries in the world, but for the guests reach they are best on the US market. Like Airbnb, its biggest competitor, they provide life-changing experiences at a fraction of the price. With raving positive reviews and excellent customer service, Vrbo caters to both the vacationers and the owners, easing off the worry of the owners and providing not only the comfort but also the excitement that vacationers wish for.

Vrbo was created to not only increase the income of the vacation rental owners and but also help gain exposure for the vacation rental with its vast customer base of over 27 million visitors a month and they have done that very well.

Gaining the trust of the public since 1995, the year it was founded, Vrbo is one of the most trustworthy travel brands in the online world today. Listing on Vrbo gives a double benefit of reaching a more comprehensive range of audience and a feature in HomeAway searches, which greatly increases the audience you reach (also in Europe).

Listing vacation rentals on Vrbo is an easy step by step process that ends in the considerable promotion and increase in revenue for the owners. Here is how to do it.

Instructions For How To List On VRBO

To list your vacation rental or property on Vrbo, there are a couple of things that are required. They are:

• Your bank account information (this is where you get paid by Vrbo).
• High-quality pictures of your vacation rental. 
• Your property’s accurate address. 
• Your rental charges (have a figure you are going to charge in mind)

Once all of these are available and ready, the listing process on Vrbo can then be published.

1. Visit Vrbo on your computer and fill in the basic requirements detailing your vacation rental. In describing your vacation rental, you must list what kind of property it is it a condo, a villa, a cottage, a cabin, an apartment, and so on. This will all help you realize the vacation rental's potential earning price.
2. The next thing to do is to input the accurate address of the vacation rental and verify its location.
3. Input in more important details the vacation rental's details including a catchy property headline, description of the vacation rental (more tips) and its surroundings, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as the number of people your vacation rental can comfortably accommodate.

Doing It Right

Various booking methods can be selected. Instant Booking seems to be a favourite of many advertisers. This may be because it can convert the possible reservations and appear higher in search results. You see that in a lot of algorithms these days. The most preferred listing (for the platform) gets the best results in the search results. Instant booking is also preferred by most travellers.

The next thing to do is to add the listing photos of the vacation rental. It is often recommended that the pictures be professionally taken and digitised, of course. This is to give the prospective client a visual aid to help them narrow their options and be confident in their choice. A minimum of six pictures is recommended, which includes shots of the interior and the exterior. If you need some help with taking Perfect Pictures, let me help you.

Last but not least is the setting up of the manager profile. This is very important because its requirements dictate how clients will reach the said manager. The manager profile is set up by providing the following information: 

• Filling in your mobile number for security purposes
• Including your payment information
• Confirming your identity
• Including your pricing details 

With all of this information supplied in, you are now ready to list your vacation rental on Vrbo. Most of the work has been done!

My VR App

When it is just one or two properties or vacation rentals, there is even a more natural way to list your proprieties on Vrbo. This is by adding Vrbo and HomeAway to your channel management strategy, especially if one is on MyVR. The steps to be taken are explained below. 

1. From the Marketplace, install the Vrbo/HomeAway app.
2. Fill in the few questions asked about your listings or vacation rentals.
3. You can pick and validate the vacation properties you would like to list.
4. Ensure you synchronize your data and then sit back and wait for the bookings to roll in!

For short term rentals, you must advertise on platforms with a broad audience reach like Vrbo. The problem, however, lies when the management portfolio grows bigger into five or more properties. It then becomes difficult to list, advertise and manage said properties across the five major channels. Most investors or vacation rental professionals use channel managers in that case.

To solve that problem, property management software like MyVR comes. With MyVR, you can manage every aspect of your properties. With its direct connections to every listing site, MyVR will automatically channel your management while eliminating double bookings and data inaccuracies.

Even though vacation rentals can be taken to rental agencies, there is a reason why many people list their vacation rentals on Vrbo. This is because there are specific details that require updating if vacation rentals are left on the care of rental agencies.

Advantages VRBO

The many advantages of Vrbo include

• Creating your listing and keeping them up to date. This is super easy with Vrbo.
• With Vrbo, response to traveler's inquires will be fast and easy. Also, Vrbo screen guests. Be sure to answer enquiries quickly as it will greatly enhance your chances of securing a booking.
• Vrbo also manages reservation dates and prompt payment.
• Vrbo helps to maintain cleanliness and orderliness of the vacation rental by hiring the appropriate services to do so.

