In the digital age, planning a vacation requires guests to browse through countless options online. From cozy cottages nestled in serene countryside to luxurious beachfront villas, the possibilities can seem endless. Finding the perfect vacation rental, one that meets all your criteria, is often a time-consuming task. Fortunately, with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), the booking process is undergoing a transformative shift to become more efficient and personalized than ever before.
Aidaptive’s AI-powered search – Predictive Search – is revolutionizing the way guests discover vacation rentals on direct booking websites.
A single optimized sort order
The traditional search experience relies on generic filters and keywords, resulting in static lists that are a reflection of user-input criteria. If multiple prospective guests search for “3-bedroom,” they are shown a list of properties defaulted to the same sort order. The sort order could be optimized by various factors, like property performance, but it is not personalized to the individual guest.
Let’s consider a single, unpersonalized sort order in the context of two different guest personas. One guest is looking to book a family vacation with kids, while another guest is a young professional taking a trip with friends. The guest planing a family vacation may prefer an on-site pool and yard, whereas the younger traveler may prioritize proximity to nightlife. The two guests intend to book very different properties, but search filters are only as effective as the guest’s explicitly shared intent (e.g. 3-bedroom). This often doesn’t tell the full story of why someone is traveling, and burdens guests with the time-intensive task of manually sorting through results to find a property that aligns with their needs.
It is inefficient to show both personas the same sorted list of available properties. Defaulting to a single optimized sort order leads to both lower customer satisfaction and higher bounce rates.
A data-driven approach to optimizing search
AI-powered search, on the other hand, leverages historical data and user behavior to generate personalized results. The Predictive Hospitality platform trains machine learning models on all available first-party data, like:
- Historical booking data from PMS
- Site usage patterns from Google Analytics
- Contextual insights like time of year and booking lead times
- Individual guest data for both anonymous and logged in users
- Real-time session user data
By analyzing the first-party data, AI models can accurately predict the accommodations that match each individual’s preferences. Predictive Search will rank result sets based on the predicted conversion rate for a specific guest. In real-time, the platform will order the results to ensure the properties that are most likely to convert are placed at the top of that search results.
AI-search personalization for all guests
With Predictive Search deployed on a direct booking website, every individual guest is presented a unique sort order. The list of properties is not solely based on the search criteria and amenities a guest has explicitly shared, but also includes cues from their data profiles and the booking patterns of past guests with similar data profiles. By leveraging look-alike models, especially in cases where information and data on a given guest is limited, the AI platform is able to draw connections between prior guests with similar data profiles and their booking patterns and attributes. Using these models, all guests – new and returning – experience property discovery custom tailored to their preferences.
There is value in optimizing property discovery and minimizing the time investment to find a fitting vacation rental property. If a compelling offer that matches the intent of a guest is presented, they’re more likely to engage, and ultimately more likely to convert (often at a higher value, too!)
Whether it’s a pet-friendly cabin in the mountains or a chic apartment in the heart of the city, AI and Predictive Search ensures that all users are presented options that resonate with their unique needs and desires, efficiently.
The value and results
For guests, the result of a personalized sort order is an improved booking experience, leading to higher engagement and satisfaction. For vacation rental managers, the result is both higher conversion rates and better performance overall, but also, a more fair and similar distribution of properties for homeowners. Because there is an audience for every property, Predictive Search ensures homeowner’s properties get the visibility they deserve with ideal cohorts of prospective guests.
Book a demo
AI-powered search is revolutionizing the vacation rental industry by delivering personalized, context-aware recommendations that streamline the booking process and enhance the overall user experience. By leveraging the power of AI, direct booking websites can empower users to find their perfect getaway with ease and confidence.
Contact us for more information and to schedule your live demo of Predictive Search.
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