Sydney property manager doubles annual revenue with Instant Booking

The property management firm Weekenda, based near Sydney, Australia, has been committed to providing excellent accommodation options and professional property management for over 10 years. With 150 properties under management, Weekenda CEO Pete Smith is always looking for ways to improve his business.

Many of the rental homes managed by Weekenda are located in the beautiful Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s best-known wine regions. For the last five years, these properties have been listed on Stayz, part of the Vrbo family of brands.

Pete wanted to increase bookings across his portfolio, so he reached out to his Stayz account manager to explore strategies for boosting business. 

Pete and his account manager discussed his business needs and decided on three key strategic tools designed to improve results.

First, he turned on Instant Booking for all Weekenda listings. This feature lets travelers immediately receive a booking confirmation, without you needing to review each request. This saves time and boosts your acceptance rate — an important factor that influences your property’s visibility in search result ranking. 

With Instant Booking, Pete was also able to increase conversion rates. On average, partners who use Instant Booking experience nearly 35% higher conversion rates and 25% more net revenue than those who don’t.**

Then, Pete reviewed his length-of-stay policies and pricing and moved to a more proactive strategy to adjust minimum stays for different times of the year. Being flexible on stay length helps you maximize your rental return. Depending on the season, a guest who wants to stay only one night may be willing to pay a premium for that. Or around holidays, guests may want longer stays.

With MarketMaker™, you can automatically calculate current market conditions for vacation rentals. Setting competitive seasonal pricing can help attract more travelers to your rental property, fill gaps during off-seasons, and ultimately maximize your revenue potential.

Finally, Pete implemented a more relaxed cancellation policy. His account manager shared insights on how guests prefer the confidence of flexible cancellation policies and fully refundable rates, with travelers often citing the ability to get a refund if they should need to cancel as one of their top rental considerations.***

With our platform, you have the option to choose between Firm, Moderate, and Relaxed cancellation policies to find the rate that best fits your property’s demand, as well as options for season-specific refunds. As he aligned with travelers’ desire for shorter cancellation windows, Pete was able to appeal to more guests and attract more bookings.

Pete was able to significantly improve the performance of his properties by partnering with his account manager and taking advantage of the wide array of tools available through our platform.

As a result, Pete made several changes to his approach and saw his bookings double year over year! By improving his acceptance rate, offering flexible cancellation, and providing an overall great guest experience, he became a Premier Host and unlocked exclusive benefits such as improved search visibility for all his properties.