In today's digital world, the traditional paper-based guest compendium is rapidly being replaced by a more efficient and user-friendly alternative - the digital compendium.
A digital compendium is a comprehensive, interactive digital guidebook that provides guests with all the information they need about a short-term rental property or accommodation.
Read on to discover:
- Why use a digital compendium?
- Key features of a digital compendium
- Benefits of digital compendiums
- Tools for creating digital compendiums
- Real-world applications and case studies
- Steps to create your own digital compendium
Why use a digital compendium?
Unlike the static, cumbersome physical compendiums of the past, digital compendiums offer a range of advantages that cater to the modern traveller's needs. They are more accessible, interactive, and can be easily updated to ensure guests always have the most accurate and relevant information at their fingertips.
Here's a quick overview of how digital compendiums stack up against traditional methods:
In a world where guests expect instant access to information and a seamless, personalised experience, the digital compendium has become an essential tool for short-term rental hosts and property managers. By providing a centralised, user-friendly platform for sharing property details, local recommendations, and guest services, digital compendiums can significantly enhance the overall guest experience.
Key features of a digital compendium
Structure and organisation
A well-designed digital compendium follows a clear, intuitive hierarchy that makes it easy for guests to find the information they need. The structure typically includes:
- Home/Welcome page: a visually engaging introduction that sets the tone for the guest's experience.
- Property details: comprehensive information about the rental property, including descriptions, amenities, and policies.
- Local Area Guide: highlights of the surrounding neighbourhood, including recommendations for dining, entertainment, and attractions.
Learn how (and why) to create the perfect Local Area Guide. - Guest services: details on available services, such as housekeeping, maintenance, and emergency contacts.
- Policies and procedures: important rules, guidelines, and instructions for guests during their stay.
This structured approach, often visualised through a sitemap or flowchart, ensures a seamless and intuitive navigation experience for guests.
Searchability and accessibility
One of the key advantages of a digital compendium is its enhanced searchability and accessibility. Guests can quickly find the information they need by using the compendium's search function or navigating through its table of contents.
This dramatically reduces the time and effort required to locate specific details, compared to the manual page-flipping often associated with physical compendiums.
Moreover, digital compendiums can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, whether it's a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. This ubiquitous accessibility ensures that guests can easily reference the compendium at any time during their stay, without being limited to a single physical location.
Discover more about the searchability and accessibility features of Touch Stay's digital compendium.
Collaborative potential
Digital compendiums also offer the unique ability to facilitate collaboration between hosts and guests. Hosts can easily update the compendium with the latest information, ensuring that guests always have access to the most current and relevant details about the property and local area.
Moreover, some digital compendium platforms, like Touch Stay allow guests to provide feedback, ask questions, or submit maintenance requests directly through the compendium interface. This streamlined communication channel enhances the overall guest experience and helps hosts address any issues or concerns more efficiently.
Benefits of digital compendiums
The advantages of upgrading to a digital compendium for short-term rental hosts are numerous:
- Improved guest experience: guests have instant access to comprehensive, up-to-date information, improving their overall satisfaction and reducing the need for additional enquiries or assistance.
- Enhanced operational efficiency: hosts can easily update the compendium remotely, eliminating the need for time-consuming physical reprints and distribution.
- Cost savings: digital compendiums eliminate the recurring costs associated with printing, binding, and distributing physical compendiums.
- Environmentally friendly: going digital reduces paper waste and the environmental impact of physical compendiums.
- Increased flexibility: digital compendiums can be easily adapted and expanded to accommodate changing property features, local recommendations, and guest needs.
- Centralised information management: all property and area-specific information is consolidated in a single, easily accessible platform.
- Improved data collection: digital compendiums can provide valuable insights into guest preferences and behaviour, informing future property and service enhancements.
By leveraging the power of digital compendiums, short-term rental hosts can elevate the guest experience, streamline their operations, and unlock new avenues for growth and optimisation. Discover how Touch Stay's digital compendium can benefit your rental business.
Tools for creating digital compendiums
While there are various tools and platforms available for creating digital compendiums, one solution that stands head and shoulders above the rest is Touch Stay. Touch Stay is a user-friendly, all-in-one platform designed to help short-term rental hosts and property managers easily build and manage their own digital compendiums.
