holidayviewsdirect: In support of Direct guest contact

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russellt
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Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:03 am
Location: Ivybridge, Devon, UK
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holidayviewsdirect: In support of Direct guest contact

Post by russellt »

My unscientific poll from last summer suggested that ~70% of owners would gladly support something, anything, that relaxes the stranglehold which the global sites have us in. In my view, things have only got worse since then. The big guys, ready & willing to devour each other whole(come what may), now flagrantly ignore the pleas of us……. the owners of the assets which generate their profits. It is an astonishingly arrogant power struggle.

A separate piece of research, mostly anecdotal, leads me to the belief that a large minority of guests, increasingly conscious of the exorbitant fees being charged to secure their accommodation bookings via the global sites, may, at the moment immediately prior to making the online booking, spend anything up to 40 minutes, perhaps more, trying to ‘go direct’ in order to ask questions of the owner, alleviate scam fears and strike a better financial deal. This, in spite of the best efforts of the global operators.

This got me thinking…… how can we, the owners, reinvigorate the direct communication channel such that, should a guest wish to contact us directly or view our contact details, they can do so in just two or three clicks?

Today, I am introducing HolidayViewsDirect to the marketplace. It is not yet another booking site, it’s not an availability calendar, and it’s not a template full of pretty pictures. It is a billboard, an opportunity for owners to consolidate all of their contact information in one place, make that viewable and invite direct contact.

It is ‘for the owners, by the owners’, but places the needs of the guest front & centre. How guests process their booking thereafter is entirely up to them, but at least they will have had the opportunity to find you, research you and contact you directly, if they wish to.

If you would like to attract more direct contact from guests, then simply visit the HolidayViewsDirect website and create an account. After account opening confirmation, simply login, select a listing type and fill in the form. Should take no more than 5 minutes to set-up a basic listing.

This is a new venture which will require significant property volume in order to have the desired impact among prospective guests(I am under no illusion). However, there are benefits all-round. I encourage you, as owners, to get behind the initiative, give it your whole-hearted support and recommend it to your various owner networks worldwide.

And if you have questions or suggestions for the future, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I'm listening!

(I apologise if I have breached LMH rules on service promotion. I am posting this in the hope that it might benefit some parts of our community.)
Web: https://yofftoo.com/property/esmes-cottage
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