Gatlinburg, Tennessee: Home Owner Success Story
On Pace to Surpass 2020 Projected Revenue
“As a real estate investor for over 30 years, the learning curve for vacation rentals was steep. With RedAwning’s guidance, coaching and support I feel I have a better understanding of this business. My 2019 revenue to date is exceeding revenues for the entire 2018 calendar year, and thanks to the entire RA organization I have been able to start hunting for a 3rd property!” - Gatlinburg, Tennessee Home Owner
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THE CHALLENGE
Phil, a four year Vacation Rental homeowner, had been renting out his two properties with the help of a full-service property manager but wasn’t seeing the kind of exposure or conversion he had hoped for.
His homes were ideally located and well maintained, but he felt they were not getting in front of enough travelers, as his listings were not on the major online travel websites or non-traditional booking channels. Phil came to RedAwning looking for hands-on account management and legendary service that would help him manage his investments and ensure maximum exposure.
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THE GOAL
A 25% increase in 2018 revenue and gross booking numbers.
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THE SOLUTION
When Phil signed up with RedAwning, we offered him the largest network in the industry including Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, HomeAway/Vrbo, Google Travel and many more unique, exclusive channels including RedAwning.com, Leavetown.com, and RedAwning TravelPro, a booking platform shopped by over $15K travel advisors looking for vacation rentals for their clients.
He was offered free professional photography to improve the conversion rate of his 2 listings and RedAwning’s revenue management team suggested altering the minimum night stay policy for all properties from 3-night minimum to a 2-night minimum. We also began offering more guest-friendly cancellation policies in order to increase impressions and capture higher conversion rates on the major online travel websites.
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THE RESULTS
THE SOLUTION
The increased exposure on the largest distribution network, coupled with a shift to the 2-day min stay increased the number of impressions his listings received and resulted in 9 new bookings in the first week after making the shift.
Commentary On This Success
Phil is a savvy investor who was very clear on what he needed for success and who did his research to find it. In the RedAwning solution he found a B2B service that thought the way he did about maximizing revenue and bookings, and whose network included traditional, and as non-traditional, channels such as Google and Vacation Rentals by Choice to further increase the mix in websites and exposure.
Listening and learning from RedAwning’s experience, he did what some might have considered to be risky, such as adjusting his cancellation policies and his minimum night stay parameters. However these small changes had an immediate impact on his rate of impressions and conversions and resulted in him surpassing his 2018 revenue and gross bookings by the end of the third quarter in 2019.
