Don’t Just Sit There - Lodging Newsletter September 30, 2025
Published: 09/30/25 Topics: AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia, Guest Behavior, Lodging Newsletter, Radio, Television, VRBO.com Comments: 0
The phrase "Don’t just stand there. Do something!" is often associated with the 19th-century character. the White Rabbit, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
For two decades, consumer vacation rental adoption has continued to climb, not withstanding the interruptions by 9-11, the 2008 real estate depression, and then Covid. Growth can be shown on a graph as a steady increase, but factors jostling vacation rentals have also increased.
The advent of online travel agencies (OTAs), like VRBO, AirBnB, Booking.com and others, certainly disrupted things, sometimes for the better, but not always The increase in consumer demand, resulted in an increase in homes offering their place for rental. That means more competition. Plus, Cities, Counties and States have stepped in to restrict property rental rights and, of course, charge taxes and fees, and impose unnecessary regulations.
All of the above does not mean that property owners are to avoid short term rentals. To the contrary, the niche is still a great way to buy a home you love, where you love, and outfit it as you love.
It does mean that property owners and managers are now tasked with hundreds of new duties, tasks, and requirements. Once the home is safe and sound for visitors, the new big step, is how and where to advertise. Plus, the marketing requirements of rates, onsite services, customer service and guest results.
We borrowed the word "Full Stack" from the software industry, where is means an engineer who has a complete, 100% command of all technology needed to build great applications. It explains what we do and how we do it. Very few other managers are Full Stack.
But with the industry now flat in many (but not all) destinations, property owners need a manager who says, "Don’t just stand there. Do something!" This newsletter is about what we are doing (and what others are not) to gain maximum bookings and income for property owner clients.
For two decades, consumer vacation rental adoption has continued to climb, not withstanding the interruptions by 9-11, the 2008 real estate depression, and then Covid. Growth can be shown on a graph as a steady increase, but factors jostling vacation rentals have also increased.
The advent of online travel agencies (OTAs), like VRBO, AirBnB, Booking.com and others, certainly disrupted things, sometimes for the better, but not always The increase in consumer demand, resulted in an increase in homes offering their place for rental. That means more competition. Plus, Cities, Counties and States have stepped in to restrict property rental rights and, of course, charge taxes and fees, and impose unnecessary regulations.
All of the above does not mean that property owners are to avoid short term rentals. To the contrary, the niche is still a great way to buy a home you love, where you love, and outfit it as you love.
It does mean that property owners and managers are now tasked with hundreds of new duties, tasks, and requirements. Once the home is safe and sound for visitors, the new big step, is how and where to advertise. Plus, the marketing requirements of rates, onsite services, customer service and guest results.
We borrowed the word "Full Stack" from the software industry, where is means an engineer who has a complete, 100% command of all technology needed to build great applications. It explains what we do and how we do it. Very few other managers are Full Stack.
But with the industry now flat in many (but not all) destinations, property owners need a manager who says, "Don’t just stand there. Do something!" This newsletter is about what we are doing (and what others are not) to gain maximum bookings and income for property owner clients.
Lodging Newsletter by William May
September 30, 2025 - Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something.
For decades we have explored, adopted, tested, and innovated successful new marketing techniques to grow vacation rental income. Although we are a small personalized service, here are things we innovated, usually first:
Advertise on all Major OTAs and hundreds of other websites.
Local Branding websites for each destination.
Full booking website for every home.
Perfected High Dynamic Range (HDR) web-optimized photos.
Mastered panoramic and 3D tours online.
High quality in home and in community sales materials.
Significant Search Engine Optimization.
First (and still the only) to create watercolor floor plans.
Applying hotel-like yield management research and techniques.
Invest in staff who stay here decades to give stability.
Constant staff training and collaboration.
Cross advertising and selling between markets.
Include local merchants, shops and restaurants to gain readership.
Answer phones, emails, and chats long hours every day of the year.
Collect reviews from all websites to analyze, appreciate, and respond.
Local & regional tourism websites to gain bookings.
Electronic signatures on every site for easy booking.
In most industries that hustle would be plenty. But in light of the current economy, if your manager doesn’t do all those things, you lose. Plus, we add new initiatives that those other managers can’t even dream of.
Radio - Partnering with stations for direct response bookings.
Forwarding - Automating reviews to cleaners, managers, and reservation staff.
Proctoring - Directing good reviewers to Google, etc. to repost.
Canvassing - Telephoning prior guests regularly.
Orphans - Inviting before and after guests to pick up extra dates.
Boosting - Personally inviting guests back to the rental they loved.
Interviewing - Creating blogs from appreciative guests and emailing them to the world.
Outreaching - Regular meeting and greeting all businesses in the area.
These new ideas are made efficient with technology, but they spring from leaders with decades of advertising problem solving. No one else has that. So if your managers is doing most of the things in the first list above - good. You’ll make bookings and profit. But if you want more for your property, it’s time to, as the White Rabbit says:
"Don’t just stand there. Do something." (Call us today.)
Advertise on all Major OTAs and hundreds of other websites.
Local Branding websites for each destination.
Full booking website for every home.
Perfected High Dynamic Range (HDR) web-optimized photos.
Mastered panoramic and 3D tours online.
High quality in home and in community sales materials.
Significant Search Engine Optimization.
First (and still the only) to create watercolor floor plans.
Applying hotel-like yield management research and techniques.
Invest in staff who stay here decades to give stability.
Constant staff training and collaboration.
Cross advertising and selling between markets.
Include local merchants, shops and restaurants to gain readership.
Answer phones, emails, and chats long hours every day of the year.
Collect reviews from all websites to analyze, appreciate, and respond.
Local & regional tourism websites to gain bookings.
Electronic signatures on every site for easy booking.
In most industries that hustle would be plenty. But in light of the current economy, if your manager doesn’t do all those things, you lose. Plus, we add new initiatives that those other managers can’t even dream of.
Radio - Partnering with stations for direct response bookings.
Forwarding - Automating reviews to cleaners, managers, and reservation staff.
Proctoring - Directing good reviewers to Google, etc. to repost.
Canvassing - Telephoning prior guests regularly.
Orphans - Inviting before and after guests to pick up extra dates.
Boosting - Personally inviting guests back to the rental they loved.
Interviewing - Creating blogs from appreciative guests and emailing them to the world.
Outreaching - Regular meeting and greeting all businesses in the area.
These new ideas are made efficient with technology, but they spring from leaders with decades of advertising problem solving. No one else has that. So if your managers is doing most of the things in the first list above - good. You’ll make bookings and profit. But if you want more for your property, it’s time to, as the White Rabbit says:
"Don’t just stand there. Do something." (Call us today.)
Blog #: 1045 – 09/30/25
Sponsor: Vortex VIP – We have one mission - to train and support the top lodging managers offering a variety of Resorts & Vacation Rental homes. Our support services provide world-class marketing, advertising, reservations, administration, accounting and training. All combined along with onsite local managers and staff. – VortexVIP.com
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