Vrbo helps to pay taxes on bookings and reservations where applicable taking that stress off your hands.

Putting up your vacation rental on Vrbo is a straightforward and quick process that will very well supplement the family income.

Amazing photos as tantalizing details about the amenities of the vacation rental and its surroundings are also encouraged. This will draw potential clients and increase the chances of someone choosing your vacation rental on Vrbo

For potential property listers who have questions or are not well versed in renting their homes as vacation rentals, do not fret. Vrbo has put together a unique guide to answer any lurking questions. The legal issues, personal problems, and considerations are asked and answered. 

Conclusion

While it is super easy to list your vacation property on Vrbo and you have the option to advertise in the Homeaway Group and websites as well, this should only be part of your marketing mix. If you only list in this portal, you are putting all your eggs in one basket.

It is best to diversify and add Booking.com and Airbnb to the mix, but only after establishing a way to be independent of them all: Have your own website to advertise your properties.

It is often said that it is impossible to compete with the Big Boys, but with our company Club Villamar we have shown year after year to have 90% independence from the OTAs (Online Travel Agencies). So we have 90% direct bookings! There are many other ways to have your vacation rental rented out.

So it is possible, read more about it here.

I wish you the best income and the most independence!

So you have this vacation rental that you want to see fully booked, right? Let me share you what we use in our marketing mix, renting out 1000-s of villas with private pool in Spain.

Do you have an apartment or piece of property idle without any use? Or you are away from your place at work for a long time? Guess what, with vacation rental platforms you can use these assets to generate revenue for you.

Hundreds of people are moving locally and internationally every day who could use your property in return for easy cash.

But the question is: ´Where I can advertise my vacation rental and what are some of the best platforms to use?´ This article will help you to make that decision by providing an in-depth review of all the available websites for you. All based on our own experience.

1. Your Own Website
2. Your Local Agency
3. Airbnb
4. Booking.com
5. Homeaway
6. Free Listings
7. Homestay

1. Your Own Website To Advertise Your Vacation Rental

You did not see that one coming, right? It would have been easy to list just all the current rental behemoths and be done with it.

Some even believe that you do not stand a chance competing with these giants, but you can. Sure, you will have to be creative and focus on a stellar guest experience. But you wanted to do that anyway, right?

Not only can you market your property cheaper yourself, but it will also give you the freedom and independence from the heavily investor backed Big Names of the industry.

Even when you choose to advertise your property on an OTA (Online Travel Agent, like Airbnb), it is a good idea to have your own platform in the marketing mix as well.

It is what we have done with out company Club Villamar. In the days we started out it was easy not to be too reliant on the OTAs (because they were not there yet in 2004: early internet days). But in the last 15 years we have been able to book direct for 90%, our own website, our own marketing. I talk more about that here. Sure it is more work, but it is cheaper and you do not have to give up your independence and freedom. If the OTAs change their algorithm, you have choices.

2. Your Local Rental Agency

In most areas you have local rental agencies that can not only help you with getting your vacation rental booked, but can also take care of the guests and the property itself for you. That makes this the most ´care free´ option of all. All you have to do is count the money coming into your bank account.

Likely the local rental agency will be connected to the bigger websites to rent out your property as well. So you will benefit from their direct bookings (check out this article on direct bookings) and the bookings of the OTA.

For a full service package you can expect to be charged 25% to 30% of the rental amount. That seems a large commission, compared to most ´do it yourself´ OTAs, but you have to take into account that the commission percentages on the OTAs are divided between an owner part (taken from you) and a traveller service fee (charged to the traveller).

On average the OTAs charge around 15% of the rent. But then you still have to look after the guests yourself. For an extra 10% you can save yourself a lot of headache.

Another advantage is that you help out the local economy in stead of a huge company HQ somewhere half way around the world.

More tips on how to advertise your vacation rental? Click here!

Are you the owner of a vacation rental business or thinking of starting, check out this Productivity Hack right here!

3. Airbnb

If you do decide that you want OTAs in your marketing mix (as we do with our company Club Villamar), you might as well give this one a go.

This name for all the right reasons has become synonymous with vacation rentals. Airbnb is one of the fastest-growing vacation rentals of the world with more than 5 million property listings around the globe. All these stats mean it is one of the best platforms to advertise your website. Despite such amazing offerings, Airbnb only takes 3% of all the reservations made. Another 12% is charged to the guests directly. Listing on this website is easy and free. All these factors contribute to Airbnb’s success.

