June 2023 Update
Read our June Update to learn about our acceptance into BNB Chain's Incubator, $5M Damage Protection and free Guest Screening for property managers, our closed-beta Direct Connect Listing update and more!
Just because it's summer doesn't mean we are slowing down. This past month, we achieved some major product and marketing milestones. In addition to the launch of the dtravel.com website and getting accepted into BNB Chain’s Incubator, we rolled out three major updates to our flagship product, Dtravel Direct.
Over the month, we launched and revamped our onboarding flow, which is designed to help guide property managers new to Dtravel Direct through their account setup. Taking customer feedback into account, we released guest screening (offered for free to Dtravel Direct customers) and $5M Damage Protection in partnership with the leading short-term rental trust and safety solution, SUPERHOG. These two updates took a significant amount of work, but our development team didn’t stop there. Pushing hard toward the end of the month, we also released the ability create listings manually in closed-beta, which allows property managers without PMS connectivity to build a Dtravel Direct booking site.
Recent Updates in June
- Dtravel Direct Onboarding Flow
- $5M Damage Protection & FREE Guest Screening
- Create Listings Manually v1 (Closed-Beta)
- Dtravel Website Update
- BNB Chain Incubator
- Dtravel Ambassador Program
- Rental-Scale Up Conference
Product Updates
Dtravel Direct Onboarding Improvements
One of our major initiatives over the last month was to reduce Dtravel Direct onboarding friction. Dtravel Direct empowers vacation rental operators to take complete control over their business and grow their brand by building their own direct booking site in minutes.
Previously, property managers received little guidance when navigating through the setup flow. With our most recent update however, property managers new to Dtravel Direct are redirected to a “Getting started” page upon signup. This flow is designed to set property managers up for long-term success, as quickly as possible.
$5M Damage Protection & FREE Guest Screening
Toward the end of June, we announced the release of a highly requested feature, damage protection and guest screening. With this update, we’re able to eliminate many of the fears property managers have when it comes to direct bookings.
Property managers, especially those coming from the world of Airbnb, are used to feeling some degree of protection when it comes to bookings. Providing property managers with complete control over their business via direct booking infrastructure also means they need to have tools to mitigate risk and have peace of mind regarding damages. Through our latest partnership with digital trust platform SUPERHOG, Dtravel Direct customers are able to activate free guest screening and $5M Damage Protection for all of their directly bookable listings.
Read more about this update here.
Create Listings Manually (Closed-Beta)
Closing the month, our development team was hard at work wrapping up the ability to create listings manually for a closed-beta release. This new feature will provide a way for vacation rental operators to get started with Dtravel Direct without needing to adopt a property management system (PMS) or channel manager. We already have a number of property managers testing out this new flow, creating their own listings and building out Dtravel Direct booking sites without importing content from a PMS.
Once we’ve collected enough feedback, we’ll be opening this feature to any property manager that wishes to power their direct booking site with Dtravel Direct.
If you are a property manager that has been interested in creating a direct booking site, you can reach out to us through Discord or Telegram for early beta access.
Growth and Marketing
Dtravel.com Website Update
In case you haven’t noticed, Dtravel.com recently received a major update. Dtravel is a complex ecosystem, focused on accelerating the global adoption of direct bookings and solving for trust, reputation, connectivity and distribution in travel. In order to better communicate our vision of empowering ownership in travel, we felt we were long overdue to overhaul the dtravel.com website.
The result is a significant improvement over the previous site, with clear ways for property managers, travelers, builders, partners and community members to participate.
In addition to product marketing updates and landing pages for all of our primary stakeholders, we worked on providing more context to TRVL, the utility and governance token that powers the entire Dtravel ecosystem.
If you haven’t already taken a look, we welcome you to explore the new dtravel.com website and provide any feedback you may have in our Discord or Telegram channels.
Dtravel Accepted into the BNB Chain Zero2Hero Incubator
Another major highlight in June was our acceptance into the BNB Chain Zero2Hero Incubator, a five-week program providing resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities that will help take Dtravel to the next level.
For Dtravel, this is an incredible opportunity to gain exposure to the BNB Chain and Binance ecosystem as a whole. We look forward to building a deeper connection with the entire Binance team and introducing Dtravel to their ecosystem.
Read more about this update here.
Dtravel Ambassador Program
We’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with Galxe to launch the Dtravel Ambassador Program. Dedicated Dtravel community members, passionate about creating a rewarding travel experience through direct connections, will be able to participate in monthly campaigns aimed at helping bring attention to our mission, vision and ecosystem as a whole.
By participating in the Dtravel Ambassador program, community members will be able to help accelerate the global adoption of direct bookings, making it easier for anyone to book vacation rentals directly with property managers. In return for their contributions, community members will have a chance to win TRVL rewards in the process.
Our first campaign of the series titled, “Departures”, launched on July 1, 2023 at 12:01 AM PST and runs until July 31, 2023.
Begin your journey by participating today.
Rental Scale-Up Conference
Last week, we partnered with Rental Scale-Up, Price Labs, Lodgify and TouchStay to put on a free 1-hour conference on the paid and organic marketing strategies property managers could implement to boost last minute bookings. Attendees of the conference learned:
- Tools and technologies for streamlining the booking process and attracting last-minute travelers
- Effective use of promotions, discounts, and value-added services to entice last-minute bookings
- Showcasing unique property features and amenities to attract last-minute guests
- Strategies for utilizing social media, email marketing, and SEO to drive last-minute bookings
- Optimizing direct booking sites and listings on platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo to attract last-minute bookings
What’s Next
- Ability for anyone to launch a Dtravel Direct booking site
- Property Management pages for all Dtravel Direct users
- New channel manager integration unlocking more PMS connectivity
- SEO improvements, including ability to add keywords
- Functionality to issue discount codes
- Upsells and add-ons for all listings
- Ability to display OTA listing pricing comparison
- Ability for property managers to import listings, sync rates and availability via OTA connect through Dtravel Direct
Complimentary Consultation
To help you get started with setting up a Dtravel powered direct booking site and advertising your site, we’re providing vacation rental businesses white glove onboarding support.
Contact us for a FREE marketing consultation to learn how you can grow your direct bookings.