The short term rental market in Florida, United States, is flourishing, with increasing demand for unique vacation experiences. It is growing and transforming due to demand dynamics, investment potential, and regulatory changes. Florida’s appealing climate and diverse attractions continue to attract millions of tourists annually, with 135 million visitors recorded in 2023. This indicates an excellent opportunity for hospitality businesses to grow and boost revenue.
Favourable conditions have heightened competition in the lodging sector, with hotels and vacation rentals trying to attract guests. To stay ahead, short-term rental professionals in Florida are exploring innovative upsell strategies to elevate the overall experience and drive revenue. Popular upselling examples in Florida include dolphin sightseeing cruises, glass-bottom kayak tours, and private boat charters. Read on to discover how these and other local experiences can significantly boost your income by offering added value to your guests.
Table of Contents
- How Many Holiday Homes are There in Florida? Finding the Competitive Edge.
- What are Short-Term Rental Upsells?
- Upsells in Hotels VS Vacation Rentals: What’s the Difference
- Why offer Upsells in Vacation Rentals
- How much Revenue per Listing Can I Add with Upsells in Florida?
- When should you try to upsell services in your vacation rental?
- Types of Vacation Rental Upsells
- Tours, Activities, and Experiences as Vacation Rental Upsells in Florida
- Conclusion
How many holiday homes are there in Florida? Finding the competitive edge.
In Florida, there are 221,600 vacation homes spread across several cities, highlighting the state’s popularity as a vacation destination.
As of May 2024, there are over 40,500 Airbnb listings in Miami, Florida alone, making it the city with the highest number of Airbnbs in the state. Other Florida cities also have significant numbers of Airbnb listings, such as Tampa with 16,020 listings, and Orlando with 11,025.
With so many options, and a high competition from hotels, you are on the lookout for ways to stand out in the market. The good news is that the right upselling strategy provides a competitive edge, regardless of business size.
What are Short-Term Rental Upsells?
A short-term rental upsell is a powerful tool which refers to the practice of offering guests additional products, services, or upgrades to enhance their stay, while increasing the revenue. This strategy is commonly used in the short-term rental industry and can be either operational, or involve tours, activities, and experiences. The key to successful upselling is understanding the guests’ needs and preferences and offering relevant and valuable additions that enhance their experience. Effective guest communication plays a crucial role in identifying these needs and suggesting suitable upsells.This approach not only boosts revenue but can also make a big difference in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Upsells in Hotels VS Vacation Rentals: What’s the Difference
Upsells in hotels typically involve concierge services and traditional amenities, whereas in the short-term rental properties industry, this process is digitized to streamline operations. In contrast, vacation rental upsells are more personalized, catering to individual guest needs like grocery delivery, private chefs, and local tours. Vacation rentals offer operators flexibility to innovate, tailoring unique experiences to their property and target market. This personalized approach is integral to the business model of vacation rentals, allowing them to provide an exceptional guest experience. With the growing popularity of short-term vacation rentals, more travelers are choosing them for accommodation. These guests now expect hotel-like services during their stays. Therefore, offering add-on amenities and other enhancements is crucial for hospitality professionals managing vacation rentals.
Why offer upsells in vacation rentals?
Offering upsells in vacation rentals brings multiple advantages. By enhancing the guest’s stay through added convenience and luxury, you can significantly increase guest satisfaction and tailor to your target audience’s specific needs. This not only boosts your revenue but also helps in building a strong and recognizable brand. Upsell opportunities are a great way to encourage repeat business, as guests are more likely to return to a place where they felt valued and pampered. Moreover, satisfied guests are more inclined to leave positive reviews, further enhancing your property’s reputation and attracting new visitors. Understanding market trends, guest expectations, and employing effective revenue management strategies are essential for maximizing these benefits, ensuring that upsell offerings occur at the best time to meet guest demand. Ultimately, vacation rentals play a similar role to hotels in the hospitality industry, adapting to modern expectations and providing a better guest experience throughout the entire journey with exceptional, personalized experiences.
How much revenue per listing can I add with upsells in Florida?
A well-executed upselling strategy, tailored to your guests needs and the capacity of your business, can substantially boost revenue. So how can you get the potential revenue increase from upsells in your vacation rental business in Florida?
Factors like your property type, capacity, average stay length, and booking channels can impact your potential revenue uplift. We can make a quick estimate, with a basic formula:
Take the value of an experience or service upsell and calculate your cut. Different affiliate programs offer different rev share to partners. For example, Viator offers 8% revenue share. In this case we’ll use this number, but you can insert the percentage of any affiliate partner you choose to work with. Take 8% out of an experience that costs USD $100. And just like that – you earn USD $8 every time one of your guests orders this experience through your link! In the business world it is usually referred to as “free money”.
This is the revenue a property manager typically retains without sharing with the owners—your choice. In the STR industry, where margins are thin, these numbers can significantly impact your bottom line.
