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928% revenue increase and an unparalleled guest experience with guidebook upsells
A property manager created a desirable destination—and a passive revenue stream—with Hostfully’s Digital Guidebooks on the shores of Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
Felix and Muhabi Erskine run Sanctuary Farm in Naivasha, Kenya, which offers a variety of accommodations, experiences, and a restaurant.
Overview
Before
- Last minute scrambling and payment headaches
- Disjointed booking experience
- Booked out tours leading to disappointed guests
After
- Easy, extra, immediate income
- Seamless booking
- Time to properly prep for stays
- Happy guests with planned itineraries
Impact
- Financial growth (928% revenue increase!), providing expansion opportunities
- Occupancy rate jumped from 42% to 72%
- Excellent feedback and reviews
- Improved time management
- Positive host/guest interactions
“There’s just so much you can do with upsells. The first time I had a guest booking where they had already paid for a horseride, that was a special moment for me.”
Felix Erskine, Sanctuary Farm
Before
Stressful scrambling to make stays memorable
Felix Erskine grew up on a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya where his mother, Julie, transformed his homeland from a “struggling farm” to a 17-room hotel with a restaurant. But in 2019, the nearby lake massively flooded the hotel. It was time to start over.
Now, Felix lives with his wife, Muhabi, and their son Cosmos, on Sanctuary Farm, a vacation rental business on the property’s higher ground. Over the last two years, the couple, along with Felix’s architect brother, have evolved the business, building five unique cottages, rentals, a new restaurant, and a carefully curated series of experiences.
But managing listings as well as a restaurant, 50 staff members, a slew of wildlife tours and camping sites, was not only challenging to stay on top of, but also meant exclusively hustling to always make on-demand requests possible. It was a messy operation with too much last-minute scrambling.
Not only was the process unsustainable, but it sometimes left guests dissatisfied when trying to book same-day experiences—from fully-booked tours to unavailable bike rentals. And what’s more, the business model left lots of money on the table. Sanctuary Farm’s revenue and potential would remain limited without a better process in place.
After
An enhanced revenue stream and smoother guest experience
When Felix reached out to Hostfully, he had heard of the property management platform—but he didn’t know about Hostfully’s Digital Guidebooks, which he now refers to as a “Bonus [he] didn’t expect!”
Implementing guidebooks has improved Felix’s operations and carved out a seamless revenue stream. Previously, when he would try to schedule activities for guests in advance, he’d run up against, “a lot of back and forth.“ Now the process relieves Felix of stressful last-minute rental and tour requests, and subsequent scrambling for his team, which, in the past, sometimes led to disappointed guests.
Just five months into building out his marketplace through his Hostfully Digital Guidebooks, Felix has seen a surprising number of booked add-ons: “The fact that we’ve had many upsells is amazing,” Felix relays. “I believe in it,” he says of his burgeoning revenue stream, which contributed to Sanctuary Farm’s 928% revenue increase since joining Hostfully a year ago.
In addition to offering common add-ons like pet fees, early check-ins, late checkouts, airport transportation, and extra guests, Hostfully’s Digital Guidebooks encourage managers to build out their marketplace, which, as Felix has experienced, “can really boost revenue.” During a guest’s booking checkout, marketplace options instantly pop up, showcasing an immersive menu of experiences that guests can lock in before setting foot on the sanctuary.
Reflective of Sanctuary Farm’s location, guests, and local activities, Felix and Muhabi’s guidebooks feature the sanctuary’s robust offerings: reservations at their farm-to–table restaurant, an in-house massage, outdoor BBQs fueled by homemade charcoal, bike rides through the sanctuary’s trails; boat tours along Lake Naivasha’s shallows, and night drives among hippos and hyenas.
The benefit his guests gain from planning in advance helps everyone. “The first time I had a guest booking where they had already paid for a horse ride, that was a special moment for me. The fact that they’d already paid before they’d even come, that gave me enough time to liaise with the horse riding team and find a slot for them… It was totally seamless.”
Speaking like a true host, Felix remarks, “I’m so happy when a guest can get out of her cottage, jump on a horse. I don’t have to worry about payment, don’t have to chase them down after the ride.” He smiles, beaming, “That’s what it’s all about.”
