As part of our growth as a company, we decided not only to expand our activity in new places in Bulgaria (Bansko and Pamporovo) , but also to add to our partners a new platform on which to publish our apartments - so we will be able to reach even more people from all over the world. This platform is not just any, namely VRBO – Airbnb's biggest competitor. For the moment, you will find our apartments in Sofia and Plovdiv, and in a week, those along the Black Sea and in the winter resorts.
We can now boast of our first booking made on Vrbo - only a day after publishing our apartments there! One of the main differences with Airbnb is that only entire properties can be rented on Vrbo, not apartment rooms or shared rooms. This can be considered a major plus, both for us and for many of the guests. Our policy is that we only manage whole properties, not parts of them, so our platform fits perfectly. Regarding the guests, it is noticeable that in the situation of a global pandemic, people feel safer and they prefer to hire independent accommodation.
Other key features of Vrbo are that their service fees are lower than Airbnb and they also offer a 'Book with Confidence Guarantee' which offers greater security to guests in case of accommodation issues or major discrepancies with the ad and the actual condition of the apartment (basic furniture such as a bed, etc. is missing). In these situations, the platform offers immediate assistance to the guest, finds him a new accommodation closest to the one he originally booked, etc.
Due to the fact that only whole properties are available on Vrbo, the listings are much smaller than those on Airbnb and the properties are of a higher class. Regarding our presence on the platform - about 30% of all ads in Sofia are of our apartments, and in Plovdiv our market share is about 25%.
We look forward to welcoming Vrbo users who will undoubtedly feel at home in our apartments!
