HouseTrip.com Blog – The official blog for holiday apartments

… in Paris at the E-Commerce fair on the 29th, 30th of September and 1st of October. We will be in the “innovation village”.

…we just changed the design of the blog. Do you like it?

Arnaud

Today, we are proud to have Claude Bénard, a famous travel blogger who edits HotelITour, as a guest blogger. Claude has given us great advices and encouraged us since the very beginning of the HouseTrip adventure. He is also a regular contributor to TourismInternetMarketing and the T-List. In this article, Claude writes to vacation rentals owners about the latest trends in the travel industry and how they can cope with them.

Enjoy his post below.

We are in a severe downturn, impacting both consumer behaviour and the travel industry.
As a result the general consumer’s primary objective is to seek better value at a lower spend.
And for you, owners, in this current climate, any additional source of income generated from renting out what you already have, is a welcome boost and a good way to manage your Real Assets.
In this post, I will explore the consumers’ needs that are changing, things to do to be prepared to meet those needs and ways to make money from your Real Assets while differentiating yourselves.

1 ) What are the main trends and travel consumer’s need?

Short holidays, a worldwide trend

People are taking shorter holidays and do so more frequently.

Impulsive and last booking

Holidays remains an impulsive buy, and last minute booking is a strong trend for years. We see people booking just one or two weeks before travelling.
The vacationers are still coming; they are just waiting until the very last minute to book their travels and vacation rentals.

Read the whole post »

Dear reader,
Are you interested to being one of the first 100 HouseTrip host? Apply now to rent out your space (guestroom, city flat, villa, castle, etc.) and we let you earn €1′000 from your rentals…for free! No listing fee, no commission, nothing is charged to you until you’ve made €1′000! In addition, this offer is non-binding: just leave the website at any time if you don’t like it.

You will also be able to enjoy the following benefits:

• Complete description of your space with unlimited pictures
• Free online Property Management System to manage all your bookings and availability
• Choose your guests: look at their profiles and decide who can stay at your place
• When it makes sense (for instance during a large event where your space is located), you can auction certain dates: only the highest bidders will get to stay at your space during those dates
• Easy payment system: your guests pay us with their credit cards and we transfer the money directly to your bank account
• And many more fun and practical features!

And of course you’ll be able to enjoy a very nice profile page for your space like the one below:

To apply or if you need more information, please send an email to info@housetrip.com by providing a short description of the space you would rent out (or your questions if you want more information). In the email, don’t hesitate to mention if you would like to participate to a live demonstration of the website by one of our team members.If you are selected, we will send you an email indicating when and how you should post your listing on housetrip.com

Best regards and please spread the word around you!
Arnaud

Michael Levie, the CEO of CitizenM, probably the most exciting new hotel chain out there, just joined HouseTrip’s advisory board.

Michael has an impressive travel and hotel record allied to a unique vision for the industry. Upon graduating from IHMI, he worked for various international hotel chains including Sonesta Hotels and NH Hoteles all over the world. As Vice-President of Operations he managed large portfolios of hotels. Michael also worked for SynXis, where he started and headed the European office. Michael, together with a team of partners, then conceived the CitizenM brand after assessing what he saw as a stagnant mid-market hotel industry.

We are obviously very excited about the prospects for HouseTrip and are delighted to be working with Michael who will bring a highly value-added perspective to our advisory board.