Book Your Stay a Different Way

Every day, millions of users around the world use Google to plan their travels. Travelers use Google to research where they want to stay, share listings with travel companions, and visit partner sites to make bookings. Google’s vacation rental search makes it easier for travelers to discover the best lodging options for their queries—whether you’re searching for a cozy cabin or a house that sleeps 10.

In 2026, listing on just one STR platform is no longer enough. Instead, it's essential to be listed on multiple websites, if not all of them. This helps increase your property's visibility and odds of converting a booking. Popular options in Australia include Airbnb, Stayz, Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, among others. However, it's important to note that there are also challenges you may encounter by listing on multiple websites. This includes navigating various platforms with different fees, syncing calendars and pricing, and guest messages coming through different inboxes. For help with multi-channel distribution for your Airbnb, consider working with a professional manager like Hometime.

A guest who lands on a brand-new direct booking website does not see what the host sees. The host sees their property, their photos, their pricing, and a checkout flow that works. The guest sees a website they have never heard of, attached to a person they have no relationship with, asking for a credit card number. That gap — between what the host has built and what the guest has been asked to trust — is the single biggest reason new direct booking sites convert poorly in their first year. Reviews, payment recourse, and a recognizable name normally do this work on Airbnb or Vrbo. On a direct site, the host has to rebuild each of those signals from scratch.

Finding the right accommodation can be an exciting part of planning a holiday or business trip. Whether it’s a beachfront cabin, city apartment or country retreat, booking the perfect place can set the tone for your trip.

In this roundtable discussion, StayFi, PriceLabs, BuildUp Bookings, and Mountain Mama Cabins break down the strategies, systems, and marketing channels that are truly moving the needle for vacation rental operators today. From pricing strategy and demand generation to guest data collection, email marketing, SEO, and OTA distribution strategy, this session focuses on the real-world tactics operators are using to grow more predictable and scalable direct booking revenue. You’ll hear directly from operators and industry experts actively working in the space — including practical insights into what’s working, what’s overhyped, and where operators should actually be investing their time and budget in 2026.

Welcome to Boostly, where we give STR and MTR owners and managers the tools, strategies, and support to win more direct bookings — no fluff, no ads. This video is part of our free training series to help you grow your short-term rental business and take control away from OTAs.

For many Australian hosts, Airbnb is the intuitive starting point for short-term rentals, but relying on a single platform creates revenue vulnerability. Sudden policy changes or disputed reviews can lead to unlisting risks. Diversification mitigates these risks and connects your property with the right guest demographics, from luxury seekers in Byron Bay to corporate travelers in Melbourne. This guide breaks down the top Airbnb alternatives in Australia to help you capture more bookings and manage multiple channels efficiently.

The global vacation rental market continues to expand as short-term rental demand remains strong across major travel markets. According to The Business Research Company, the sector is expected to generate $101.06 billion in revenue in 2026, with further long-term growth still ahead.

The vacation rental market is shifting — and we have the data to prove it. In this video, we break down the key findings from the official Smoobu 2026 Insights Report, based on internal Smoobu data from over 200,000 real bookings and an in-depth analysis of our top 500 performing hosts in 2025. If you're a vacation rental host or property manager, these are the trends you need to know heading into 2026.

Jacob Cass could almost feel the sand beneath his feet as he searched for a holiday park with a cracking beachside location. When he typed the holiday park's name into Google, he was poised to book. But the results would lead him to mistakenly click on a third-party global travel platform called Guest Reservations. The platform is facing accusations of using manipulative online design tactics to deceive and mislead travellers before gouging them for expensive hotel bookings they often can't cancel.

AI assistants and self-service are here to stay. Discover what travelers in 2025 want and how the industry is responding by jumping into a story or exploring the full chapters.

Stable inbound arrivals growth from China, India, Singapore and Japan helped push Agoda higher in Australia's Top 12 list – making it one of the 40% of markets where the channel climbed in 2025. The same trend supported China’s Trip.com, which held eighth after its 2024 debut, while CTM Sleep Space remained steady in ninth after also entering the rankings in 2024.

Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com take 15–20% of your booking revenue — and worse, they keep your guest data so you can’t build repeat bookings. If you’re a short-term rental host in Australia, you’re giving away profit and control every single month.

Online travel agencies (OTAs), such as Airbnb and VRBO, play an important role in connecting vacation rental owners with travelers, helping boost visibility and drive bookings. However, relying too heavily on these platforms can hurt long-term success. While OTA dependence may not be obvious at first, it often leads to lower profit margins, difficulty standing out, and limited control over the guest experience.

In the competitive world of vacation rentals, property owners and managers are constantly looking for ways to maximize revenue, build relationships with guests, and streamline operations. One of the most effective strategies to achieve these goals is by encouraging direct bookings. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of direct bookings and why they are essential for the success of your vacation rental business.

Want to get more visibility for your vacation rental? Learn the essential steps to list your property on Google Vacation Rentals and attract more guests, from understanding the vacation market to identifying popular destinations. This video walks you through Google’s platform to help maximize your rental’s reach and leverage powerful benefits to boost bookings.

Imagine your vacation rental catching the eye of millions of travelers before they even think about checking Airbnb. Sounds too good to be true, right? Not with Google Vacation Rentals. In this article, we’ll look at how to use the world's biggest search engine to increase your bookings.

Are you ready to explore Australia's stunning landscapes but worried about costs? Camplify, Australia's leading van-sharing platform, makes it easy to hire a caravan or campervan from local owners, often at budget-friendly rates. Here is how it works.