Another amazing thing due to which a lot of landowners are attracted is the $1 million Airbnb host insurance policy. This feature makes Airbnb quite popular with property owners. There are different levels of verification for both the host and guest to minimise scams. There have been some complaints about this service however. Just search online for ´Airbnb reviews´. Being the host, you can also ask for additional levels of verifications like government identification, etc.

In the time of COVID19 Airbnb has not proven a reliable partner. The Terms and Conditions were changed almost every week and each time not in favour of the owner.

4. Booking.com

Having started as a local European website in Amsterdam, Booking.com has from then transformed into leaders of travel e-commerce. The website through its amazing model gained the trust of guests and hosts to climb the stairs of world domination. In the beginning, it dominated Europe’s market before becoming world leaders.

In terms of services, this website offers all types of properties from apartments, to condos, to B&Bs, etc. This means that whatever you have at your disposal can go on this website. The registration process is pretty simple and can take a maximum of 20 minutes. You don’t have to give any subscription fee or other hidden charges as a partner on Booking.com.

The commission charged per booking is 15% of the rent.

 With amazing customer service, Booking.com ensures that the reviews guests leave you are legitimate and organic. This way you can improve your credibility by offering good services to clients and earning more revenue. Also, the prices that the guests see are final and Booking.com doesn’t include any other hidden charges.

Huge following, amazing services, and other perks should make this platform one of your top choices for renting out your property. The brand of booking.com ensures that your property gets enough traffic and helps you generate healthy revenue.

5. Homeaway

Another giant of the vacation rental industry, HomeAway has become one of the most reputed websites for its amazing services. Now owned by Expedia, and connected with a network of 75 other websites, HomeAway is the number one platform for vacation rentals.

As far as the listing is concerned, your property will be judged by several factors like description, guest review, pictures, etc. Additional factors such as wi-fi availability, property type, and location. This helps the guest making the right decision, thus less hassle for hosts. The biggest advantage for users is the ability to do an instant booking. Also, the large network of HomeAway provides numerous advantages for both the users and hosts.

The total commission charged is around 15%.

However, all these services like the previous websites aren’t free. Here hosts have the option to choose from two choices: either to pay an annual subscription fee or pay per booking. The annual subscription can give homeowners tools that can make managing property very easy, but is an option that is not available anymore in most parts of the world. But if you opt for the other option you must pay some fixed percentages: 5% commission and 3% credit card charges on every booking made.

6. Free Listings

Apart from all the website with paid plans- annual subscriptions (Dinosaur model) and commissions- there are platforms which can help you perform these tasks for free. These websites may not offer the same experience as paid ones and might have some features missing out, but it is very effective if you are low on budget. Starting hosts can use this website to get a feel of what they are getting into or in general diversify their options.

Trip advisor is one such app in which one can post their ads for free and pay just 3 percent on each confirmed booking. Ok, that´s not really Free. Being the world’s largest online travelling community, trip advisor can give your ads plenty of traffic.

Also, by posting your ad on trip advisor, you are automatically being connected to a large network of websites like Holiday lettings, Flip key, HouseTrip, Niumba and Vacation home rentals, etc. The nature of these websites allows you to cancel ads at any time. You can even choose a cancellation policy that suite your type. The platform also provides an easy and secure collection of money. With so much to offer for free, Trip advisor should be on your list.

Travel Station is one another such website that offers its services for free. Though just founded in 2013, this website has earned itself a name in the market. One can list their property for free on this website without a limit on postings. They offer good customer service and their services to more than 25000 travelers around the globe.

7. Homestay

Homestay is one another such website that helps you list your private rooms for free. This website operates in more than 160 countries and has had more than 200,000 guests since its foundation in 2013. Although the listing is free, you still have to pay a 3% host service fee to the platform.

This application also provides you the opportunity to charge for additional services you plan to provide by directly negotiating with the client. This website specializes in providing services, such as private rooms, to solo travelers. Also, the option of directly negotiating with the guests makes this platform a very cool option.

Conclusion

Even though it seems easiest to just list your vacation rental on the OTAs like Airbnb, you need to know that you will be 100% reliant on them for taking care of your interests. If you appreciate your Freedom and Independence, make sure that you have alternatives like your local rental agency or your own website.

Remember: The OTAs can be friendly, but not necessarily your friend.

Diversify your marketing channels!

Looking for more ideas? Check out this article here!