VACASA BOOSTS VACATION RENTAL BOOKINGS AND IMPROVES GUEST SERVICES WITH MATTERPORT

Better Views of Vacation Homes

Vacasa is North America’s leading vacation rental management platform. It provides a comprehensive service to homeowners by handling marketing, booking, cleaning, maintenance, and guest support, as well as support for property compliance and permits. It operates in over 400 of the most sought-after vacation destinations in North America, Costa Rica, and Belize. 

Vacasa started working with Matterport in 2015 to provide guests with better views of its vacation homes. “Technology is at the core of our business,” says Caleb Donegan, Vice President of Digital, “so partnering with Matterport was a simple and cost-effective way to set ourselves apart and provide a superior and seamless booking experience for guests as our business matured.”

In its early days, Vacasa relied heavily on high-quality photography. Wide-angle lenses captured more detail than standard lenses, but they can distort spatial dimensions and can’t pick up every nuance of a space. Matterport digital twins give guests a replica of an entire property before their stay. The immersive 3D tour provides a full understanding of the flow as they walk through each space — a true sense of what it looks like without alteration. They can view a vacation rental in Dollhouse mode to see it in its entirety or in Floor Plan view to see where rooms are in relation to each other. They can also send the tour to friends and family to take part in making the vacation home selection.  “A vacation is a huge investment, and we want to ensure that guests have as much information as possible so they can make informed decisions when selecting a home and plan for their stay,” says Donegan.

Almost 90 percent of Vacasa property listings feature Matterport. And, the results speak for themselves: “Almost 90 percent of Vacasa property listings feature Matterport. And, the results speak for themselves: We've increased our booking conversion rate by nearly 12%* with listings that include Matterport digital twins,” Donegan says. “Guests also spend three times as long looking at those homes.”

Every Property is Unique

Every owner's home is unique, which also presents a particular business challenge: it’s impossible for Vacasa’s customer support teams to know their way around each property. “Thanks to Matterport, our customer experience agents can view the specific home when guests reference something on a phone call,” Donegan says. “We can better understand what they’re referring to and help solve whatever problems they have more quickly. And, we can easily tell them where important items, like an electrical panel, are located.” 

Guests are as special as the vacation homes they stay in. While it’s not possible for Vacasa to foresee what every guest will want to know about a property, the company doesn’t need to. Matterport captures accurate spatial data, so 3D tours replicate every aspect of a vacation home. “I personally use it all the time,” Donegan says. “I stay in a lot of our homes, and I have two children. I want to know what the bunk beds look like to make sure my son won’t fall off the top, but everyone has their own criteria.”

Because Vacasa can better differentiate its vacation homes to guests, homeowners now have an incentive to improve their homes to stand out in crowded markets. It’s a win-win, especially for homeowners as increased bookings mean they’ll earn more income to help pay for updates. 

Vacasa saves money too. “Matterport is incredibly easy to use,” Donegan says, “so we don’t need to send a professional photographer or camera crew to homes. The learning curve only takes a few minutes, and anyone can scan a home with a basic camera or smartphone.”

Temporary Shifts Now Permanent

As the COVID-19 pandemic started to wind down, Vacasa noticed that what might have been a temporary shift will likely be permanent: many tourists still prefer vacation homes because they provide more space for families and friends. And with more employees able to work from anywhere, many are interested in booking longer stays for working vacations. These groups of customers spend more time planning their trips and researching where they should stay, and Matterport is crucial for both. “Visitors who want to stay for a month need a lot more information than those who only need a place for a weekend,” Donegan says.

Since adopting Matterport in 2015, Vacasa has digitized over 64 million square feet of vacation home rentals. The company can see that these trends began even before the pandemic, and it is confident they’ll continue. “A vacation with your entire family or a large group of friends requires significant investment, consideration, and planning,” Donegan says. “Our guests relied heavily on Matterport before the pandemic, and we expect that to continue well into the future. Planning a great vacation where everyone feels safe and well-prepared is definitely not a temporary trend.”

* Booking conversion data reflects the time period between September 2019 and September 2021.

ABOUT VACASA

Vacasa is North America’s leading vacation rental management platform, caring for more than 30,000 vacation homes throughout North America, Belize, and Costa Rica. Vacasa homeowners enjoy industry-leading financial returns on their vacation homes, delivered by the company’s unmatched technology platform that adjusts rates in real-time and ensures revenue is always maximized. Guests can relax comfortably in one of Vacasa’s professionally managed homes across North America, knowing that 24/7 customer care is just a phone call away. Vacasa employs approximately 6,500 people who are passionate about providing best-in-class service to homeowners, guests, real estate investors, and partners.

http://www.vacasa.com/

HEADQUARTERS
Portland, Oregon

INDUSTRY 
Travel and Hospitality

CHALLENGE
Create a differentiated experience for its vacation home rental listings to attract discerning prospective guests.

PRODUCTS 
Matterport Pro2

SOLUTION 
Vacasa uses Matterport to digitize its portfolio of vacation properties at scale to accelerate bookings with immersive 3D tours.    

Results

• Improved differentiation among its properties and from competition
• Listings with Matterport 3D tour browsed 3x longer 
• Nearly 12% increase in rental bookings* 
• More tailored guest services
• Reduced marketing costs