Below you can see the real experiential packages in Florida you can offer your guests to make a hassle-free profit.
Learn more about the economic of vacation rental upselling.
Conducting analysis based on your data, continuously testing and optimizing the upsell process are recommended to maximize the revenue uplift. The best way to do this is to have a guest experience dashboard, where you and your team can track the performance.
When should you try to upsell services in your vacation rental?
To effectively upsell services in your vacation rental, timing is crucial. Key opportunities include during the booking confirmation, when guests are excited about their stay, and upon check-in, when they might be interested in enhancements like upgraded amenities. Additionally, mid-stay touchpoints are ideal for offering experiences or services that can improve their current stay. Tailoring your upsell strategies to these moments ensures relevance and increases the likelihood of conversion, thereby maximizing revenue without overwhelming guests. Read more about when to upsell services in your short-term rental.
Types of Vacation Rental Upsells
Operational Upsells
Includes everything that requires operational resources from property managers. This includes flexible access, like early check-in, late checkout, in-property extras, like mid-stay cleaning or pool heating and gap nights. These higher offers are best ways to make sure your guests have a successful vacation and you maximize revenue. The downside of this strategy is that it can raise operational costs, adding pressure on your cleaning and guest relations teams. By automating processes and enhancing efficiency with AI and condition-based workflows, this can be mitigated, making it worth your while.
Service Upsells
Service upsells aim to enhance the guest experience by providing additional services that add convenience, luxury, or comfort. These services can include personalized concierge assistance, in-room amenities, and private transportation options. In most cases these offers can be implemented by third party service providers.
Activities and Experiences
These include experiential offering that doesn’t involve operational efforts from the property manager. The best way to offer these upsells are through partnerships or affiliate programs, like Viator or Holibob.
Operational Upsells
An operational upsell in the hospitality industry refers to offering guests additional services related to the operation and convenience of their stay. These services enhance the guest experience by providing added comfort, flexibility, and convenience, for an additional fee. Below are some examples:
Early Check-in
An early check-in offers guests the possibility to access the accommodation before the standard check-in time. This would normally be between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. The service is valuable for guests arriving early in the day who want to rest, unload the bags, relax or start exploring the destination.
Late Check-out
By providing guests with late check-out, you let them stay in the property after a standard checkouttime. This is usually between 10am and 12PM. When people have late departures, the possibility to enjoy the property for a little longer can add-up to the vacation experience. Many guests are ready to pay a premium for convenience. A willingness to offer your guests the flexibility of a later stay can go a long way.
Stay Extension or Gap Nights
This type of an upsell offering can be a golden opportunity for a rental operator to increase occupancy rate. Fill short gaps between reservations by offering departing and arriving guests to extend their stays. By automating this process, you can make sure to capture these rental income opportunities with a great value proposition.
Mid-stay Clean
A short-term rental housekeeping doesn’t include daily cleaning. However, travelers staying for longer periods of time, would appreciate mid-stay housekeeping service and would pay extra to pay for the cleaning team effort.
Pool/Hot tub Maintenance
Offering this upsell requires knowing your audience and the market you are in very well. If it is something that makes sense, upselling pool or hot tub maintenance can boost profits while enhancing the guest experience.
Service Upsells
Service upsells focus on offering additional guest services that enhance their stay by providing extra convenience, luxury, or comfort, ultimately creating exceptional stays. These can range from personalized concierge services to in-room amenities and private transportation. Examples include:
Transportation Services: Offering airport pickup and drop-off services, car rentals, or shuttle services to nearby attractions.
Food and Beverage Delivery: Offer grocery delivery services where guests can pre-order groceries and have them delivered to their rental before or during their stay. You can also provide an option for guests to order ready-to-eat meals and beverages from nearby restaurants.
Equipment Rentals: Provide rental services for equipment that guests might need during their stay. Examples include bicycles, baby equipment (cribs, high chairs), or beach accessories (chairs, snorkelling gear).
Tours, Activities, Experiences as Vacation Rental Upsells in Florida
Experiential upsells involve offering guests unique tours, activities, and experiences to enrich their stay. These can include guided city tours, adventure activities, cultural experiences, or wellness sessions. By providing these curated experiences, you can create memorable moments for guests while generating additional revenue.
Top Experiential Offerings in Florida You Can Profit From
We’ve made the research of the most revenue generating experiential packages vacation rental operators in Florida offer to their guests. You might find more ideas and partners to be a part of your upselling strategy. We will be happy to hear about it and add them to our list.
Tours, Activities, Experiences to Upsell in Top Tourist Accommodations in Florida
Tampa, Florida
1.5-hour Dolphin Sightseeing Cruise from Tampa
See dolphins and other marine wildlife on a guided, 90-minute cruise along the bustling waters of Tampa Bay. Choose from a morning or afternoon departure time, then discover Tampa Bay’s fascinating ecosystem. Look for an abundance of wildlife that lives there — bottlenose dolphins, fish, birds, manatees, sea turtles and more — and learn how they thrive in one of the nation’s most diverse seaports, Port Tampa Bay.
