SHORT-STAY, HOLIDAY RENTAL AND RETREAT SUCCESS

The Book Direct Show is a virtual event designed to share insider knowledge of how accommodation owners can attract guest bookings without having to pay significant commissions to online travel agents (OTA's) and you can register to take part today from anywhere in the world.

There are currently about 400 OTA's globally, selling travel-related products from glamping, resort, hotel, B&B, long and short-stay rental accommodation, to airline tickets and car hire.

We are all very familiar with Booking, Expedia, Agoda and Airbnb and more than aware of the advantages that utilising a 3rd party company brings to our travel plans. However, there are many disadvantages for guests and service providers when not dealing directly with each other. 

Why Booking Direct Is So Important

The OTA's business model is based on the fact the guest and service provider do not communicate until they arrive at the accommodation and this is bad for everyone apart...

Set within an abandoned quarry, overlooking the Cornish sea and an ever-changing landscape, lies the sustainable, community orientated, nature experience, that is Kudhva. 

Kudhva is:

Accommodation: The dedicated, passionate team at Kudhva have curated a range of beautiful, innovative shelters for their guests to choose from. Designed to provide seclusion and escape, each dwelling takes its inhabitants back-to-basics and immerses them into the natural surroundings, using eco friendly solutions to keep environmental impact to a minimum.

Nature: Kudhva encourages its guests to take a step back from the man-made digital world, and embrace all that it’s rich natural environment has to offer. Breaking away from the status quo of everyday hustle and bustle, Kudhva intends to showcase the wonders of living a simple life, exploring the senses and opening minds to new, and endless, possibilities. 

Adventure: Encompassed in cliffs, sea, forest and grassland, the sense of...

Secluded in the mountains of the Gunung Agung volcano, Bali, the breathtaking all-bamboo, eco-friendly Hideout is found. 

The Hideout family consists of six individual, architecturally wondrous houses, each remotely hidden in the jungle, surrounded by luscious rice fields, flowing rivers and tropical greenery. 

Where did Hideout come from? 

The first Hideout (Hideout Bali) was born in 2014 from the love two people had, not only for each other but for nature and it’s beauty. Their dream of creating an ecologically sound bamboo hideaway was made into a reality by teams of bamboo workers from local Balinese villages.

During its conception, the two lived on site for months, with no running water or electricity, just solely embracing the sense of adventure, authenticity and “off the grid” experiences that Hideout is all about.

In the following years, Hideout grew, with the addition of five new hideaways, each just as striking and oozing...

With the constantly changing COVID-19 situation around the world, it is clear that we are collectively facing one of our biggest challenges. A challenge that will result in many of us making changes to our way of life and the way our businesses operate.

The Covid-19 Challenge For The Tourism Industry

I have written many articles offering help and support to members of my community but every day they go out of date and need to be re-written.

That’s how fast this is moving.

What this virus has demonstrated is how connected we are, and I don’t just mean by the internet, but by movement across the world. This means the world is smaller and the risks of spread are larger.

The added challenge is that we are all at different points of understanding and experiencing this situation.

Some have had direct experience of it while others think the worldwide response is unnecessarily generating panic.

The Economic Impact And Planning For A Turnaround

What we simply can’t ignore...