
Have you ever wondered which Airbnb competitors there are and why you should consider listing your property on sites other than Airbnb? Airbnb is undoubtedly the most popular platform with a market share of almost 20% of the whole vacation rental industry, according to Invezz. With Airbnb’s year-on-year growth, it’s safe to say that this percentage is only going to rise in the years to come.
However, listing your rental properties on other websites as well is a smart method for ensuring your business growth. Promoting your listing across Airbnb-alternative platforms can help you present your property to a larger pool of renters. In turn, it will result in an increase in your occupancy rate and profits. Differentiating your listings also keeps you from relying too much on Airbnb, a company that has seen its fair share of complaints, and even lawsuits, from hosts.
While it sounds like a great idea, finding a new platform to advertise your property on might be another challenge. With such a variety of options, it can be difficult to decide which alternative to Airbnb to use. Check out these Airbnb competitors and learn about the key features to secure your place within the short-term rental market.
HomeAway has been dominating the industry for many years now and is one of the most famous Airbnb competitors. You have probably come across it on Google as it can be seen among the top search results for booking sites. There are more than 2 million listings on HomeAway and the platform operates in 190 countries. It was founded in 2005 and became part of the Expedia Group in 2015.
The main difference is the type of properties offered on HomeAway. Unlike Airbnb where hosts may offer shared spaces, HomeAway allows only private vacation homes.
Another great alternative to Airbnb is Vrbo, which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner. Like HomeAway, Vrbo offers only private homes and apartments.
In 2006, Vrbo was acquired by HomeAway, and as of 2015, the Expedia Group acquired HomeAway, and, thus, Vrbo as well. If you list your property on Vrbo, it will automatically be listed on HomeAway.
Booking.com is ahead of the curve with its guest-friendly, easy-to-navigate user interface and instantly bookable option. This makes it a favorite among inquiring guests. These features mean that it may increase your occupancy rate as more guests will opt for making reservations through the Booking.com website due to its simplified booking process.
Booking.com offers over 27 million listings and covers more than 130,000 destinations in 227 countries.
Expedia is often not the first vacation rental platform that comes to guests’ minds when they are looking for vacation rentals. Thus, it is often overlooked by many hosts. Listing your property on Expedia can help you get ahead of the competition as many hosts don’t have it on their radar.
When you list a property on Expedia, your listing will also appear on other leading online travel sites like Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz, Wotif, etc.
TripAdvisor’s most prominent feature is providing feedback from the travel community. This is also the number one reason why guests love to search for places to stay through its website. It was founded in 2000 and has a massive number of reviews that have been collected over the years. TripAdvisor is a trusted source of information for many travelers.
With TripAdvisor, your property listing will be automatically translated to 26 languages and appear on 26 TripAdvisor sites. This will help you to expand your reach and attract more international travelers to book your rental properties.
Once listed on TripAdvisor, your listing will automatically appear on FlipKey as well.
FlipKey is a subsidiary of TripAdvisor and offers a wide range of vacation rental options to guests.
The most unique feature of FlipKey is its pay-per-booking pricing model. This means that you will only pay when you get a reservation.
It works the same as other Airbnb competitors. You have the ability to optimize your listing by adding photos, spelling out the minimum and maximum-stay policies, the number of rooms, etc.
9flats has over 30,000 hosts in 104 countries.
Outdoorsy is the world’s largest marketplace for motorhomes, RVs, campervans, in fact, all accommodations on wheels. It is considered somewhat of the Airbnb of the motorhome world as it focuses exclusively on the RV space.
Outdoorsy is another amazing Airbnb competitor and an alternative to running a vacation rental business without a property to rent. This vacation rental site comes in handy to target guests who are willing to explore the outdoors, i.e., by renting an RV.
What makes this Airbnb competitor stand out is that it focuses exclusively on hosted housing where the host is present.
Here you can rent out a private or shared room, or bed at prices that are more suited for small budgets. If you’re just starting out and have an extra room to rent, this may be a good place to start.
This Airbnb competitor has a different approach to the vacation rental business. It offers luxury rentals in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Milan, Florence, Rome, Paris, and Sydney.
Listing your property on onefinestay will help you attract more upscale guests. This will take your vacation rental business to a whole new level.
Property owners who list their rentals on onefinestay can rent them effortlessly without managing them alone. onefinestay assists in not only property management activities but also in marketing, PR, etc.
If your rental is family-friendly and your plan is to attract more families, this is an excellent Airbnb alternative that can bring you more guests.
This Airbnb-competitor platform focuses on family-friendly accommodations and providing a flawless experience for families with kids. Therefore, promoting your rental on Kid and Coe will ensure that more such guests see your offer and book your rental.
As the name of the website suggests, HomeExchange is a platform facilitating home exchanges. It offers over 400,000 homes in 187 destinations. By paying a $150 annual subscription, you are entitled to unlimited exchanges throughout a year.
HomeExchange has a special system of “guest points” that hosts can earn and then use for a stay at another member’s home in the destination of their choosing.
HomeExchange can hardly be considered an Airbnb competitor in terms of its ability to help you establish your vacation rental business. However, it gives you a chance to improve your hosting skills and join a community of like-minded fellows.
To establish a successful vacation rental business and draw more attention to your property, you might want to consider using the aforementioned Airbnb competitors. Promoting your listing across various rental websites will help you attract more guests, increase your occupancy rate and profits.
iGMS offers integration with some of the most prominent Airbnb competitors to make your job a lot easier. You can use our software to manage multiple properties listed across various rental platforms.
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