Vacation rental marketing that fills the calendar, not Airbnb’s pockets.
Vacation rental marketing is the work that gets your units booked without handing a platform 15 to 20 percent of every stay. We build the direct channel, the repeat-guest list, and the local search presence so the booking lands on your side of the ledger.
What good vacation rental marketing actually does.
Four jobs. No jargon. Each one keeps more of every booking on your side.
Gets you booked direct
A booking site with your own rates, so a guest who found you can reserve without a platform fee stacked on top. That gap is your margin.
Wins the island search
“Villa rental St. John.” “Where to stay in Tulum.” These searches are how a guest with no loyalty yet finds a place. We make sure they find yours.
Turns one stay into three
Every guest who checks out is a future booking if you have their email. We build the list and the follow-up so they come back to you, not to a search bar.
Fills the shoulder season
Tourists fill your high season. The rest of the year is where owners lose money. We market to repeat guests and off-peak travelers so the calendar stays full.
The vacation rental marketing work, in plain English.
This is the actual list we run on a rental. Nothing here is a mystery.
A direct booking site
Your own site with a real booking calendar and payment, so guests can reserve without a platform fee. This is the single biggest lever for a rental owner.
Google and local search
A Business Profile, real photos, and a page per property so travelers searching your island find your place, not just the platforms.
An email list you own
Every past guest, captured and kept. A short note before their island’s high season books more nights than any ad. You own this channel outright.
Better listings, still
We keep your Airbnb and Vrbo listings sharp too. They are good at finding new guests. The goal is to shift the mix, not walk away.
Reviews, handled
A steady flow of fresh reviews and real replies across Google, Airbnb, and Vrbo. It moves rankings and it moves bookings.
Reporting you can read
Direct bookings, revenue, and repeat guests. Not clicks. If a number cannot be deposited, we do not put it in the report.
What the platforms actually charge a rental owner.
This is why direct matters. The numbers come straight from the platforms, and most owners are handing over more than they think.
Airbnb. Airbnb has moved most hosts to a single host-only service fee of 15.5 percent of the booking, taken out of your payout. For listings in Mexico, including the Riviera Maya, that single fee is 16 percent. You can read it straight from the source: Simplifying Airbnb service fees and the full Airbnb service fees breakdown.
Vrbo. New hosts pay 8 percent per booking, which is a 5 percent commission plus a 3 percent payment fee. On a busy villa that adds up to real money every single month, money a direct booking would keep in your pocket.
The math most owners never run.
How we run it.
1. We audit your listings and show you where the bookings are leaking. 2. We build the direct site, the Google profile, and the guest email list. 3. We keep the platform listings sharp while we grow the direct channel. 4. You get one report that shows direct bookings, revenue, and repeat guests. We build it, then we run it.
Want the numbers first? Run your units through our free OTA Commission Calculator and see what the platforms cost you this year. Then read how to market your vacation rental property, how to price your vacation rental, and how to avoid Airbnb fees. If the direct site is your weak link, start with direct booking websites. Not sure managing it yourself pencils out? See vacation rental property management. And see where we work.
Questions rental owners ask.
Do I have to leave Airbnb and Vrbo to do this?
No. Keep them. They are good at finding a guest who has never heard of you. The mistake is letting them keep that guest forever. Vacation rental marketing shifts the mix toward direct over time, not overnight.
How much does the platform fee really cost me?
Airbnb takes 15.5 percent of most bookings now, 16 percent in Mexico. Vrbo runs about 8 percent for new hosts. On a villa booking a few hundred nights a year, that is thousands of dollars you could keep by moving repeat guests to direct.
I only have one or two units. Is this worth it?
Especially then. One or two high-value units means every lost booking hurts more, and a small repeat-guest list can fill most of your calendar. You do not need a big portfolio for direct to pay off.
Do you work outside the Caribbean?
We work between roughly 18 and 20 degrees North: the US Virgin Islands, the BVI, and the Riviera Maya. We know these markets, the seasons, and the guests.
Stop renting your guests. Own the booking.
Send us your listings and we will show you exactly what the platforms cost you this year and what we would fix first to move bookings direct.