Here’s the truth, holiday home owners: if your holiday home only lives on an external website like Airbnb or Stayz, you’re actually selling yourself short. Yes, those platforms are powerful in their own ways, but they are also crowded, expensive, highly competitive, and controlled by someone else’s rules and regulations. You’re just one in a sea of listings, and you don’t fully own the relationship with your guest along the way. That’s a risky way to run what is, at the end of the way, your business.

Guests Want More Than Just a Bed

As I’ve discussed in previous articles, guests these days are getting savvier. The latest booking.com Holiday Home Outlook Report explained that the majority (76%) of Aussie travellers book and use a holiday home as a base to explore the destination around it. This means guests clearly aren’t choosing a holiday home as a place to sleep – they’re choosing a story, a vibe, and an authentic connection to the local area. 

If all they see is a generic Airbnb page with a handful of standard photos in unflattering light, then sadly they won’t see much at all because your listing will have blended far too much into the ‘crowded crowd’. Why would they choose your listing over the hundreds of others? 

It’s Time for a Real Marketing Strategy

This is where smart marketing comes in and makes all the difference. These days, a holiday home should have its own identity, just as a hotel would. A name, a logo, a website (even just a simple landing page!), and a social media presence. You need to start thinking of these marketing tactics as your shopfronts. They let you show off the personality of your holiday home (for FREE), share beautiful imagery, and most importantly – build authenticity and credibility. A guest is far more likely to trust and remember “The Bayside Cottage” with its own site and brand versus “Random Airbnb Listing #15467”.

…With Real Partnerships

I’ll talk about this until I’m blue in the face… we cannot forget partnerships! When you directly connect your holiday home with local cafes, businesses, tour companies, or boutiques, you are instantly and easily creating a richer guest experience. Imagine booking a cosy, beautifully styled holiday home where you know you can get 10% off at the spa down the road followed by a buy-one-get-one-free coffee and the cafe next door, all simply because you’re a guest of your chosen holiday home. Suddenly your potential guests aren’t just booking a stay by choosing your holiday home, they are booking a truly local experience. This is how hotels compete, ya’ll – time to step up!

Let’s Elevate Your Holiday Home Today 

Look, I could sit here and give you a whole list of marketing tactics and advice, but here’s your reality: you don’t need a million different marketing strategies for your holiday home, you just need the right one from the beginning. You need a thoughtful, cohesive plan that makes your holiday home genuinely stand out, earn respect and credibility, and attracts solid repeat guests time and again. That’s the difference between running an average listing and building a real business and brand. 

If you’re ready to stop relying solely on external platforms and start marketing your holiday home like the real and beautiful business it is, let’s talk today. I can help you create a brand, a website, a marketing presence, and real-deal local partnerships that turn your holiday home into the authentic guest experience it has all the potential to be.