Holiday home owners are used to adapting to ever changing scenarios. We are continuously adjusting to new rules and regulations and different market trends whilst also ensuring we provide the best possible holiday home for our guests. This flexibility, resilience and desire to achieve best practice has held us in good stead to deal with everything we have faced during these extraordinary times.
This article aims to give you some ideas to help you remain both flexible and positive as we continue to navigate the challenges ahead. It is also worth pointing out that Independent Cottages continues to receive a good volume of traffic, showing there is a real appetite for people wanting to get away this year. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel if we can continue to adapt to the ever changing Covid landscape.
Reconsider your short-term marketing strategy
Despite the lifting of restrictions, some guests are understandably nervous about booking holidays at the moment. If you find you still have lots of gaps in the diary this year, now is a good time to re-consider your short-term marketing strategy to see if you can attract a wider range of holiday makers. For example, if you don’t currently accept pets, perhaps you could temporarily consider doing so. If your property is in the countryside you could highlight the bracing walks, pet friendly country pubs and cosy nights in by the log burner. Whilst some holiday houses lend themselves better to being pet friendly than others, if you feel you are in a position to temporarily accept pets it will undoubtedly boost your bookings.
‘Staying in’ has become the new ‘going out’ so why not promote your holiday let as a cosy or luxury retreat for guests to enjoy a relaxing time away from it all. Owners with smaller properties could create a romantic setting for couples, whilst slightly larger houses would attract families and extended households wanting to spend some quality time together. Hot tubs have become hugely popular recently. Add in a bottle of fizz and some nice chocolates and you have the perfect recipe for an idyllic romantic weekend away. Or a roaring fire, plenty of board games and space for the kids to run around and Granny to escape the mayhem could be the perfect tonic for an extended family break. If you are baby friendly and provide cots, high chairs and stair gates you could provide a safe and welcoming ‘home from home’ for a babies first holiday. Or if you have outside space why not offer something a bit different like an outdoor pizza oven or fire pit.
With more and more people currently working from home, if you have good WiFi and a desk you could market your property as the perfect office for a week – or even longer. Guests could escape the city and enjoy sea views or scenic lunchtime walks whilst still being able to log into the ‘office’. For any hardy souls the thought of a bracing dip in the sea before work, or a quick lunch time surf, might be an appealing break whilst still ‘working from home’.
Check your photos
Good photos have arguably always been the number one tool in any holiday home owner’s marketing strategy. This is especially important in today’s turbulent times. We recommend you read our article on photography tips and make sure that your photos appeal to the ‘new normal’ way of life.
Reassure holidaymakers
Whilst many people are keen to get away, some will understandably be apprehensive about staying away from home. You can help reassure potential guests by letting them know about the additional Covid cleaning and safety measures that you have put in place. You can include this on your website as well as other advertising platforms. Owners who advertise on Independent Cottages can highlight any Covid-related news at the top of their advert page on the Covid noticeboard.
If your property is in a rural area, include this on your marketing materials too. The idea of staying in a cottage where your only neighbours are sheep and there are numerous walks from the door might appeal to guests who are nervous about interacting with too many other people. You may also want to highlight if home-delivery is available for groceries.
Cancellations
Unfortunately, cancellations are likely to continue be a feature of booking patterns this year. However, don’t be too disheartened by any cancellations you might recieve. 2022 is looking like it is going to be another busy year for self-catering holidays in the UK and you are likely to be able to re-sell any cancelled holidays.
If you haven’t already done so, now is a good time to check your terms and conditions to ensure they accurately reflect your current policies. You can find further information about handling guest cancellations in our article here.
Last minute bookings
The ever-changing lifting and imposition of restrictions and local lockdowns last year meant that ‘last minute’ changed to ‘very last minute’. Some guests had to cancel their holiday at the eleventh hour, whilst others were frantically looking for last minute deals when restrictions allowed. This pattern of booking last minute and travel situations changing quickly is likely to continute into 2022. We recommend that you post any availability over the next few months on our last minute offers page.
Whilst some holidaymakers might be looking for last minute bargains, if your rates are already competitive we recommend you resist the temptation to reduce your prices too much. Even though we are in the middle of the winter, there is still a reasonable demand for UK holidays.
It is important that you are set up and ready to handle such last minute changes. You are likely to get more bookings if you offer flexible booking terms and take online bookings and credit card payments. Independent Cottage owners who have a dedicated online booking page for your property can opt to have a direct ‘online booking’ link added to your advert (please email us the link to the booking page on your website if you would this added to your advert).
It is also a good idea to ensure your property is cleaned as soon as you feel comfortable after the last set of guests leave so it is ready for new guests should you get a last minute booking.
Maintenance
If you are forced to temporarily close, or you have lots of gaps in your calendar, you could use this quiet time to bring forward any maintenance or refurbishment jobs you have planned for later on in the year. Last summer has shown how incredible the demand for holidaying in the UK can be. It is highly likely that we will see similar levels of enquiries and bookings in 2022 so it is a good idea to get all the jobs out the way so you are ready to maximise bookings later on in the year.
Keep up to date with the latest rules and regulations
As government guidance is ever changing and the rules vary across the four different nations, it can be hard to keep up with the latest regulations and tourist advice. You can find further information on the latest government advice, guidance and laws in our article Coronavirus: Considerations for UK holiday home owners.
Looking ahead
There is little doubt that we haven’t seen the end of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our holiday letting businesses. It is likely that we will continue to see guests cancelling and amending holidays as well as making bookings very last minute. However, it is not all doom and gloom. As holiday cottage owners we have always had to be adaptable, versatile and patient. If we can use these skills to navigate the challenges ahead we are likely to be rewarded with some good times to come.
If you haven’t already done so, it is time to set your 2022 (and even 2023!) prices, promote your adverts and start looking forward to a good year ahead.