Coronavirus and its impact on the vacation rental business

Coronavirus and its impact on the vacation rental business
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Praveen Content Writer
2020-03-25
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Disruption and uncertainty are two words that can bring fear to one’s mind. With the outbreak of Coronavirus, the rental industry is gripped by fear. Especially the travel industry is one which has been severely hit by this pandemic. This blog narrates how we can combat the crisis with our dedicated efforts.

 

Has the Rental Industry hit in the gut? 

 

It is quite evident from the statistics derived from several resources that the travel industry is very hard hit. Across the world, property bookings are getting cancelled by tourists and commuters Which is due to the fact of Coronavirus spread. As a result of this, some property owners also have decided to close down their properties until things are back to normal.

 

Resilient vacation rental industry

 

Even though it is difficult to exactly predict what the effect of this outbreak will be to the travel industry, past experiences from similar crises have clearly shown that this specific sector is particularly resilient and can rebound to establish a steady growth in the coming years. This especially can provide a very positive feel to rental owners and managers as things can definitely get better in the future. 

 

Learn How to boost off season bookings for vacation rentals

 

Be flexible to the Customers Needs

 

One thing that rental business owners and managers alike should keep in mind is that they should adapt quickly to changing scenarios. They can only do this by being flexible. The guests, airlines and local authorities will take more last-minute decisions leading to unprecedented cancellations and bookings, which can only be tackled by being flexible.

 

Adapt by modifying your ways of operation/Strategy

 

Don’t remove your listings online. This can lead to bad performance and your properties may no longer rank higher affecting your bookings indirectly. 

 

Yes, it is a difficult time but by tweaking your business strategy to the current situation at hand can help you overcome this pandemic and emerge successfully. Plan for a personalized mail to the customers who had cancelled their bookings due corona and elaborate about the situation and try to convince them for a rebooking at later at travelers convenience. Make them aware of the fact that private properties are safer than hotels and how you are Carrying out extra cleaning and precautionary measures so that the property is more secure and safe.

               

Social Responsibility of Vacation rentals 

 

Vacation Rental management is at an advantage now to help the government. As many tourists will be staying at various resorts and other properties, a detailed list of them should be supplied to the government. This can help the government to control the epidemic by quarantining people who have jumped the screening in airports etc. This measure will also help the tourists to identify whether they are in threat from the disease or to helping them to take necessary measures accordingly. 

 

The importance of customer support in this testing time

 

The Property managers & Rental owners should be there for the customers during this crisis period, they should have a good customer support system in place. It will help the business to build a rapport with the customers and future business from the existing customers. 

 

The property managers and rental owners should improve the safety measures for Customers by following of social distancing, cleanliness and other policies put forward by the respective government bodies. They should strictly follow the rules in order to keep safe. They should realise the fact that it is for the larger interest of all that such norms are put forward and act responsibly to stop the spread of the devastating Corona Virus. 

 

Make a plan suitable to tackle the after-effects of the pandemic

 

Even after the complete recovery of the virus, the rental businesses will not be able to run full operations immediately. The Business Plan their renovations. They should also plan to cut down on the operational costs as much as possible.  Operating with the same set of curtailed plans for a sufficient period of time until everything gets back to normal can really help the rental owners and managers to get back on track slowly but steadily. Execution of these plans can definitely help to revive the business in a better way.

 

Find out: How to strengthen your Vacation Rentals during Covid-19

There is always hope 

 

The effect of Coronavirus is taking a very unprecedented form but the vacation rental industry has bounced back from similar crises in the past and by taking adequate steps the sector can definitely sail and emerge successful once things get steadier.

 

By taking adequate measures and precautions and running your business by not focusing on monetary benefits alone, the rental owners and managers can definitely come back and run their business successfully once we overcome this pandemic together.