On 19th February 2011 the HomeAway UK companies HomeAway.co.uk and Owners Direct were proud to hold their first Owner Summit in the UK. Over 170 holiday rental owners attended the day, hosted by over 50 employees. Designed for owners of every level of experience, attendees were given the opportunity to attend talks on the holiday rentals process, network with other owners and pose their questions to the top people from HomeAway Europe and HomeAway UK.Photo courtesy of Tristan Philips
For the HomeAway.co.uk and Owners Direct teams the day was a fantastic opportunity to meet our clients and learn from their insight and experience.
What the owners said:
“It has opened my eyes to marketing and rental possibilities. It held my attention all day to my pleasant surprise. CS team particularly helpful.”
“Very beneficial, informative and friendly staff. Plan to advertise with Owners Direct as well because of the very positive comments I've had from users of this site.”
“It was excellent, with a real sense of working together. I do not think it could have been improved.”
What the staff said:
“Our customers do quite like us ! They want to learn - they were not after vast changes to our systems / strategies - they just wanted an opportunity to learn how to use them to better effect.”
“Owners try to do the right thing, but are very busy people and it's hard to take information in. If we can create forms, workflows, and other tools for them to manage their business... it would be massively useful.”
“I met with people who seemed to come from the two extremes. They were either very new to the holiday rental business, or they were long time owners. They have very different needs.”
“What a good team we have! What a good company I work for! What nice clients we have too!”
What we’ll try to improve next year:
More opportunities for attendees to network with other owners, and identify owners with properties in their area
More contact time (and space!) for our customer service desks
More opportunities for owners to ask questions
We will also cover new material, and have already had some very helpful suggestions from our owners
As promised here are the videos of the presentations: