Vacation Rentals on Rapid Overview

Give your travelers more of what they want by surfacing 850,000+ vacation rentals via the Rapid API

Overview

Vacation rentals form an exciting and growing segment in the online travel market. More than 30% of travelers booked a vacation rental in 2018† and the popularity of these properties has continued to grow. Since COVID-19, global vacation rental occupancy has increased 60%††. In addition, vacation rentals tend to be booked further in advance, have a longer length of stay, and have a higher average booking value†††.

Rapid has over 850,000 vacation rentals, meaning you can benefit from bookings with a longer length of stay, longer booking windows, and higher average booking value. Vacation rentals on Rapid can be split into two types:

• 265k integrated with Expedia Group that are primarily (98%) managed by professional hosts.
• 585k integrated with Vrbo that are primarily (75%) managed by private hosts or property owners.

Why Travelers Choose a Vacation Rental

Selection: More locations and superior amenities such as private hot tubs or kitchens.

Value: The leading reason why travelers choose a vacation rental over a hotel is for greater personal and shared spaces†*.

Experience: Over 40% of rental travelers chose a vacation rental for a unique experience†**.

How to Identify Vacation Rentals on Rapid

Vacation rental properties can be identified using the category object in the Rapid Content API. There are 13 vacation rental categories:

*These property types may also be included in hotel search experiences, especially when multi-unit.

Vacation rentals are more likely to require a customized property details display, additional guest education, and facilitation of post-book communications between the host and guest. The level of customization required may vary depending on whether they are single- or multi-unit, and have a front desk onsite.

• Multi-unit vacation rentals with a reception: These are the closest to conventional lodging, and may be included in a hotel search path as well as a vacation rental specific shop experience.

• Multi-unit vacation rentals without a reception: These have organized management but may require additional operational dedication as there is no front desk.

If you only want to map multi-unit vacation rentals, you can filter by the multi-unit flag in Rapid Content. Additionally, if you only want to show properties with a reception, you can use the filter above, and look for ‘24-hour front desk’ and ‘front desk (limited hours)’ in the amenities:

• Single-unit vacation rentals: These require a high level of communication with end travelers prior to arrival. To offer these properties, you must clearly communicate that the property has no front desk (so check-in instructions will be provided post-booking), and whether the location is exact or has been obfuscated for privacy reasons.

To facilitate two-way communication between the property and the traveler, e.g. to confirm check-in instructions post-booking, please enable Property Message Center.

Vrbo on Rapid

Eligible Rapid partners now have access to select Vrbo inventory which they can offer to their customers using Rapid API to build a full shopping experience. This feature gives partners the power to offer customers access to 600,000+ single-unit vacation rental properties globally.

Vrbo properties offered through the Rapid API will increase in future as more property types, connectivity sources, and booking flows are enabled. Please note that a key requirement for single-unit vacation rentals offered by Vrbo is enablement of guest-to-host communications facilitated by Vrbo. As a result, it is not yet possible for Vrbo bookings made on partner sites to be enabled in a fully white label environment.

Supported APIs

Currently, the following Rapid APIs support Vrbo inventory:

• Geography API
• Content API
• Guest Reviews API
• Availability and Price Check APIs
• Booking API
• Retrieve Itinerary API
• Cancel API (for eligible bookings)
• Notifications API (cancellations)

Un-Supported APIs

Currently, the below Rapid APIs are not supported:

• Hold/Resume
• Change room details including guest name, stay dates, occupancy, and pets
• Cancel API (for ineligible bookings)
• Notifications API (changes)

Current Key Limitations

General:

• Vrbo vacation rental properties must be displayed using a tailored vacation rental property details page template, not a hotel template
• Vrbo supply may not be eligible for sale in some countries
• Must be using Rapid V3 Standard, not Basic
• Only standalone rates are supported

Book:

• Guest contact info (email and phone number) must be provided with every booking

Payments:

• Valid credit card is required (customer or virtual card)
• Expedia Affiliate Collect (EAC) is not available

Post-Book

• Display of Vrbo branding and clear information for the guest on Vrbo’s role in the transaction are required
• An additional site review based on Vrbo-specific launch requirements is required prior to launch

References:

† Phocuswright, US Consumer Travel 2019: Travel Product Consumption

†† The Ultimate List of Vacation Rental Statistics 2020 edition

††† Initial EPS production results from an EPS US-based partner (2019)

†* Turnkey, 2018 Consumer Travel Survey

†** Turnkey, 2018 Consumer Travel Survey