Managers mark #BookDirect Guest Education Day
Worldwide: The second annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day took place on Wednesday this week.
The day, which always falls on the first Wednesday in February, brings together travellers looking for vacation rentals, vacation rental managers and homeowners with the joint motivation to increase awareness of direct bookings.
What was the aim of the #BookDirect Guest Education day?
This comes in many different forms but all have the aim of informing travellers of the advantages of booking directly with management companies and homeowners rather than through third parties.
How did property managers and travellers mark the day?
Managers, owners and travellers marked the day in a number of ways:
• Using the hashtag #BookDirect on social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. This was to bring attention to the upsides of booking vacation rentals directly with the manager or homeowner instead of via third-party channels.
• Working with respected media sources to educate prospective customers about the best ways to book a vacation rental.
• Sending out email campaigns to past and prospective guests with the shared goal of promoting the value of booking direct and local.
• Encouraging local destination marketing organisations to highlight their own direct connections to lodging providers.
How many people were involved in last year’s inaugural event?
Last year’s inaugural #BookDirect Guest Education Day was shared to an estimated audience of 3.5 million travellers via direct email marketing campaigns. At the same time, the day had a social reach of over 24 million consumers.
