Vacation home drives revenue with Instant Booking

Lucio Cocchietto, a Vrbo partner since 2016, owns a charming four-bedroom property called Chilling Lakeside – a home that he calls his love in life – on the southern shore of Lake Macquarie, Australia's largest inland saltwater lake. A comfortable 70-minute drive from Sydney, the lake is a popular destination for families looking for a relaxing getaway. 

Despite a decrease in global travel volume due to the pandemic, Lucio was delighted to see a significant increase in bookings for Chilling Lakeside in 2020 and 2021. He found it interesting that his bookings included quite a few mid-week stays. He says it was a bit like school holidays with travelers looking to schedule family getaways that didn’t have to involve weekend dates. 

Working with his account manager, Lucio has refined his strategies to build visibility and revenue for his property and to adapt to changing market conditions.

Lucio made several changes to his listing and policies, resulting in dramatic revenue growth year-over-year. 

Chilling Lakeside had always had a very strict cancellation policy, but as market conditions changed, Lucio decided to move to a much more flexible approach. He’s confident the change was good for business: all the guests who had to cancel earlier in the pandemic came back to rebook later, because they appreciated the guest-friendly approach he had taken. 

Lucio also moved Chilling Lakeside to Instant Booking. He was initially reluctant to allow travelers to go straight to a confirmed booking without his review, but after seeing the quality of guests he got from our platform, he decided to give it a try. And he says it’s made things a lot easier for him and his guests. 

Lucio and his account manager discussed how pandemic-wary travelers were looking for reassurance about property cleanliness. He adapted his check-in/checkout processes to provide more space between outgoing and incoming guests. He made sure to use professional cleaners after each stay and offered new amenities like complimentary hand sanitizer and the ability for guests to bring their own linens if they wished. 

With these changes, Lucio saw his revenue take off. He appreciates his partnership with our team and the quality of guests his listing brings in, especially during the challenging travel market over the last year.