With Touch Stay, hosts can create a visually appealing, interactive digital compendium without any technical expertise. The platform offers a wide range of customisable templates, multimedia integration, and seamless content management capabilities, making it easy to craft a comprehensive and engaging digital experience for guests at the property - and on the go.
Additionally, there are other tools and software available that can be used to enhance the creation and functionality of digital compendiums, such as:
- Canva: a design platform that can be used to create visually striking graphics, images, and layouts for the compendium.
- Miro: an online whiteboard and collaboration tool that can be used to map out the structure and hierarchy of the digital compendium.
- Loom: a video recording and sharing tool that can be used to create instructional or informational videos for the compendium.
By leveraging a combination of specialised digital compendium platforms and complementary design/collaboration tools, short-term rental hosts can create a truly engaging and user-friendly digital experience for their guests.
Real-world applications and case studies
Digital compendiums have become increasingly prevalent across various industries, from hospitality to real estate. Here are a few examples of how digital compendiums are being used in the real world:
Hospitality industry
In the hospitality industry, digital compendiums have become a standard for short-term rental properties and boutique hotels. By replacing traditional paper-based guest guides, digital compendiums provide guests with a more interactive and personalised experience.
For example, The Green Lodge, in Aviemore, Scotland, has implemented a comprehensive digital guidebook that includes property details, local area recommendations, and even the ability for guests to request services directly through the platform.
Event Management
Digital compendiums are revolutionising event management, helping organisers create comprehensive digital guides for conferences, festivals, and corporate events. Touch Stay's digital guidebooks are particularly effective in this space, offering event planners a versatile platform to share crucial information with attendees.
Touch Stay was used to create an event app for the VRNation (NWVRP) Annual Conference in Boise, Idaho, US. It included real-time updates about speakers and agendas, interactive maps of the event location, event and session surveys, details about the event sponsors, as well as local food and drink recommendations. This significantly reduced the number of information-related queries to event staff and enhanced the overall attendee experience.
Click here to check it out for yourself.
Corporate onboarding
Digital compendiums are not limited to the hospitality and real estate sectors. They are also being used to enhance the onboarding experience for new employees in corporate settings. By providing a comprehensive digital guide to company policies, procedures, and resources, organisations can ensure that new hires have easy access to the information they need to succeed in their roles.
Steps to create your own digital compendium
If you're ready to take the leap and create your own digital compendium, here's a step-by-step guide to get you started:
- Assess your needs: determine the key information and resources you want to include in your digital compendium, based on the needs and preferences of your guests or tenants.
- Choose a platform: select a digital compendium platform, such as Touch Stay, that offers the features and functionality you require. Consider factors like ease of use, customisation options, and integration capabilities.
- Organise your content: develop a clear structure and hierarchy for your digital compendium, ensuring that information is presented in a logical and intuitive manner. Learn how to organise the information in your digital guidebook.
- Enhance with multimedia: incorporate engaging multimedia elements, such as videos, images, and virtual tours to create a more immersive and visually appealing experience for your guests.
- Optimise for accessibility: ensure that your digital compendium is accessible to guests with diverse needs, such as those with disabilities or language barriers.
- Implement collaborative features: enable features that allow guests to provide feedback, ask questions, or submit requests directly through the digital compendium, as offered by Touch Stay's free communication tools.
- Regularly update and maintain: commit to regularly updating your digital compendium to ensure that the information remains current and accurate.
By following these steps and leveraging the power of platforms like Touch Stay, short-term rental hosts and property managers can create a truly exceptional digital compendium that sets them apart from the competition and enhances the overall guest experience.
Conclusion
In the rapidly evolving world of short-term rentals and hospitality, the digital compendium has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing the guest experience and streamlining property management operations.
By offering a more accessible, interactive, and flexible alternative to traditional paper-based guides, digital compendiums are transforming the way hosts and property managers communicate with their guests.
Whether you're a seasoned short-term rental host or just starting out, investing in a digital compendium can provide a significant competitive advantage, while also contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly industry.
By leveraging the capabilities of platforms like Touch Stay, you can create a custom, feature-rich digital compendium that elevates your guests' experience and streamlines your property management workflows.
Take the first step towards upgrading your guest experience and embracing the power of the digital compendium. Try Touch Stay free for 14 days!
