Top Upsells to Maximize Short Term Rentals in Colorado
Colorado’s short-term rental market booms as tourists seek unique stays in the state’s beautiful scenery. With Colorado drawing millions of visitors annually, there is an opportunity for vacation rental operators to grow and drive revenue. Effective upselling strategies can accelerate growth and revenue for hospitality professionals in the area.
August 27, 2024
Colorado’s short-term rental market booms as tourists seek unique stays in the state’s beautiful scenery. With Colorado drawing millions of visitors annually, there is an opportunity for vacation rental operators to grow and drive revenue. Effective upselling strategies can accelerate growth and revenue for hospitality professionals in the area.
What does an effective upselling strategy look like in Colorado? Guests visiting for mountain and nature experiences are likely to be interested in outdoor adventure packages and personalized services. By offering these experiences, lodging operators can earn a share of the revenue, while immersing visitors in the local attractions.
This guide will explore top upselling examples in Colorado that work for local hospitality operators. Elevate your Colorado hospitality business with ideas from local pros, offering guided mountain tours, luxurious in-home services and more.
Colorado Short-Term Rental Market: Finding the Competitive Edge and Increasing Revenue
By CLARA’s count there are 47,876 short-term rental properties in Colorado as of 2023. Other sources mention 90,000 properties, classified as “vacation” homes, reflecting the state’s booming short-term rental market. The short-term rental market in Colorado has seen significant growth, particularly in mountain towns. Changes are being made to STR regulations in these areas to control the housing availability and impact on local economy.
Denver, in particular, stands out, ranking 17th among 115 U.S. cities with 445 Airbnb rental listings per 100,000 residents. These numbers highlight Denver’s prominence as a top destination for travelers and a profitable market for vacation rentals.
With high competition on one side and increasing cost of doing business on the other, short-term rental professionals in Colorado can benefit from an upselling strategy as a way to stand out from competition and increase revenue. In this article we’ll provide ideas on how to elevate.
What are Short-Term Rental Upsells?
A short-term rental upsell is a powerful tool which refers to the practice of offering guests additional products, services, or upgrades to enhance their stay, while increasing the revenue. This strategy is commonly used in the short-term rental industry and can be either operational, or involve tours, activities, and experiences.
The key to successful upselling is understanding the guests’ needs and preferences and offering relevant and valuable additions that enhance their experience. Effective guest communication plays a crucial role in identifying these needs and suggesting suitable upsells.This approach not only boosts revenue but can also lead to higher guest satisfaction and loyalty.
Upsells in Hotels VS Vacation Rentals: What’s the Difference
Upsells in hotels typically involve concierge services and traditional amenities, whereas in the short-term rental properties industry, this process is digitized to streamline operations. In contrast, vacation rental upsells are more personalized, catering to individual guest needs like grocery delivery, private chefs, and local tours. Vacation rentals offer operators flexibility to innovate, tailoring unique experiences to their property and target market. This personalized approach is integral to the business model of vacation rentals, allowing them to provide an exceptional guest experience. With the growing popularity of short-term rentals, more travelers are choosing them for accommodation. These guests now expect a hotel-like service during their stays. Therefore, offering add-on amenities and other enhancements is crucial for hospitality professionals managing vacation rentals.
Why offer upsells in vacation rentals?
By enhancing the overall guest experience through added convenience and luxury, you can significantly increase guest satisfaction and tailor to your target audience’s specific needs. This not only boosts your revenue but also helps in building a strong and recognizable brand. Upselling also encourages repeat business, as guests are more likely to return to a place where they felt valued and pampered. Moreover, satisfied guests are more inclined to leave positive reviews, further enhancing your property’s reputation and attracting new visitors. This will bring more repeat guests and direct bookings, which every rental company is aiming for. Understanding your market and your guests is essential for maximizing these benefits. Make sure to offer add-ons when guests need them and only the offers are relevant to them. Upsells in vacation rentals help operators create a hotel-like personalized experience, adapting to modern guest expectations.
How much revenue per listing can I add with upsells in Colorado?
A well-executed upselling strategy, tailored to your guests needs and the capacity of your business, can substantially boost revenue. So how can you get the potential revenue increase from upsells in your vacation rental business in Colorado?Factors like your property type, capacity, average stay length, and booking channels can impact your potential revenue uplift. Enso Experiences embedded in the Boarding Pass automatically offers 'Things to Do" based on the location of your property. If a guest books - you get a commission! Zero effort - all reward.
Conducting analysis based on your data, continuously testing and optimizing the upsell process are recommended to maximize the revenue uplift. The best way to do this is to have a guest experience dashboard, where you and your team can track the performance.
When should you try to upsell services in your vacation rental?
To effectively upsell services in your vacation rental, timing is crucial. Key opportunities include during the booking confirmation, when guests are excited about their stay, and upon check-in, when they might be interested in enhancements like upgraded amenities. Additionally, mid-stay touchpoints are ideal for offering experiences or services that can improve their current stay. Tailoring your upsell strategies to these moments ensures relevance and increases the likelihood of conversion, thereby maximizing revenue without overwhelming guests. Read more about when to upsell services in your short-term rental.
