Lay My Hat

Does anyone have any recommendations they'd be happy to share for a site that might offer a viable alternative to OD and HA for properties in Portugal?
I'm just getting so fed up with the big boys and looking for something different! Thanks.

Teba, me too. There was a company called Choose Portugal that we got a few bookings with but they went out of business.

there's a site called Abroadagain (with a sub-site Portugalagain) which I keep thinking about trying...not yet got around to it.

I have the site www.algarve4me.com for those in the Algarve, but it does not get as many hits as a few years ago. The site has been struggling the last few years to keep up with the changes in the mobile marketplace.
The site was originally built when people could only upload small photos due to Internet speeds and getting existing advertisers to upload new larger photos has been difficult so the site is still in limbo whilst I decide what to do with it.
Any ideas?

Hi travelfrog - I'm no expert but do you think there's a window opening up for you to develop this now that the other listing sites have gone global/are no longer only for rentals direct from owners?

I notice your FB and Twitter pages haven't been updated since Oct 2013 - I wonder if you could try promoting via those to start with. Many of us on here didn't have FB pages two years ago - now more and more of us have! Why not promote your FB page in the same way that some of the others on here have set up the group page "book your hol direct" (or whatever it's called) for France and UK owners? Could you make it all of Portugal? You could do all that cost-free (and income free!)

Obviously your website would then need an investment of time and money.

Depends on what you want.

I have an International site www.travel-frog.com that is spun off the back of Algarve4me and covers Portugal, but the site is also very dated.

After monopolizing the market, the likes of HA and OD charge owners so much now, that people cannot afford to pay to advertise on other web sites as well, which makes it difficult to attract new advertisers.

The alternative sites seem to be driven by pressure selling from Indian call center's.

Yes, marketing on Facebook and Twitter would help.

I also need to improve the back end to improve the owners experience once they register.

Thanks for all your replies. I wondered where Choose Portugal had gone!
It's such a pity the smaller sites that fix mainly on one region or country don't seem to work that well in Portugal - I think there a few in France that do quite well. Maybe we'll have to bite the bullet and try airbnb.

I agree, it would be nice to find an alternative to Owners Direct.
Since they have revamped their site I have been having a nightmare with my villa location as they are showing my villa in the wrong location. even after endless emails.
My villa is an individual property on the outskirts of Vilamoura - I did not fit into any of their location categories.
To begin with I found myself in Quarteira, when I eventually found my details.
Then I was moved to Vilamoura Marina which again is wrong as I am about 5-6km away.
They then moved me to Vila Sol which is a golf complex, this is not only the wrong location but a totally different kind of area.
I tried to get them to create a new location that tied in to my address but this seemed to be beyond them.
I am now showing as being at the Old Course which at least is just down the road.
The location map was correct!