Multilingual Vacation Rental Website Generates $200,000 Thanks to Social Media

Background

The owners of KABIN saw the opportunity to reinvent the typical lodging experience in the Eastern Townships, Quebec, Canada by building a domain of seven micro-cabins. This style of accommodation offering would be a completely new idea for the province.

When it came to choosing the ideal location for their project, the owners knew they couldn’t go wrong with Mount Sutton – a highly renowned ski destination in the area. This would allow them to offer guests the perfect place to relax after a long day of activities on the slopes.

Challenge

After construction had finished, KABIN’s owners began to think about how to market their new development. The biggest challenge KABIN faced was finding a booking software that allowed them to serve their potential guests in both French and English.

“In Quebec, the laws are very strict and proprietors are required to present all services in French.”

Since Canada is a bilingual nation, KABIN also wanted to have the possibility to provide content in English for those travelers who would be visiting from farther afield.

In short, KABIN were extremely conscious that the website they needed to build had to have multilingual features if it was going to succeed in the Canadian market.

Solution

During an extensive research of different providers available, KABIN found Lodgify and were instantly attracted by the possibility of a multilingual website.

“As soon as we saw the icon of “multiple languages” – we began looking deeper into what Lodgify had to offer. That’s when we began our free trial.”

As the owners of KABIN were able to build their site in both languages before formally starting their subscription, they were able to fully test the features to make sure it was suitable for their needs.

What they liked most about Lodgify

Besides being able to translate their content so easily, the owners of KABIN were also drawn to Lodgify’s Channel Manager and calendar synchronization possibilities.

“The iCal link is so important for us. It means everybody can have their cleaning and maintenance schedule on their phone – in real time!”

What’s more, getting started with Lodgify was a simple process from the very beginning.

“It was very easy. We came up with our website in a couple of hours – can’t ask for more than that!”

How they got their first bookings

As active users of social media themselves, KABIN had a great idea to generate engagement and excitement around their new properties: they started an ongoing contest on Facebook to win a dream long weekend in one of their mountain cabins.

“Now, after less than two years of operation, we have more than 17,000 Facebook fans, and over 40,000 participants.”

For KABIN, it’s not just the levels of participation that have made an impact – it’s how the information they collect can help them to enrich their other marketing campaigns.

“We use this data to send tailored newsletters to each potential guest. For example: it could be that their birthday is coming up soon, or it’s the anniversary of a vacation. We get in touch with them right at the moment when they could be thinking about KABIN.”

Other channels that generate traffic and bookings

As part of their website, KABIN have a vacation rental blog which helps attract travelers through enticing articles about the local area.

In addition to this, KABIN advertise their property offerings on Airbnb. This channel currently accounts for 10% of their total bookings and is especially effective at capturing last-minute guests.

Results

How Lodgify helped them grow their vacation rental business

When starting their vacation rental business operations, KABIN opted for Lodgify from the outset. It didn’t take them long to find out that vacation rental software is an indispensable tool to obtain direct bookings and generate revenue.

“We can now proudly say that 90% of our rental bookings are coming directly from our Lodgify website. The other 10% come exclusively from Airbnb. We’ve surpassed any expectations we once had – we took more than $200,000 Canadian dollars ($165,000 USD) in the first year alone!”

Recommendations

If you’re thinking about starting a vacation rental business, KABIN cannot stress enough the importance of online marketing. You don’t need to be a marketing professional, just follow a few simple tips to help get your business off the ground.

“Make sure to allocate a good budget for advertisement on social media such as Facebook and Instagram. Start a blog and write relevant articles for potential guests. Start a contest on Facebook. Invite bloggers and journalists to your place at no cost in exchange for visibility. These are all fantastic ways to get your brand out in the world and promote bookings.”