The Top #BookDirect Influencers in the Short-Term Rental Industry in 2020
The Book Direct movement gathers pace year-on-year as more property managers seek alternative means to generating bookings and retaining more control over their business.
So who are the best individuals to follow?
These are some of the leading #BookDirect champions and thought-leaders paving the way in the short-term rental industry.
Alan Egan
Alan Egan is the owner of Rent More Weeks (on online magazine for vacation rental owners across the globe) and co-founder of Vacation Soup.
Vacation Soup is a no-commission network of property rental owners websites which syndicates owner-written articles across a larger network of social platforms.
Members get greater exposure and potential for direct bookings by adding regular content contribution whilst also availing of free courses on website building, content creation, branding, SEO and photography.
Alan has given away over 1,000 free vacation rental websites in his time and has developed an outstanding knowledge of website design, SEO and experience of how to build up direct bookings.
Amy Hinote
Amy Hinote is the founder and editor of VRM Intel, the leading provider of news and education for profession vacation rental managers.
Amy is at the very heart of the Book Direct movement.
She initiated the #BookDirect Guest Education Day in February 2018 to show guests the many benefits of booking rental accommodation directly with owners and managers.
The collective movement has grown exponentially with the third #BookDirect Day scheduled for February 5th 2020.
Deborah Labi
Deborah Labi is the founder of the Have You Got collaborative network of property managers.
Having been in the holiday rental industry for over 13 years in Australia, Deborah's successful business in Sydney has seen many guest enquiries frustratingly come and go which she could not accommodate. This gave birth to the idea of the Have You Got network whereby property managers can collaborate on a local level and share enquiries/bookings.
Elaine Watt
Elaine Watt is the host of both her own HLS Podcast and Short Stay Show Podcast interviewing some of the biggest names in the short-term rental industry.
She is a firm advocate of the book direct movement. Her Holiday Let Success brand was one leading #bookdirect performers on Twitter in 2018/2019.
Elaine initiated the weekly #bookdirecthour Twitter chat each Friday bringing rental managers together whilst educating guests on how it's best to #bookdirect to get the best deals.
Mark Simpson
Mark Simpson is the hospitality expert behind the UK-based Boostly brand which includes an educational academy and website design building tool and podcast.
A leading advocate of the #BookDirect movement, his goal is 'to help you boost your bookings' and 'dramatically reduce your commission costs' through his hospitality training portal - the Boostly Academy - and podcast.
The academy now boasts over 1,000 hospitality managers and short-term rental business owners as community members. Training tips, resources and monthly group live video calls focus on marketing, social media, Google Ads, email marketing for technophobes and those seeking help in their business.
Matt Landau
Matt Landau's position in the vacation rental industry is unrivalled.
The founder of VRMB and the Inner Circle community also hosts the Unlocked podcast interviews some of the world’s most innovative vacation rental professionals.
His TV production, The Vacation Rental Show is now on its second season.
Listing Site Independence has been near the top of Matt's core principals for many years.
Natacha Parmantier
Natacha Parmantier champions veganism in tourism and is prolific in helping short-term rental managers and hospitality companies to build up and online presence.
Her Facebook group - Airbnb - #moredirectbookings Digital marketing tips for vacation rentals has over 400 members.
Natacha's regular interviews and constant engagement about all things social media (Facebook Ads, social media myths, Pinterst, Instagram, hastags etc) are well-delivered alongside her winning personality and accessible approach.
Tom Powers
Tom Powers is a property manager and the founder of Abodeca - a vacation rental marketplace that connects guests directly to hosts eliminating booking fees.
Tom can be regularly seen presenting at conferences in the US and Europe, including HOST and KigoWorld in 2019 where he promotes alternative routes (e.g. YouTube) to generating bookings away from large OTAs.
Yvonne Halling
Yvonne Halling is the BedandBreakfastCoach a UK-based coach and mentor for hospitality businesses worldwide.
Yvonne ran a B&B for 17 years and is a firm believer of embracing technology and a strong advocate of the book direct movement and rentention of business control.
Her Facebook group has over 1700 members where she constantly engages with accommodation owners and property managers.