Make your rooms more appealing to key travelers
In recent years, our research has shown that many travelers want similar things – flexibility, personalization, comfort, and security. Understanding search patterns can help you tailor your offerings to meet demand.
We've identified three rapidly growing traveler audiences. This toolkit will help you tap into these travelers’ needs and increase your bookings – without compromising on price.
Tap into traveler preferences
Three traveler segments are rapidly growing on our platform – families with children, long-stay guests, and solo and group travelers. They represent high demand. Catering to their needs can help you increase bookings and revenue, especially with families and groups, who spend more than couples.
Families with children
31% of summer searches on our platform are from families. They value security and comfort above all else.
Long-stay guests
In 2021, 25% of all room nights booked on our platform were for stays of seven nights or more. These guests want to feel at home.
Solo and group travelers
From a recent survey, 22% of travelers are searching with a group of friends and 17% intend to go solo this year. Offering more targeted prices will maximize your relevance in search results.
Our toolkit
You can improve your property’s performance on our platform—and attract the three trending traveler types—by optimizing your prices, availability, and content. Here are some goals you may want to consider:
- Increase your visibility during searches with optimized content and policies
- Make strategic pricing choices to appeal to travelers at the time of booking
This toolkit—with three tips you can follow—will help you differentiate and price your offerings to effectively target growing groups.
1. Enable policies and set up tailored rates
Attract the right guests by enabling your policies and making sure your max room occupancy is always up to date in searches. Then, set up a tailored rate to encourage guests to book at your property.
Families with children
Set up competitive children rates to increase family bookings by an average of up to 15%.
Charge per room or set custom prices for children within a particular age group using percentage-based pricing.
Long-stay guests
Make the most of demand for longer stays by setting up Weekly or Monthly Rate Plans. These help you attract guests looking to stay for seven days or more.
Groups and solo travelers
Pricing per guest allows you to potentially increase your bookings by up to 4% a year.
Adjust your room or unit rate based on the number of guests to help increase your overall occupancy.
Families with children
Set up competitive children rates to increase family bookings by an average of up to 15%.
Charge per room or set custom prices for children within a particular age group using percentage-based pricing.
Long-stay guests
Make the most of demand for longer stays by setting up Weekly or Monthly Rate Plans. These help you attract guests looking to stay for seven days or more.
Groups and solo travelers
Pricing per guest allows you to potentially increase your bookings by up to 4% a year.
Adjust your room or unit rate based on the number of guests to help increase your overall occupancy.
Families with children
Set up competitive children rates to increase family bookings by an average of up to 15%.
Charge per room or set custom prices for children within a particular age group using percentage-based pricing.
Long-stay guests
Make the most of demand for longer stays by setting up Weekly or Monthly Rate Plans. These help you attract guests looking to stay for seven days or more.
Groups and solo travelers
Pricing per guest allows you to potentially increase your bookings by up to 4% a year.
Adjust your room or unit rate based on the number of guests to help increase your overall occupancy.
2. Continuously optimize your property page to meet diverse traveler needs
An impactful property page is a perfect blend of inspiration and info, capturing the attention of different types of travelers while answering their questions. Here are some insights on what key travelers using our platform want to see on your property page.
Families with children
Essentials – safety, cleanliness, location, and parking
Optional – privacy, entertainment, and other family-friendly amenities
Deal-breakers – high prices and not being able to stay together
Our research shows that facilities info and photos are the most important content for families.
Long-stay guests
Essentials – Wifi, natural light, and AC
Optional – workspaces and a washing machine
Deal-breakers – noise and other disturbances
According to our research, pricing and location—as well as access to practical info about a property—are the most important factors for long-stay guests.
Groups and solo travelers
Essentials – location and privacy within the room or unit
Optional – en-suite bathrooms, common areas, and surroundings
Deal-breakers – poor room or unit configuration and high prices
We see that group and solo travelers use photos to judge the size, cleanliness, and configuration of a space.
Use these four criteria to assess your content:
- Accuracy – are your property's facilities indicated accurately? This ensures potential guests know what you offer.
- Relevance – do your photos represent your property’s features? Relevant photos show guests what to expect and what they’re paying for.
- Completeness – missing content creates doubt, which may cause potential guests to click away. You might also miss the chance to show off an amenity that guests are looking for.
- High-quality images – well-shot photos ensure your room looks just as good on a screen as it does in real life.
The Property Page Score is useful for evaluating your content. Find your score on the Extranet, along with suggestions for improvement. Properties with a 100% Property Page Score get up to 18% more bookings than properties with incomplete content.
3. Use the room differentiation tool to encourage paid upgrades
Our research shows that 37% of guests considering a room or unit upgrade don't end up going for it because they can’t justify the extra cost.
Room differentiation is a great way to upsell and maximize the revenue from each room or unit while also curating unique experiences for different traveler segments. For example, communicating that a particular room has a washing machine appeals to long-stay guests, while families with children will appreciate having a fully equipped kitchen.
To help you attract the ideal guests for each of your rooms or units, we've developed the Extranet’s room differentiation tool. It recommends quick actions you can take to highlight a room or unit’s most attractive features.
How the room differentiation tool works
Use the room differentiation tool to highlight each room’s distinctive features, so potential guests will be able to see the following on your property page:
- Before booking your property, potential guests can see the facilities each room or unit offers and compare the differences
- After booking (but before check-in), we suggest on the confirmation page and by email to “get a better room,” highlighting the difference between what guests have booked and the upgrades available
If a guest accepts the upgrade offer, we'll send them a modified booking. The room or unit they originally booked goes back into your inventory, so someone else can book it.