Travel restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a "tough couple of months" for the short-term holiday letting industry.
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"For this month I was down 50 per cent in income," Tracey Baker, a real estate agent specialising in holiday rental properties said.
"But I work from home so I don't have the overheads of an office. I also have the diversification of doing the cleaning, and the option to permanently lease properties to keep some income trickling in."
Ms Baker is the owner of Thirroul Beach Accommodation, while also working as a contractor for the Property Co Agency.
Ahead of travel restrictions easing this week, Ms Baker said she "hadn't stopped answering inquiries since they indicated they were going to open up travel from June 1".
"As soon as that was announced, I was inundated... I think people have got a bit of cabin fever and are keen to get out and about," she said.
"We're back on track at the moment, as long as everyone does the right thing."
Ms Baker has about a dozen short-term rental properties under her management, which are listed on online holiday rental platforms Stayz and Airbnb, and via her own website.
However, this number of properties increases over the Christmas period.
"I list and manage, clean and do laundry; I'm a one-stop shop for holiday rentals," she said.
Stayz has announced increased cleanliness guidelines for holiday rental owners.
The additional recommended cleaning measures include the disinfecting of high-touch surfaces, allocating time between bookings to avoid back-to-back stays, and stocking antibacterial handwashes, cleaners and hand sanitizers for guests.
Homeowners and property managers will be able to report if the property is being cleaned with disinfectant, if guests can check in and out without any person-to-person contact, and whether the property is unavailable for at least 24 hours between guests.
"You really do have to thoroughly clean holiday rentals anyway," Ms Baker said.
"It's not just clean the bathroom and vacuum the floor; you're wiping the fronts of cupboards every time, getting the crumbs and wiping out the cutlery trays.
"The main changes will be that other than doing our normal thorough clean, we'll also be disinfecting and paying particular attention to things like door handles and light switches.
"A little bit more time will be required to clean holiday rentals. It may mean check-in time is delayed by a couple of hours, just to make sure everything is disinfected and it's all had time to do its job."
Those looking for properties with flexible cancellation policies will also be able to use Stayz search filters to find holiday homes that provide a full refund when cancelling by a specific date.
"In regard to COVID-19, if the restrictions are brought back in, I think people should get a 100 per cent refund, because it's not their fault they can't travel," Ms Baker said.
"And hopefully there's a goodwill there that encourages them to return when they can.
"But you do have to be protected, because some people book several properties and at the last minute choose which one they want to go to.
"So I like to have a cancellation policy that's moderate to strict, because it can be hard to re-book your property (at short notice)."
Stayz regional director Ross McDonald said the advent of COVID-19 has led to new traveller needs.
"When planning their next trip, our family travellers want the flexibility to change or cancel plans and information about a property's cleaning practices in order to feel comfortable enough to travel again," he said.