HomeAway and VRBO Vacation Rentals: Matterport versus InsideMaps8237
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 WGAN ForumFounder & WGAN-TV Podcast Host Atlanta, Georgia |
DanSmigrod private msg quote post Address this user | |
Video: HomeAway Virtual Tours: Today | Video courtesy of HomeAway YouTube Channel HomeAway and VRBO Vacation Rentals: Matterport versus InsideMaps Hi All, If you are Matterport Service Provider and your target market is property managers with multiple vacation rentals listings on HomeAway and VRBO, you need to embrace the InsideMaps platform. Yesterday (Tuesday, 13 November 2018), Austin, TX-based HomeAway – the leading marketplace for vacation rentals with 2 million listings in 190 countries – announced a strategic alliance pilot “in key destinations” with InsideMaps – using HomeAway proprietary technology – to easily and seamlessly work with its VRBO and HomeAway platforms. The HomeAway announcement made no mention of Matterport. “HomeAway has released a new proprietary product that seamlessly displays virtual tours of vacation homes on HomeAway and VRBO, easily allowing homeowners and property managers to share a 360-degree walk-through of their properties with travelers,” said the press release. “HomeAway’s approach to virtual tours is unique in the vacation rental industry as their product is compatible with different types of virtual tours ranging from “DIY” tours filmed on personal phones and cameras to professionally captured footage from leading virtual tour companies like InsideMaps …” InsideMaps VP of Strategic Partnerships Gabe Knox emailed me Tuesday (14 November 2018), that "InsideMaps is the only Virtual Tour technology that will upload to HomeAway and VRBO at this time." No ‘matter’ how much you love Matterport, HomeAway and VRBO – with InsideMaps – just made Matterport irrelevant for property managers using VRBO and HomeAway. WGAN Forum Member @Chemistrdoc - whom first alerted the WGAN Forum Community to this news – succinctly summarized the feeling of every Matterport Service Provider in this related WGAN Forum Discussion: Quote: Originally Posted by @Chemistrydoc Even though you have likely invested thousands of dollars in the Matterport Camera, gear and accessories to be a Matterport Service Provider, if you want to target property managers that specialize in vacation rentals using HomeAway and VRBO, your only option – at the moment – seems to be InsideMaps (and likely other TBD 360º photo sphere based tour platforms that meet the criteria of HomeAway and VRBO platforms). HomeAway Senior Product Manager Ben James said in the press release: “Customers are hungry for this technology because research shows that properties with virtual tours generate more revenue. Given that each one of our vacation rentals is unique, being able to walk through a property before you book helps travelers make informed decisions. We want to make it as simple and quick as possible for anyone to have a virtual tour of their property on HomeAway and VRBO, no matter how they decide to do it or how much they want to spend.” Matterport is MIA in this announcement. They should have been the first to announce this alliance: and a long time ago. Given that Matterport is the 800 pound gorilla in the 3D Tour space, how did Matterport miss out on this game-changing opportunity for: ✓ Matterport ✓ Matterport Service Providers ✓ HomeAway and VRBO ✓ Property Managers of vacation rentals ✓ Vacation Rental Owners Matterport has already demonstrated that it can make it easy, fast and simple to publish to Google Maps. So, it does not appear to be a technology limitation. Are you wondering the same thing? Why are we not reading about Matterport and HomeAway/VRBO? If Matterport eventually announces a deep integration strategic alliance with HomeAway and VRBO, it’s likely that Matterport would directly compete with Matterport Service Provides, as it does now in the multiple family dwelling space (More on this here, here and here). So, if you do add InsideMaps to the visual storytelling solutions that you offer property managers that specialize in vacation rentals, being among the first Matterport Service Providers to do so may help make your Matterport Service Provider competition irrelevant as this strategic alliance between HomeAway (VRBO) and InsideMaps has done to Matterport. What are your thoughts? Will you be among the first Matterport Service Providers to also become an InsideMaps Service Provider? Best, Dan WGAN-TV: My interview with InsideMaps CEO George Bolanos and CTO Jörgen Birkler at the 2016 Inman Connect in San Francisco. (George and Jörgen compare Inside Maps to Matterport). Video: InsideMaps VP of Strategic Partnerships Gabe Knox on stage at Inman Connect New York 2018 |
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 WGANStandard Member Bon Secour, Alabama |
Chemistrydoc private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @DanSmigrod I have been asking about this from the first day that VRBO scrubbed their site of all external links (somewhere in April, 2017). It's not just private renters who use VRBO, it's institutional renters who also have access to the platform. So, this affects efforts to sell to larger companies who also use VRBO as an auxiliary means of marketing their properties. Matterport really missed the boat here. And they don't give a tinker's damn about MSPs who alert them to these issues. Seriously. I'm not going to even bother in the future. I have raised this issue over 10 times that I can recall - directly with Matterport folks. KF |
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WGAN Standard Member Bon Secour, Alabama |
Chemistrydoc private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @DanSmigrod Oh, and I've already started to get signed up with InsideMaps. KF |
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Liam_Tayler private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I see Inside maps package starts at $50... wow! https://www.insidemaps.com/pricing#im-pricing |
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