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5 Tips For A Family-Friendly Vacation Rental

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Families are generally accepted in vacation rentals, but are yours really prepared for young children?

Let’s review together a few tips on how you can improve your rental offer and adapt it to most travelers.

Targeting families: 35% of total travelers in the US

If you’re still wondering if there’s anything more to earn when targeting families, these statistics should speak for themselves: 35% of US tourists travel as families, and 44% of people aged 18-35 travel with their children.

Our client Ovo Network understood that well, and even decided to create their very own label: “Cool for kids, which ensures families will find everything they need in the selected rentals.

So, let’s get to work and see what you can do to try to attract these potential guests!

  • Secure the property: parents like to know they’ll find the same security and comfort as they do in their own home. You can, for example, add children’s safety gates to the stairs. If there’s a swimming pool available in the house, buy a solid safety pool cover or a pool alarm for a better peace of mind.

  • Equip the rentals with some basic gear: high chair, booster seat, plastic cutlery and plates, potty, baby monitor, crib, night-light… You can also prefer to install a bathtub instead of a shower, which is more convenient for young children and babies.

  • Save at least one room for children: make it colorful, add a playground with board games, DVDs, books… You can also choose to add bunk beds to the room, to save some space (and most children LOVE bunk beds!).

  • Make it fun: holidays aren’t just about museums and restaurants. It’s also about quality family time! Show families they’ll have fun not only in your city or region, but also in your property. You can also list all the family-friendly outdoor activities that are available around your house or apartment: amusement parks, beaches, playgrounds, basic hiking trails, family-friendly restaurants, etc. Which takes us to the last point…

  • Adapt your listings to families: take pictures of the family-friendly features you offer and show how your property has been secured. For example, if there’s a road near one of your rentals, specify if the garden door can be locked.

Your BookingSync listings can also be adapted, depending on the features available in the properties (open the image in a new tab for a better overview):

Of course, these are just examples of all what you can do to attract families and make them feel safe in your vacation rentals.

Have any other tips to share? Write them in the comments!

Stay In Contact With Your Guests Thanks To Wishbox

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We’re integrating today a new guest relationship management software to our App Center: Wishbox, the leading solution for vacation rental agencies and hosts.

What’s Wishbox?

Wishbox is a software that lets you automate all your guest communication, generate more revenue and drastically improve your guest experience, with no effort.

Wishbox lets you:

  • Communicate in the guests’ language

  • Send fully-customisable confirmation emails

  • Use an automatic pre check-in/check-out wizard

  • Chat with your guests thanks to an optional, unified chat tool

  • Scan passports and credit cards

  • Send property codes & apartment notes

  • Set pre-scheduled automated messages & SMSs

  • Share a guest web-app to give your guests an amazing experience

  • Create a unique guidebook for each property

  • Manage reviews thanks to an intelligent review system, pushing excellent reviews on outside websites and retaining bad reviews

Using Wishbox lets you save up to 2 hours of work per day, thanks to the automation & your own branded guest-app.

Getting started with Wishbox

Read our manual to know how to install and use the app.
Already a BookingSync client? Install the Wishbox app in our App Center right now and watch our live webinar on May, 24th at 3pm CEST!

BookingSync clients can try Wishbox for free during 21 days.

Didn't get the chance to watch our live webinar? Worry no more, we've got you covered with this recorded video below.

CanadaStays, A New Channel For Your Canadian Properties

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Aaaaand one more channel for 2018!
Discover a new channel for your Canadian properties on CanadaStays, Canada’s largest vacation rental marketplace.

What’s CanadaStays?

CanadaStays is Canada's #1 choice in vacation rentals, with over 140,000 vacation rental properties, including cottages, cabins, chalets and condos in 11,000 destinations across Canada, the US, the Caribbean and South America. CanadaStays sees 4 to 5.5 million page visits a year, providing a new opportunity to drive more Canadian travellers to your listings.

Why list with CanadaStays?

  • Increased Exposure: Access Canada’s largest vacation rental audience as well as a growing list of distribution partners, including HomeAway, VRBO, Tripping and Cottage Life, at no extra charge

  • Flexible Pricing: find your best ROI with pay-per-booking or subscription models

  • Flexible Booking Options: choose between instant booking or a 24-hour confirmation period

  • Dedicated Account Managers: maximize booking opportunities with the help of an in-house optimization team

  • Secure Payments: you and your traveller are protected by a secure payment platform

Getting started with CanadaStays

Read our manual to know how to install and use the app.
Already a BookingSync client? Download the CanadaStays app in our App Center right now and watch our live webinar on May, 17th at 5pm CEST! Meet the CanadaStays team and discover how you can sync your listings with Canada's biggest channel.

BookingSync clients will receive an exceptional discount of $100 off CanadaStays owner/manager fees + $50 off if you register before May, 28th!
Didn't get the chance to watch our live webinar? Worry no more, we've got you covered with this recorded video below.