Price: CA$42.87
Your Cut: CA$3.42
ZooTampa at Lowry Park Admission Ticket
Visit ZooTampa at Lowry Park for a family-friendly wildlife experience that includes native Florida animals as well as species from around the world. Check out the variety of habitats that are home to wildlife from Asia, Africa, Australia and more, where you can see apes, birds, tortoises, panthers, manatees, koalas… the list goes on. Plus, learn about endangered species and the zoo’s efforts in animal conservation.
Price: CA$66.80
Your Cut: CA$5.34
Sarasota, Florida
Clear Kayak LED Night Glass Bottom Tour – Sarasota
Our most popular Tour is the Clear Kayak LED Glass Bottom Night Tour in Sarasota Florida. We use 10,000 Lumens of LED Light to brighten the seafloor in every clear kayak. It’s an amazing experience. Take a Clear Kayak Glass Bottom Tour in Sarasota, Florida. OIts a slow paddle, including nets to collect shells while looking for manatee, dolphin, conch, and other exciting sea life! Here’s your chance to get the best window seat possible. Make sure to wear something you can get wet!
Price: CA$90.56
Your Cut: CA$7.24
90-Minute Parasailing Adventure Above Anna Maria Island, FL
This lesson provides everything beginners need to go parasailing above Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Island: all parasailing equipment, safety instructions, and a motorboat with an experienced crew. Meet at the Bradenton Beach Marina, get harnessed up, and parasail in groups of two or three on approximately 10-minute sessions.
Price: CA$104.47
Your Cut: CA$8.36
Orlando, Florida
SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium
Get a look at the creatures of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans with pre-purchased admission to SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium. You’ll be immersed in an underwater world of more than 5,000 fish, marine mammals, and more, from sharks to jellyfish. When booking, you have the option to upgrade to a 2- or 3-attraction pass to visit other Orlando attractions as well.
Price: CA$44.50
Your Cut: CA$3.56
Rock Springs 2-Hour Glass Bottom Guided Kayak Eco Tour
A good choice for nature lovers, this tour takes you into a unique part of Rock Springs Run known as “Emerald Cut.” The first part of the tour is an upstream paddle through calm waters and overhead tree canopy, with stops to hop off your clear kayak and into the fresh spring water. Keep your eyes peeled for fish, turtles, birds, small alligators, and more.
Price: CA$153.25
Your Cut: CA$12.26
Miami, Florida
Best of Miami: Private SeaRay SDX Boat Charter with a Captain
Exclusive Miami Private Charters – Experience Miami by water on one of our luxurious 29 FT SeaRay SDX Boats. The ultimate experience awaits, tour options include : 2-Hour Private Miami Sightseeing: Discover the best views of the city in a stress-free, private setting. Avoid crowded boat tours and enjoy a personalized experience. 3-Hour Sip & Dip: Extend your adventure with an extra hour to relax on the warm waters. Enjoy premium perks like a Bluetooth sound system for your music and a fun floating water mat. 4-Hour Half-Day Party Trips: Perfect for birthdays, bachelorettes, or any special celebration! Enhance your experience with optional jet skis (for an additional charge), on-board food vendors, and our included floating mat.
Price: CA$264.70
Your Cut: CA$21.18
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale Food & Drink Tour
Foodies visiting Fort Lauderdale—this is the tour for you! Get a shortcut to the best local foodie haunts with this small-group guided tasting tour. By exploring the city with a guide, it helps you to avoid the tourist traps and discover interesting eateries that you might not uncover alone. Along the way, try eight food tastings as well as two alcoholic drinks.
Price: CA$144.89
Your Cut: CA$11.59
Jungle Queen Riverboat 90-Minute Narrated Sightseeing Cruise
Perfect for those who want to squeeze a lot of sightseeing into a limited amount of time. A fully narrated 90-minute cruise along the New River through Fort Lauderdale will let you soak up such sights as the lavish homes and mega yachts along Millionaire’s Row.
Price: CA$43.19
Your Cut: CA$3.46
Conclusion
By offering local experiences, you can earn $5, $20 and even more, depending on the service, whenever guests book through your link. And the best part is that you don’t have to do anything extra to get your revenue share. Simply offer these add-ons to your guests in your local recommendations digital guidebook, or your guest app. They came to Florida for the beaches and lively culture. They’ll be doing these activities anyway. So, why not save them time by offering your recommendations? People will appreciate your local expertise and the convenience of purchasing the experiences, enhancing your guests’ experience. Florida and its beaches have countless amazing options for visitors. You’ll find the perfect ones to make their stay unforgettable. Plus, you’ll enjoy watching your upsell revenue grow.
Want to learn more best practices for unlocking revenue in your guest journey? Sign up for our upselling course.
Interested in seeing how easily upsells work with Enso Connect? Book a demo today.
