PhoCusWright Travel Innovator: Escapia
Escapia is a hosted vacation rental management system which includes an integrated booking capable website and distribution platform. The concept behind escapiaOne, which is the companies flagship product suite, is a fully integrated platform that replaces a PC based property management system, a website, and manual distribution through Internet marketing partners. The idea is to combine these three critical areas into one unified system which thereby reduces manual intervention and automates all the necessary functions for you. Instead of me having to describe their application, I recommend you take a look at the demo they have provided. I have to say, this is one of the nicest demos I have seen. Kudos to the team at Escapia.
Summary:
escapiaOne is made up of three related components:
1. escapiaVRS is the back-office application designed to allow the property owner to manage bookings, house cleaning, accounting etc.
2. escapiaWeb is the property’s own website which pulls data directly from the escapiaVRS for updated live availability, property descriptions, photos, etc. When bookings are made on the property’s escapiaWeb, the bookings are made directly into the escapiaVRS, thereby removing the step of having to manually update the reservation system.
3. escapiaNet is the distribution platform which allows property owners to share their property data and live availability with marketing partners. These marketing partners can make real-time bookings through escapiaNet which update each property’s escapiaVRS.
Regardless of where the booking is made, directly in escapiaVRS, through escapiaWeb, or through escapiaNet, the availability is updated immediately and in real-time which prevents double bookings and ensures accurate reservation data.
Questions:
1. The marketing partner websites (from the demo anyway) appear to be white labels. Is this case?
2. Does escapia plan on having a partner program like Ian.com that allows website owners to sell vacation properties through their own sites?
3. Does escapia offer an XML API which would allow for the full integration of data into a booking website?
