VRWS Leadership Interview of the Day
In approaching the 9th edition of the Vacation Rental World Summit, we’re releasing a series of interviews to leaders, key players and highly motivated people in our industry whose companies make a deep impact in our space and will be present at VRWS.
The aim is to get you some insight into these leaders and the company they founded, manage or work for, as well as getting some behind the scenes on their thinking, their motivation and their drive.
SONIA CHENNOUFI
How would you describe your career path and what brought you to HomeToGo?
“I landed in the vacation rental industry 10 years ago by happy accident, and haven’t left since! The VR industry is where I’ve met the most genuine, approachable and nice people, making it the hospitality industry for a reason. The connections I’ve made in the industry led me to HomeToGo – my colleagues today were my business partners yesterday!
Over the past several years, I have grown extremely passionate about the vacation rental industry and have built lasting relationships with many property managers, hosts and vendors. When I found HomeToGo over a year and a half ago, I was very inspired by our vision and how the Business Development team enabled property managers to maximize their listings and diversify their distribution strategy. Through our deeply rooted and tailored partnerships, we work closely with partners to enhance their business potential – allowing property managers to stay in control of their bookings with access to direct guest communication, tailored cancellation policies and reliable payment solutions.
HomeToGo connects millions of travelers searching for a perfect place to stay with thousands of inventory suppliers across the globe. Our marketplace is beneficial to both of its customer groups: Consumers who visit HomeToGo’s websites gain access to the largest inventory in one place, and supply partners who use the platform’s reach and technology solutions are better able to serve a wide range of customers and generate more high-quality demand.”
HomeToGo has the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals. As a vacation rental professional with a global overview on things, how do you describe the company’s ability to operate in 25 countries with a local touch?
“HomeToGo has more than 500 employees worldwide to connect vacation rental supply with demand in the travel market. Our headquarters are in Berlin, Germany and we have offices in Kaunas and Vilnius, Lithuania, Kraków, Poland, and Vietnam. We also have offices for our subsidiary brands in Italy, Spain and Switzerland, and many remote team members who work from all over the world! HomeToGo also operates brands such as Agriturismo.it, AMIVAC, Casamundo, CaseVacanza.it, e-domizil, EscapadaRural, Tripping.com and Wimdu.
With global reach and a localized approach, we offer our partners more targeted conversion-optimized traffic through personalized, cutting-edge technology solutions and impactful data to improve their rentability. We want our partners to succeed because when they win, we win!”
Last year HomeToGo introduced flexible work policies to allow people perform their duties from anywhere. What are the tools you implemented to make this work efficiently?
“Our Flexible Work approach is built on trust and supports our team with ongoing remote work options, state-of-the-art offices and even work from abroad flexibility so HomeToGoers can accomplish their career goals while exploring the world. During the pandemic, we realized that we have the team and the technology solutions to get our work done efficiently from (almost) anywhere. That’s why HomeToGo introduced Flexible Work in 2021.
Like many other leading companies, work from anywhere is becoming increasingly popular around the world. Many people are now mixing work and pleasure with “workations” where employees can experience the world while continuing to make strides in their career. There are thousands of properties worldwide with the perfect amenities for a successful workation, here’s some inspiration if you’re not sure where to start.”
VRWS 22 is about to land in Porto. What do you expect from the overall experience?
“We can’t wait for VRWS in Porto, we enjoyed last year’s edition, and look forward to reconnecting with so many of our partners, to both see how the industry has grown and connect with new faces. We encourage attendees to come to our panel discussion on September 16 from 4:30-5:00pm – “Scaling Vacation Rentals: a Masterclass for Pros” with Properly, Avantio, Swikly and Turbosuite where I will plan to share insights on current trends happening around the world. And of course, stop by our booth to meet the HomeToGo team:
- Natalia Rojas, Sales Manager Spain/Portugal
- Daniele Serapiglia, Sales Manager Italy
- Alessandra Bonardi, Partnership Manager
For more information reach out to us on Linkedin or in the VRWS app and we’d be happy to connect!
You’ll have the opportunity to listen to Sonia live on stage on Sept. 16th at 4:30 PM for a session on Scaling Vacation Rentals
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