The benefits of building your direct bookings website are clear, but it is still common to feel overwhelmed or fearful when considering the practicalities of setting up and maintaining a new tech system. Allow us to reassure you when it comes to some of the most frequent direct booking myths and misconceptions.
Let’s unravel the truths by debunking some of the most common direct booking myths.
Myth 1: Building a website is a complex task that only coders can do.
Truth: You don’t have to be a coder or even technologically inclined to create a website nowadays. Many platforms today (such as property management systems like Lodgify and Hospitable) offer easy, drag-and-drop, visual website builders, especially designed for STRs and non-coding hosts.
Myth 2: Setting up my own website is a major task; OTAs are easier.
Truth: It is certainly quicker and easier to throw some images and a description on an OTA when it comes to putting a listing online. Setting up your own website does take more consideration and time (but not as much as you might think). However, in the long-run—once you’ve finished the initial set-up—the advantages will outweigh this short-term negative.
Myth 3: If my website breaks down, I’ll be on my own.
Truth: If you build your website through a dedicated platform (such as Hospitable or Lodgify), you’ll always benefit from the support they offer, and have someone available through customer service who can help fix any problems and ensure your site gets back up and running smoothly.
Myth 4: I won’t be able to take secure payments through my own website.
Truth: Almost all direct booking website builders and providers will enable you to take secure online payments from guests, so that they can select their dates and pay for their booking all at once on your site, in the same way as they would on an OTA. This includes payment by well-known, trusted major credit cards as well as online services (e.g. PayPal).
Myth 5: Guests won’t trust my website as much as they do OTAs.
Truth: Guests may be less familiar with your website than OTAs, but there are many things you can do to improve trust and build rapport with them to encourage them to book. For example, setting up a professional site with a strong brand, offering security extras such as damage waivers and ID screening, and answering common questions upfront. Read how to get direct bookings here.
Myth 6: If I take direct bookings, my rentals will be open to unverified guests and damage.
Truth: Just because you no longer have OTA “protections”, you do not have to settle for accepting any bookings and guests that come your way. Dedicated safety and security platforms like Truvi are designed to cover direct bookings, and offer services such as guest verification, ID and criminal checks, and damage waivers, so you can ensure the safety and security of your rentals, and prevent bad guests from causing damage or disruption. In fact, it provides more comprehensive, more effective coverage than the limited protections offered by OTAs.
Myth 7: I’ll overcomplicate my calendar if I take direct bookings, and accidentally double-book.
Truth: The vast majority of PMSs have channel managers and/or unified calendars that are designed to stop double bookings from happening. They can be connected to all your bookings sources, including OTAs and direct, and sync up all bookings and availability calendars so you can rest assured you’ll never accidentally double-book a property or date.
Myth 8: People won’t see my rentals if I don’t use OTAs.
Truth: It may take some time to ramp up your website visitor figures, drive traffic, and see direct booking figures that match or exceed those you have been used to from OTAs. However, if you implement strategies to drive visitors and bookings, people will be just as likely to see your website (and may even be more likely to see it) as they would be if they used an OTA to search.
Direct booking myths wrap-up
It might be scary to dabble with the new approaches to revenue generation but direct bookings are 100% worth your time and energy. Scary as they might seem, all these direct booking myths are debunkable. About a third of property managers and hosts worldwide will do direct bookings this year.
