Wednesday February 7, 2018, was #BookDirect Day for Lake Anna and all other areas that have owners with vacation rentals. The day was a campaign to educate vacation rental owners and guests on the ability to connect and #BookDirect without using the OTA sites. Doing such can be a big savings and a personal way for the guest and owner to get to know each better and to offer more information to the traveler on the area where they are planning their vacation.
#BookDirect is a grass roots way that is trying to bring back direct contact that booking a vacation rental used to be. Before the high fees and the non-ability to connect owner and traveler directly there was true hospitality. It was the niche about booking a vacation rental vs a hotel. More room for the money and being able to speak with the owner about their home and the area.
At our home Kindred Spirits at Childs Cove we are very hands on as owners and still do it that way. We believe it is the reason we have many repeat guests visit us. We love to give a personal touch and be the best hosts possible. Personally, I also believe there will be more education and campaigns because guests will truly like to be able to find a vacation home that does not have additional booking fees of 5-15% that the OTA’s add for finding the vacation rental home on their site. For an example saving such for a weeks’ stay would allow a dinner out, the renting of a boat or site seeing places near Lake Anna like Kings Dominion. Use the hash tag #BookDirect Lake Anna VA or other for other areas and see the movement.
