Chicago-Based B2B Software Startup Direct(TM) Announces Two-Way Integration With Airbnb

CHICAGO, July 31, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Direct™ announced today that its native channel manager's two-way integration with leading global online travel community & marketplace, Airbnb, is now open to the public.

The official partnership enables vacation rental managers and independent hotel operators running their businesses on the all-in-one Direct™ property management system, or PMS, to fully-automate distribution of their portfolios to Airbnb. This allows them to generate more revenue with less effort, and at a lower cost than they can by bundling competing systems.

"In order for professional suppliers with large portfolios to list up-to-date inventory on each of the top marketplaces, it's either a manual process, or if software-enabled they are forced to use several disjointed, costly, and outdated tools, including the use of third party channel managers that are integrated with the incumbent property management systems," said Wes Smithe, Direct™ CEO and Co-Founder. "Suppliers using our unified system can list their inventory on top sites like Airbnb, HomeAway, & Booking.com with the flip of a switch, and given every feature they need is under one roof, there is only one degree of separation between the listing data source and the marketplace."

Founded in 2008, Airbnb is a global travel community that offers end-to-end trips, including where you stay, what you do, and the people you meet. Ten years later in early 2018, the company announced it had expanded its offering to work directly with hotels, property managers, etc., indicating a major shift towards a full-service travel-booking company with professionalism a major focus. Direct™ has built to all of the latest features of Airbnb's API to address the unique needs of professional lodging managers.

"A major consolidation is underway on the B2B software side, a convergence taking place between alternative lodging & hotels, and Airbnb continues to evolve and exceed industry expectations by supporting many types of professional suppliers" said Direct™ advisor Simon Lehmann, formerly CEO of Interhome, President of Phocuswright, and Board Member at HomeAway until their acquisition by Expedia Group. "The two-way integration between Direct™ and Airbnb allows not only seasoned managers who have historically relied on competing marketplaces to maximize distribution, but also operators managing portfolios with diverse property types, as well as newer managers who got their start using Airbnb with one or two listings, and have grown to a level where maximizing distribution is important."

The relationship between Airbnb and Direct™ is symbiotic as the two-way integration allows up-to-date, bookable supply on the marketplace to be maximized, which is good for everyone involved.

"There is definitely something in the air as we're hearing from an increasing amount of professional lodging managers who are seeking a modern and scalable alternative to the antiquated, overpriced, and disconnected incumbents," said Chad O'Farrell, Direct™ CBDO and Co-Founder. "Airbnb very much aligns with our mission to provide modern, beautiful, and easy-to-use technology that does not sacrifice performance, and our product team has done a great job infusing Airbnb's best practices and distribution requirements throughout our entire system, allowing our customers to streamline distribution like never before."

The all-in-one property management system from Direct™ features a robust user interface where professional suppliers can manage all of their enterprise data and fully-automate operations, a native channel manager where they can automate distribution to Airbnb and over a dozen other channels, and a white label website builder where they can manage their company domains and increase direct bookings. The company will be unveiling new advanced features as well as a tiered SaaS pricing model ahead of the VRMA International Conference taking place in Las Vegas October 27-30, 2018.

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Media Contact: Wes Smithe, Direct, 312-878-4576, wes@getdirect.io

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SOURCE Direct