As vacation homeowners, there is a lot that you can do to instill confidence in your guests. When things do not go as planned, then it results in chaos and disturbs the schedule of a traveler. Companies like Airbnb go out of their way to offer travel protection to the guests. This is why its popularity is soaring high. You too can extend a helping hand by making your guests aware of what kind of travel protection that they can have so that their vacation goes smoothly as planned.
The first and foremost thing you can do is to guide your guests to invest in travel insurance while renting your vacation home. Purchasing travel insurance protects travelers from unexpected expenses such as emergency assistance services, trip cancellation, and damaged or lost baggage. You can educate your guests about the value of investing in travel insurance and from where they can get it.
If you want to quickly learn about the most important points about travel insurance, check out the slides below:
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Offering travel protection to the guests
Here are some tips that you can follow to keep your guests well informed about how they can secure their trip.
Educating guests about travel insurance
Guests who are considering travel can reap the benefits of investing in travel insurance if anything goes wrong during the trip. They can go through the different options available in the travel industry in order to secure their upcoming trip.
Partnering with the travel industry
You can consider partnering with the travel insurance providers to assist your guests in comparing quotes and finding the perfect travel insurance plan that fits their needs. Although the needs of individual travelers may be wary, there is an array of benefits that the travelers can take advantage of. This includes coverage on travel interruption or trip cancellation, medical expenses, damaged baggage, emergency assistance services, and cancellation for any reason.
Helping guests find other options in the event of cancellations
During peak season, if you cannot accommodate any bookings or request or have to cancel any booking at the last moment, then you can assist your guests in finding suitable accommodation. You can work with a reliable company from the insurance industry for creating pathways for guests to purchase travel insurance. Choosing certain policies assists guests in canceling reservations with no penalty or charge.
Offering included protections
Whenever somebody books your vacation home, you can provide them a guarantee over their booking. You can have a dedicated team or someone to resolve their queries before and during their trip. You can also offer them protection against fraudulent bookings or if your property has been misrepresented somewhere on the web or on any vacation home booking portals.
Recommend protections
While booking your vacation home, you can direct the guests to purchase accidental damage protection and travel insurance from your partner or direct them to any reputed insurance provider. These policies cover the requirements of travelers and offer different levels of protection.
Offering assistance during a medical emergency
If your guest isn’t feeling well after checking into your vacation home, extending a helping hand can truly boost the credibility of your property! You can include medical protection in the insurance plan being offered to the guests choosing your vacation rental. You need to do all it takes to establish your image and credibility in the eyes of travelers.
Following the above-mentioned tips will help you instill the confidence in your guests to book your rental. They will do so without any apprehensions knowing that their reservation has been protected.
Travel protection
You can provide optional travel protection to your guests. They can include it while booking a reservation at your vacation home. They can choose from standard or enhanced travel protection. This would cost them a percentage of the reservation total that they incur. Generally, standard travel protection secures 100% of the prepaid reservation costs in case of any interruption, delay, natural disaster, injury, and cancellation due to illness.
Enhanced protection covers cancellation over any reason. This travel protection includes all the benefits covered under standard travel protection no matter what the reason is. The guests can cancel their reservation for reasons that have not been listed under the reasons covered in standard insurance protection. You can work out a travel protection plan for the benefit of your guests. You can check what is popular in your jurisdiction. You can consider it or provide added benefits to the guests choosing your vacation home.
Vacation rental sites like VRBO and Airbnb have become trend hotel alternatives because the reservations are governed by insurance. This saves a lot of money to the travelers in case they face any issues during their trip. Travel insurance coverage applied to vacation home rentals will attract more travelers to your property listing. Offering travel protection to your guests is a sign that you care more about their well being rather than making a profit. Travelers naturally gravitate towards such listings.
Benefits of providing travel insurance to guests
Property managers and owners need to realize the tremendous benefits of offering vacation insurance to guests choosing your property. Providing this will help you protect your relationship with your guests. Offering trip cancellation insurance to your guests can work like magic in managing relationships with the guests in a better way.
You need to remember that if things go as per the plan, then the insurance policy will never be used. However, offering them assurance in the form of travel insurance or protection will help them enjoy a worry-free vacation. If things don’t go as per the plan, travel insurance offers protection to both the guests and the vacation rental owner. Setting travel insurance is free and it can also help you increase your net profits by 35 percent per reservation. The insurance companies make sure that they offer a rewarding experience to both the guests and the host. Make sure to collaborate with a licensed insurance provider from your home state.
Why vacation home rentals don’t receive an enthusiastic response
Though you are providing accommodation and facilities that are on par with any five-star property, many travelers tend to shy away from booking vacation homes rentals. There are numerous reasons why they don’t receive a heart response. Here are some of the major reasons that will help you understand why your listing isn’t generating the response that you anticipated. By rectifying the issues and taking appropriate measures, you can generate interest in your listing with much ease.
Insuring unconventional expenses
Most of the vacation homes are governed with strict cancellation policies. The cancellation policies are the reason travelers try to stay away from such vacation homes listings. If you want your bookings to be full, then you will have to do away with rigid rules. Developing relaxed cancellation rules over your bookings will attract more travelers to your vacation home.
Covered reasons for canceling
The standard trip cancellation reasons apply to travelers opting for a vacation home rental property as well. The common covered reasons stated for trip cancellation are weather conditions and health of a traveler or of the family member. While making a claim, the traveler needs to produce proof of their rental and expenses. In several cases, an email confirmation is sufficient to state the lodging dates and the penalties that a traveler would incur if the booking is canceled.
As a vacation homeowner, you can consider including more options over the cancellation and give the travelers certain flexibility of cancellation over the bookings. For instance, you can provide free cancellation of a booking if it is done 10 days prior to the lodging date if it is convenient for you. This way, more travelers would repose their faith in your vacation home listing.
Addressing concerns that aren’t covered
Regardless of the popularity of choosing a rental property over other accommodations, travelers sometimes feel that they are sacrificing the reliability that is offered by most of the established hotels. Another concern of travelers opting for a rental property is that the accommodations turn out to be insufficient. They end up being different than what was advertised. Negative experiences make travelers view vacation homes in a bad light. You can address these concerns by offering a “Cancel for any Reason” option. This will repose their faith in your property.
Offering protection to your guests will attract more and more travelers to book your vacation home for their next vacation. Offering travel insurance and by revising certain policies can work like magic and increase the bookings made with your vacation home. By addressing the common concerns of travelers, you can look for ways in which you can boost the credibility of the property that you invested in for making money by using it as a vacation rental. Offering coverage over trip cancellation due to numerous unforeseen situations will certainly be beneficial for travelers who choose your vacation rental. Offering emergency assistance in case of any event will certainly be appreciated by your guests.
