What was once a niche sector has become a key player in the hospitality industry. Short-term rentals have quickly risen to take the lead in the travel landscape (having hit new heights last year with a record-breaking 35% increase in host earning), which can be largely attributed to the innovative, cutting-edge technology adopted by the sector.
With this tech-forward approach, short-term rentals have gained a considerable advantage over other lodging competitors by redefining the meaning of the guest experience. In fact, smart home tech in tourism and travel has become so popular many guests now rely on and expect these property advancements.
So, if you want a successful summer season, you may want to check off some of these most wanted property tech trends sweeping the scene right now.
Three tech solutions your short-term rentals urgently need
- Property Management Systems (PMS)
The popularity of short-term rentals is a bittersweet reality for those in the business. On the one hand, your sector is in the limelight, on the other, you now have thousands of people lining up to be your competitor. And since the expectations of guests have drastically heightened, with standards such as cleanliness being more thoroughly scrutinized, now is the time to get the upper hand.
PMSs are essential to the smooth day-to-day running of a short-term rental business. It’s the technology guests don’t know they love, because they don’t see behind the scenes the increased efficiency created by automation at an operational level – but that doesn’t stop them benefiting from it.
From optimized cleaning schedules to monitored security, when property management systems are integrated with smart home solutions they can create a knock-on-effect of benefits that shape a better guest experience.
- Home automation
Our Property Manager Insights Report shows short-term rental guests want smart home technology for two reasons, luxury and utility. So while some guests enjoy the functionality of tech (which is likely because it’s familiar to the devices they have in their own homes), others like the added level of comfort property tech offers.
Either way, both demands highlight one common benefit: convenience. This shouldn’t come as a surprise when most people go on vacation to decompress. So, to give every kind of guest what they want this summer season, upgrade your property with simple property automation features that simplify their stay.
Tools to consider include keyless smart locks for direct check-in (which 45% of guests rate as one of their most enjoyed property features) and smart thermostats for consistent comfortable in-room temperature.
What’s more, home automation solutions also benefit your business from within. Without high levels of automation vacation rentals are limited, but with tech solutions property managers are equipped with the tools to scale their businesses beyond what they thought was possible.
Our research shows over a third of short-term rental managers have concerns centered around the operational costs of maintenance, service requests, and contractors. But what if you could cut down on your energy consumption? Know exactly when HVAC or Water Management systems require servicing? What if you could stop wasting contractor hours on unnecessary work?
All of this is possible when smart home technologies, such as smart thermostats and monitoring software, are connected wirelessly via IoT to your PMS.
- Guest experience tools
Not only has the travel industry advanced but so too has the way guests are choosing to stay. Gone are the days of lengthy check-ins where hosts spend half an hour chatting to new arrivals about their vacation plans – these days, most guests don’t want to have those interactions.
Instead, guests want to feel at home in your short-term rental and be enabled to treat the property as if it were their own. You can help guests feel more comfortable in your property by giving them the freedom to come and go on their own schedule with pre-arranged codes for a direct entry system.
To go one step further, use monitoring tech to premeditate problems like water leak risks or HVAC issues, so you can fix any problems in advance, and avoid interrupting a guest’s stay with unexpected maintenance calls. Nothing says ‘stressful vacation’ quite like a contractor banging on the water pipes at 10pm.
Tech has powered the growth of the short-term rental industry and continues to influence guest demands in the sector. Upgrade your properties with operational, automated, and contactless tech today to not only meet these expectations but to exceed them.
To learn more about how PointCentral can unlimit your short-term rental businesses’ potential, click here.
