Airbnb Alternatives in Australia That You Should Know About

Airbnb hosting is a great way to earn some real estate passive income and build a successful vacation rental business. But although Airbnb is still the biggest and most popular vacation rental site out there, there are other options to list your property and reach millions of travelers who can become your potential guests.

Wondering which of them is the best for your STR property in Australia? To help you make an informed decision, here we’ll share a list of Airbnb alternatives in Australia that are worth checking out. These websites offer a variety of accommodations that suit any budget and taste, from luxury villas and apartments to cottages and tiny homes. 

5 Airbnb Alternatives in Australia Worth Considering for Your Property

Suppose you are just starting Airbnb in Australia and looking to increase the occupancy and revenue of your vacation rental. In this case, you should remember that a good online distribution strategy is critical to your success. Listing your property on multiple platforms will increase your visibility and help you get more bookings.

Managing listings on several booking websites involves more work—messaging your guests, updating your calendar and prices, assigning tasks to your cleaners, and more. But you don’t have to do everything manually—you can automate your routine operations using vacation rental software like Hospitable and save a lot of time.

Now let’s look at the online booking platforms popular among vacation rental property owners and travelers in Australia.  

Booking.com

It’s a global platform that operates in more than 220 countries and has over 28 million accommodation listings, so it’s a good option to attract international travelers. Originally, Booking.com was a platform for hotel rooms and luxury resorts. Still, now it includes a wide range of accommodations, such as apartments, vacation homes, cottages, cabins, villas, boats, glamping, and more. Booking.com also allows travelers to book flights and rental cars all in one place.

Although hosts can list their properties for free, they have to pay a 15% service fee for each booking, and there is no service fee for guests. Hosts receive protection against liability claims from guests and neighbors up to $1,000,000 for every reservation.

Vrbo

Founded in 1995, Vrbo has 2 million listings in 190 countries worldwide. It gives ordinary people a platform to offer private rentals to travelers easily. Still, unlike Airbnb, it only allows renting out entire places, such as family homes, condos, apartments, or cabins, instead of single rooms or shared spaces. Vrbo can be a good option for hosts who want to target families with children and groups of people.

Hosts can choose from two types of Vrbo listing fees—a yearly subscription of $499 or pay per booking. The pay-per-booking fee is approximately 8% of a listing’s nightly rate. It includes a 5% commission to Vrbo and a 3% credit card fee. Vrbo hosts are protected by $1,000,000 in primary liability coverage for all stays processed by the platform.

Listing your property on several OTAs is a reasonable decision to increase visibility and get more bookings. The only drawback is to have your property booked simultaneously on different platforms. Luckily, modern vacation rental software will protect you from double bookings.

Stayz

Founded in 2001, Stayz is Australia’s leading vacation rental platform, now part of Expedia Group, just like Vrbo. It offers travelers access to over 40,000 holiday homes in 2,000 locations across Australia and to over 2 million properties in other countries.

Listing your property on Stayz can be a good option if you want better local visibility in Australia. The company is dedicated to providing a safe and secure marketplace for guests and hosts. It provides property owners $1,000,000 in liability protection for all stays processed online through the Stayz checkout at no additional cost.

Previously, the company charged hosts a $164 annual listing fee plus $15.90 for each night booked. But in 2021, these charges were eliminated and replaced by the 10% pay-per-stay commission for hosts.

Wotif.com

Wotif is a travel booking website where travelers can book flights, accommodations, car hire, activities, and packages for their next holiday in Australia and international destinations across the globe. It was set up in 2001 by a tech entrepreneur, Graeme Wood, to help Australian businesses sell their vacant hotel rooms. But in 2015, Wotif.com became a part of the Expedia Group.

Hosts can list different properties, including private homes, apartments, villas, cabins, tree houses, cottages, houseboats, and more. You can sign in for free and pay a commission of 15% for each booking made on the platform.

Lastminute.com.au

Expedia Group owns Lastminute.com.au. The website is marketed as an online service that helps spontaneous business and leisure travelers in Australia and New Zealand find and save on last-minute hotel accommodation, cheap flights, and holiday packages. It also allows property owners to list their private holiday homes, apartments, condos, villas, cabins, farms, cottages, and other property types.

Listing your property on multiple websites can help you reach a wider audience and increase your bookings. But can you do anything else to take your vacation rental property to the next level? Create your own direct booking website and have more control over your STR business.

The good news is that you don’t need to hire a developer. If you opt for Hospitable, you can easily build a direct booking website using our professional, easy-to-customize website templates. Moreover, with Hospitable Direct, you can promote your property on Google Vacation Rentals and increase its visibility.

By allowing guests to book directly with you, you’ll be able to save on hefty OTA commission fees, which means more money will stay in your pocket. It’s also a great way to build relationships with your guests. This way, you can make them feel special and keep them returning or even recommend your property to their friends.

Final Thought

As the short-term rental market is booming, platforms like Airbnb and its alternatives have become increasingly popular in many countries, including Australia. It’s important to remember that different travelers use different booking websites, so when you market your rental property only on Airbnb, you limit your pool of potential guests to users of this platform.

This means you should also consider listing your rental space on Airbnb alternatives in Australia and building your own direct booking website. Then, you’ll have a better chance to reach more people who can be your ideal guests, get more bookings, and maximize your revenue.