Poor communication stops short let repeat bookings - claim

A new study claims holiday rental providers could increase business five fold or more through improved communication.

The study asked more than 2,000 rental vacation guests about the communication received from hosts before, during and after their trip. It found that 8.4 per cent never heard from the property owners at all. 

Some 58 per cent said they only heard from their hosts once or twice, which the study suggests that communication would likely have been limited to functional information such as check-in/out details and WiFi passwords. 

Only 6.4 per cent of renters receiving one or two messages from hosts booked additional nights compared to 43 per cent of those being contacted between six and ten times. 

Fewer than half of guests said they felt 'very well looked after' as a result of the communication they received yet the data also revealed that communicating just a handful of times more (three to five times versus one to two) significantly improved a guest's perception. 

Over two-thirds of guests state that communication influences their likelihood of leaving a positive review. This, in turn, is likely to impact new bookings considering 72% of new customers will not book a getaway until they have spent time reading other reviews. 

A spokesperson for Touch Stay, the company commissioning the research, says: "What a host communicates and how often they make contact influences how a guest feels about their experience as well as their inclination to spend more - we’ve always had a strong hunch about this and now the data confirms it.”