Booking.com vice president Olivier Grémillon, who heads the brand’s home division, said the company developed tools based on input from professionals that manage some of the 5.7 million listed homes, apartments and other private accommodations available on the site. Tools to help professional vacation rental managers save time and control who can book their properties are part of a new suite of products launched this week by Booking.com.
Booking.com vice president Olivier Grémillon, who leads the brand’s home division, says the company developed the tools based on input from professionals that manage some of the 5.7 million listings of homes, apartments and other private accommodations available on the site.
One tool created based on such feedback allows property managers to set filters that determine which Booking.com users will be able to book their properties – such as only guests with verified phone numbers or only guests that have made a reservation on Booking.com in the past. Partners can also now instantly report guest misconduct and block those guests from making future bookings.
“The instant booking model, we really believe that it’s actually what the customers want. They want to be able to book an apartment as easily as they book a hotel,” Grémillon says.
The system is starting with a few filters, but Grémillon says it may enable more in the future.
“Obviously one of the things we want to avoid is that some partners do filtering based on criteria we wouldn’t necessarily approve of. So we are the ones deciding on the filters.”
Property managers can also use a new Group Connect feature that streamlines communications with guests through message templates and automated scheduling.
Another time-saver is a new bulk action capability, enabling property managers to create cancellation policies, promotional offers and house rules across all properties at once. The system also now has a new profile page where partners can add personal messages about themselves, their properties and the neighborhoods where properties are located.
According to Phocuswire, all of these new features are available on all of the platforms professional managers use for their portfolio of properties, including Booking.com’s extranet, its mobile app for partners called Pulse or a connectivity provider.
