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Press information:
"Press release #1 Feb 5th 2018"
Headline: Over 75 percent of self-catering rental owners are doubtful that HomeAway will still be a significant force in two years time.

Confidence in the vacation rental site HomeAway.com is waning swiftly according to a recent survey of vacation rental owners. The survey indicates that under a quarter of the owners believe that HomeAway.com and sister sites such as OwnersDirect and VRBO will still be significant players in the vacation rental market within two years.

The survey, completed by 350 members of the StaySavr.com group plus 25 non-members, collected views of the owners of over 1200 vacation rental properties.

The survey also asked about the decline in the proportion of bookings attributable to HomeAway since introduction of its Traveller Service Fee. Some owners are clearly affected much more than others with 94% of owners reporting some decline. The average decline is 33 percentage points in terms of the proportion of attributable bookings.

This begs the question: where have those bookings gone? There is certainly no single answer to this question. Many owners claim that they still fill their calendars with more direct and repeat bookings while some have experienced a downturn, suggesting that AirBnB and hotels may be the main beneficiaries.

Owners were also asked about the volume of inquiries through HomeAway. Almost half of the responders claimed that the current inquiry volume has more than halved since the Service Fee was introduced.

While these survey results indicate a worrying downward trend for HomeAway, some comfort can be taken from the fact that the survey participants are not a random sample of all owners, as they were recruited from the membership of StaySavr (a group which promotes direct booking) and some Facebook groups which were set up as a result of disquiet among both owners and guests, following HomeAway's change of business model.

Notes:
The summary survey data can be viewed at:
Owner Survey 1: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejqQ4BeGgpIPWddIp1f2KMzYF9Egd431GVhGMFCEv0bCa6SA/viewanalytics
Owner Survey 2: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLvnJ1cw8B9enN-EhDtjB7JChjJAK-EfvaVjfbRTjfZClFzA/viewanalytics

This press release has been timed for visibility on #BookDirect day: A global consumer education effort on 7 Feb, promoted by hoteliers and other accommodation providers. A number of StaySavr members around the world have indicated that they are available for media interviews.
Please put any publicity questions to Igor by email: [email protected]
Press information:
"Press release #2 Feb 5th 2018"
Headline: Savvy vacationers escape Expedia's punitive booking charges

Research carried out by the StaySavr Project - a group of rental property owners concerned at marketplace manipulation - shows that vacationers are actively and successfully finding ways around Expedia's online booking charges.

Background: Since acquisition of HomeAway Inc. by the travel giant Expedia in December 2015, changes have been forced onto the vacation properties marketplace. These changes include prohibiting direct communication between guest and owner until a booking is made, psychological pressure to make a booking decision quickly and a raft of concealed additional charges which add as much as 20% on to the rental cost*. HomeAway had previously bought up all of the successful independent websites on which owners could advertise for direct reach to guests.

Vacation rental owner, Vanessa wrote:
Originally it was a huge worry as the bulk of our bookings came from them (HomeAway) and I was so angry at the way that I was treated by them: the summary dismissal of our concerns and the underhand way they set about changing their T&Cs. We have taken no bookings through Owners Direct/HomeAway for this coming 2018 season. However, we have taken bookings from many returners who originally came from Owners Direct before they had their new system. I imagine that, if there are many others like us, then HomeAway will be seeing a reduction in their bookings from small independent advertisers like us. Now that we have spread our wings we've been able to fill up our next season's calendar without needing HomeAway at all.

Andy, another owner wrote: All introductions come via HomeAway however, bookings are direct. They seem to find me somehow!

StaySavr.com surveyed its membership in January, revealing that on average, 77% of their bookings were generated through HomeAway before the Service Fee was introduced but that proportion has since fallen to 37%. The survey was completed by over 350 members.

From a guest viewpoint: "I've used VacationRentals.com, HomeAway and VRBO a few times and have no complaints. But when I visited the site recently to look for a place to stay, I was seriously disappointed by the discrepancy between the daily rate advertised on the website and the total due to complete a rental. Breaking the total down to a daily equivalent, the cost exceeded the rate stated in the website by a completely unacceptable margin." This comment by potential guest, Rod, explains the incentive that guests now have to find ways to avoid HomeAway's fees. A continuing increase in usage of StaySavr's free services and the increasing proportion of direct rental arrangements shows that the most resourceful guests are finding ways around the fees.

Notes:
The summary survey data can be viewed at:
Owner Survey 1: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSejqQ4BeGgpIPWddIp1f2KMzYF9Egd431GVhGMFCEv0bCa6SA/viewanalytics
Owner Survey 2: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLvnJ1cw8B9enN-EhDtjB7JChjJAK-EfvaVjfbRTjfZClFzA/viewanalytics

* The added fees include 8% commission charged to the owner and a "Traveller Service Fee" between 5% and 12% charged to the guest, both subject to taxes.

This press release has been timed for visibility on #BookDirect day: A global consumer education effort on 7 Feb, promoted by hoteliers and other accommodation providers. A number of StaySavr members around the world have indicated that they are available for media interviews.
Please put any publicity questions to Igor by email: [email protected]