Flavor 3 report

1. Flavor 3 report Competitive landscape for Okeanides Villas in Balie, Rethymnon, Crete island Greece Report orchestrated and narrated by the Smarter Team in Athens Greece on December 3, 2013

2. Contents A few important points Section 1 – Wider Landscape (Your region) Geographic distribution (Mapping you and your competitors) Rentals by Type, Capacity, No. of bedrooms, Theme Rentals by Type of Operation, Facilities, Local activities, Property Details Weekly rate range by vacation rental type Interest trends for the region Interest trends in region over time (Decade Projection) Section 2 – Your Direct Area of Interest-Competitive Analysis Showing geographic dispersion of competing vacation rentals Comparing your rental with competing vacation rentals in the area Comparing ranking positions in rental listings sites Showing number of reviews in rental listing sites Rate comparison, offers / discounts, rate parity Accepting Payment online Comparing Media (photos, videos) Comparing social media Summary – conclusions-recommendations Section 3 – Your site against your competitors Identifying competing sites

3. Section 4 – Reaching prospects organically Site accessibility to mobile and disabled users User Experience – how satisfying the site is likely to be Marketing – how well marketed and popular the site is Technology – how well designed and built the website is Summary – conclusions-recommendations Section 4 – Reaching prospects organically Your keywords Your web site versus your competitor’s site in Google results How your and your competitors listing pages rank in Google results Your wealth of results versus your competitor’s results in Google Summary – conclusions-recommendations Section 5– Exposure on listing sites Where you and your competitors are present and / or absent Conclusions-recommendations Section 6 – Media advertising Competitive analysis Opportunity areas

4. This report gives you a high-level view of what happens in your area of business • We collect data based on key requirements we ask you to give us • It is based on information that is scattered on the Web • Some information is based on what you currently show to your prospects • Sometimes you may get the feeling that ‘you know better than this’ or,… • …you may have a more ‘fresh’ knowledge about your rental business • or that of your competitors • This can happen because information found on the Web is out of date • We cannot be held responsible for such inaccuracies… • …but we will be happy if you point us to the right direction…. • …so that we produce a report that will be based on correct data. A few important points

5. Section 1: Wider Landscape The purpose of this section is to give you a high-level view of what is happening in your geographic region (i.e. Rethymnon) as regards to competing vacation rental businesses.

6. Showing geographic distribution of Villas in your region (200-250 villas and | or villa complexes) Section 1: Wider Landscape (You) Source: Google Maps | Homeaway | Tripadvisor

7. Showing distribution of rentals in your region by Rental Type, Capacity, Bedrooms, Theme Section 1: Wider Landscape Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

8. Section 1: Wider Landscape Showing distribution of rentals in your region by operation facilities activities prop. details Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

9. Section 1: Wider Landscape Showing weekly rates in your region by Vacation Rental type • Notice: As we take into account seasonal rates, a single vacation rental (no matter what type) can occur in more than one range of weekly rates. Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

10. Section 1: Wider Landscape Showing interest trends for the region Aug Sept May Jun Oct Jul Apr Mar Feb Nov Dec Jan Interest originates from Source: Google Trends

11. Section 1: Wider Landscape Showing interest trends for the region overtime (decade) Source: Google Trends

12. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest • The purpose of this section is to give you a closer view on what is happening in your own neighborhood(i.e. ‘Balie’ village and the surrounding areas of ‘Panormos’ and ‘Perama’ that belong to Rethymnon district) as regards to competing vacation rental businesses and specifically Villas that match your own in terms of capacity and facilities.

13. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Showing geographic dispersion of competing vacation rentals Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

14. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing your rental with competing vacation rentals in the area (1 of 3) Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

15. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing your rental with competing vacation rentals in the area (2 of 3) Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

16. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing your rental with competing vacation rentals in the area (3 of 3) Source: Homeaway | Tripadvisor

17. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing ranking positions in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (1 of 3) Ranking positions will change almost daily, frequently more than once X signifies absence of a property from listing sites Source: Listing sites

18. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing ranking positions in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (2 of 3) Ranking positions will change almost daily, frequently more than once X signifies absence of a property from listing sites Source: Listing sites

19. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing ranking positions in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (3 of 3) Ranking positions will change almost daily, frequently more than once X signifies absence of a property from listing sites Source: Listing sites

20. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Showing number of reviews in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (1 of 3) signifies the average review score found on each listing site for you and your competitors (Number) signifies the number of reviews found on each listing site, e.g. (4) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

21. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Showing number of reviews in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (2 of 3) signifies the average review score found on each listing site for you and your competitors (Number) signifies the number of reviews found on each listing site, e.g. (4) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

22. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Showing number of reviews in rental listing sites ( search: ‘Rethymnon’) (3 of 3) signifies the average review score found on each listing site for you and your competitors (Number) signifies the number of reviews found on each listing site, e.g. (4) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

23. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Rate comparison, offers / discounts, rate parity (1 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

24. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Rate comparison, offers / discounts, rate parity (2 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

25. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Rate comparison, offers / discounts, rate parity (3 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

26. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Accepting Payment online (1 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites X also signifies absence of web page | site dedicated to the property (see ‘Own site’ row)

27. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Accepting Payment online (2 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites X also signifies absence of web page | site dedicated to the property (see ‘Own site’ row)

28. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Accepting Payment online (3 of 3) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites X also signifies absence of web page | site dedicated to the property (see ‘Own site’ row)

29. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing Media (Photos-Video) (1 of 3) signifies quality of photos and video (Number) signifies the number of photos found on each listing site for each competitor, e.g. (26) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

30. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing Media (Photos-Video) (2 of 3) signifies quality of photos and video (Number) signifies the number of photos found on each listing site for each competitor, e.g. (26) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

31. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing Media (Photos-Video) (3 of 3) signifies quality of photos and video (Number) signifies the number of photos found on each listing site for each competitor, e.g. (26) X signifies absence of a property from listing sites

32. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Comparing Social Media

33. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Summary – conclusions-recommendations General • Your area is very competitive. It is obvious that the whole region lives on Tourism • You and your direct competitors have more or less the same rental facilities • Your rental business differs in that you offer breakfast, something no other VR does • Other than this, very little differentiates you from your competitors • With so much competition, you must do your best in your efforts to market your VR • From our research it is clear that you have weak spots, and you must eliminate them • It is also evident that your competitors also have weak spots… • You must take advantage of these weak spots and get more bookings. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

34. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Summary – conclusions-recommendations Listing sites and rankings • Everyone is listing on Homeaway – you rank better than all as you have a platinum subscription. But ranking does not matter so much as renters usually search by criteria • If your weekly rate is higher than anyone else’s-and it is- ranking first or last makes no • difference. But if your weekly rate falls within the rate range that most search for, then you will be found more times. Lowering your minimum rate is a good trick to show your • listing more times in searches. Try and lower your rate to a 4 people stay, then have an extra charge per person per night; this will lower your average rate and you will show more in searches made using a rate range as a criterion • You need reviews; chase your past clients for reviews. Get as many as you can from the latest season to keep them fresh and recent • You must activate the listing site’s online booking payment feature. No one else from your competitors has this feature activated • You may not like it, but it seems that more and more renters prefer it. The listing site will also give you a higher ranking position. • Not everyone will book through the site’s online booking but some renters will, as they feel more secure. It is a pity to miss bookings by not activating this option. If you have more questions on this, please contact us.

35. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Summary – conclusions-recommendations Rates • Out of all your direct competitors you are the most expensive VR in your area! • While you may not have a problem during high season months, it may affect you in the off-peak season and you may have empties in your calendar • If this is the case, you must lower your rates, create offers and advertise them starting early (6-9 months before the off-peak season). Then do a last-minute offer, one month before the beginning of the ‘off-peak season’. • You may also organize group activities (e.g. Yoga retreat) and create your rate by breaking it down: just divide the rate by the number of guests and sell per person. • When you make the calculation, you will notice that a per person per night rate for small groups lowers the cost on each person significantly • Some renters who organize for Yoga, Trekking, Hiking etc. use their high season rate as a base for creating their per person per night rate. You may wish to explore this option. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

36. Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Section 2: Your Direct Area of Interest Summary – conclusions-recommendations Media | Social media • Out of all your direct competitors you have the worst photos. On the plus side you do have a video clip, which is also in 5 languages. Still, you must hire a professional to do • a new photography session and get some great photos. The difference this will make on your bookings will be significant. Your photographer must be specialized in vacation rentals, hotels, villas etc. It will be a worthy and long-lasting investment. • You are not taking advantage of social media – they do wonders in bringing new customers in. Your competitors are not taking any advantage of social media either • This is an opportunity, and a virgin territory. Jump in; make your social pages in both Facebook and Google+. Start a Twitter account; your inquiries will increase overtime if you persist a little. We have clients that get 20% of their inquiries through Social media • Do not worry about the cost and how-tos. You can make a Facebook page for as low • as $10 for example. And you can get prospects to it for a very small budget (circa $150 / month) or you can do the socializing all by yourself gradually at no cost. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

37. Section 3: Your site against your competitors • The purpose of this section is to take an inspection of your web site in terms of quality. We will also see how your competitor’s sites are doing, and figure out who is best. It is very important to have a web site that outperforms your competitors – it shows a professional approach to renting and makes renters feel more confident.

38. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Identifying competing sites Out of all your direct competitors, only 3 have web sites of their own, which is good.

39. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Site accessibility to mobile and disabled users Your site scores better than any of your competitors. Source: Sitebeam

40. Section 3: Your site against your competitors User Experience – how satisfying the site is likely to be Your site again scores better than any of your competitors. Source: Sitebeam

41. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Marketing – how well marketed and popular the site is Your have a low score on marketing and you must take action. Source: Sitebeam

42. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Technology – how well designed and built the website is You score better than the rest, but since your site is dependent on a Vacation Rental Platform, technically there is little you can do yourself to improve further. Source: Sitebeam

43. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Summary-conclusions-recommendations General • Your sites scores better than those of your competitors • The reason is that you use a VR site development platform (lodgify) • Your competitors use standard web sites that lack in features, photos, connectivity • You on the other hand can sky-rocket your results and performance if you play right • There are 3 areas that you need to improve : • One: Social interaction • Two: Utilization, Online marketing and Search Engine Optimization • Three: A plan to greatly increase your exposure to prospects further If you have more questions on this, please contact us

44. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Summary-conclusions-recommendations Social interaction • Your social presence is non-existent as previously pointed out • You must get a presence for your villas in Facebook and Twitter • Then you must connect your Facebook and Twitter presence with your site • This way you allow visitors to your site to interact socially with you • This social interaction will surely build up overtime and bring you more bookings • Keep in touch with your past clients using Twitter and make them book again • In Facebook you can target up to 100K people with a small budget ($150-$200) • If only 5% of them ‘likes’ your Facebook page, you could appear in front of 500K new people – it is a snowball effect after that; socially you will almost be on auto- pilot. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

45. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Summary-conclusions-recommendations Utilization Online marketing and search engine optimization • Utilize your site’s platform to the full: lodgify has an online booking tool; Activate it! • Take simple steps to market your properties more effectively and appear more often in front of your prospects: • You have not sent a Press release yet about your villas. Do it! Also list on Trivago! • Consider making collaboration with sites that rent villas (i.e. James Villas) • Consider adding your site to other sites, travel directories and travel forums • Connect with other sites that relate to your area: ask for backlinks • Optimize your website in order to appear on the first page for your keywords • Lodgify supports search engine optimization; if you can’t do it, find someone who can and maximize your exposure on free traffic from the major search engines… • …see Section 4 for further assistance on this, customized for you. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

46. Section 3: Your site against your competitors Summary-conclusions-recommendations Greater exposure • The best way to get more bookings is to advertise online • There is a cost to this and you may not need to do it if you only have one property • But if you operate your business in a very competitive area (e.g. Disney Florida) or if you have many properties that is hard to book using only traditional listing sites... • ...it is the right thing to do. You should find a professional in your area that does it • Focus on the following methods: • 1. Banner advertising and NOT google ads that show on search results • 2. Follow a competitor and see where he advertises – then copy • 3. Buy traffic on a site related to villas that is doing well • 4 Find where your competitors show and you don’t and vice versa and fill the gaps • See sections 5 and 6 for further assistance that has been customized for you. If you have more questions on this, please contact us

47. Section 4: Reaching Prospects Organically • The purpose of this section is to show you the keyword terms that your villa is related. We also see how your site ranks for those terms and compare to your competitors rankings. We check how your listing pages rank for your keyword terms and compare it to that of your competitors. Finally we check you and your competitors to see how much Web real estate you occupy (how many results appear on the search engines).

48. Section 4: Reaching Prospects Organically Your keywords These are keywords highly related to yourBusiness: your core terms. The cost to reach top rankings and / or advertise is low. These are keywords still highly related to yourBusiness, but with more traffic. The cost to reach top rankings and / or advertise is higher.

49. Section 4: Reaching Prospects Organically Your web site versus your competitor’s site in Google results You and your competitors do not appear in the first 5 pages of Google results for your keyword terms! Source: Market Samurai

50. Section 4: Reaching Prospects Organically How your and your competitors listing pages rank in Google results (1 of 2) Homeaway.co.uk You and your competitors do not appear in the first 5 pages of Google results for your keyword terms! Source: Market Samurai