Types of Vacation Rental Upsells
Operational Upsells
Includes everything that requires operational resources from property managers. This includes flexible access, like early check-in, late checkouts, in-property extras, like mid-stay cleaning or pool heating and gap nights. These higher offers are best ways to make sure your guests have a successful vacation and you maximize revenue. The downside of this strategy is that it can raise operational costs, adding pressure on your cleaning and guest relations teams. By automating processes and enhancing efficiency with AI and condition-based workflows, this can be mitigated, making it worth your while.
Service Upsells
Service upsells aim to enhance the guest experience by providing additional services that add convenience, luxury, or comfort. These services can include personalized concierge assistance, in-room amenities, and private transportation options. In most cases these offers can be implemented by third party service providers.
Activities and Experiences
These include experiential offering that doesn’t involve operational efforts from the property manager. The best way to offer these upsells are through partnerships or affiliate programs, like Viator or Holibob.
Operational Upsells
An operational upsell in the hospitality industry refers to offering guests additional services related to the operation and convenience of their stay to create a memorable experience. These services enhance the guest experience by providing added comfort, flexibility, and convenience, for an additional fee. Below are some examples:
Early Check-in
An early check-in offers guests the possibility to access the accommodation before the standard check-in time. This would normally be between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. The service is valuable for guests arriving early in the day who want to rest, unload the bags, relax or start exploring the destination.
Late Check-out
By providing guests with late check-out, you let them stay in the property after a standard checkout time. This is usually between 10am and 12PM. When people have late departures, the possibility to enjoy the property for a little longer can add-up to the vacation experience. Many guests are ready to pay a premium for convenience. A willingness to offer your guests the flexibility of a later stay can go a long way.
Stay Extension or Gap Nights
This type of an upsell offering can be a golden opportunity for a rental operator to increase occupancy rate. Fill short gaps between reservations by offering departing and arriving guests to extend their stays. By automating this process, you can make sure to capture these rental income opportunities with a great value proposition.
Mid-stay Clean
A short-term rental housekeeping doesn’t include daily cleaning. However, travelers staying for longer periods of time, would appreciate mid-stay housekeeping service and would pay extra to pay for the cleaning team effort.
Pool/Hot tub Maintenance
Offering this upsell requires knowing your audience and the market you are in. Pool heating fees are pretty common in places, where heating of an outdoor pool affects energy bills dramatically. This extra fee is often charged in rental businesses in Florida, South Carolina, the North Carolina Mountains, Colorado, etc.
Service Upsells
Service upsells focus on offering additional guest services that enhance their stay by providing extra convenience, luxury, or comfort. These can range from personalized concierge services to in-room amenities and private transportation. Examples include:
Transportation Services: Offering airport pickup and drop-off services, car rentals, or shuttle services to nearby attractions.
Food and Beverage Delivery: Offer grocery delivery services where guests can pre-order groceries and have them delivered to their rental before or during their stay. You can also provide an option for guests to order ready-to-eat meals and beverages from nearby restaurants.
Equipment Rentals: Provide rental services for equipment that guests might need during their stay. Examples include bicycles, baby equipment (cribs, high chairs), or beach accessories (chairs, snorkeling gear).
Tours, Activities, Experiences as Vacation Rental Upsells in Colorado
Experiential upsells involve offering guests unique tours, activities, and experiences to enrich their stay. These can include guided city tours, adventure activities, cultural experiences, or wellness sessions. By providing these curated adventures, you can create memorable expereince for guests while generating additional revenue.
Enso Experiences - Unlock Passive Income
Our focus is on doing the heavy lifting for short-term rental operators, which is why we offer Enso Experiences: We connect your guests to thousands of curated local tours, activities, and experiences directly through your guest portal. From guide tours and wellness packages to live music and outdoor adventures, your property becomes the gateway to long-lasting memories.
How Does Enso Experiences Work?
Instant Setup, Zero HassleEnable Enso Experiences with one click and watch the revenue flow in – no management required!
Tailored RecommendationsLocal tours and activities are automatically displayed in your guests’ Boarding Pass after property-specific upsells.
Revenue GenerationEarn a 2.5-6% commission every time a guest books an experience.
Calculate Your Potential
Conclusion
By offering local experiences, you can earn $5, $20 and even more, depending on the service, whenever guests book through your link. And the best part is that you don’t have to do anything extra to get your revenue share. They came to Colorado for the mountains and nature. They’ll be doing these activities anyway. So, why not save them time by offering your recommendations? People will appreciate your local expertise and the convenience of purchasing the experiences. Colorado and its mountain towns have countless amazing options for visitors. You’ll find the perfect ones to make their stay unforgettable. Plus, you’ll enjoy watching your upsell revenue grow.
