How to increase your holiday let bookings in spring
Spring marks the beginning of the travel season in the UK, with the weather getting better, the days getting longer and the forthcoming half term and Easter holidays on the horizon. The different seasons present different opportunities for holiday homeowners to appeal to a variety of markets and target audiences with small changes to their property, their offering and their marketing. In this article we have set out some of the key ways in which you can increase your holiday let bookings in spring.
Five ways to get more spring bookings for your holiday home
Through a combination of general best practice approaches and seasonal specific things to do, you can help to make your property profitable throughout the year. In the past we have written about how to increase holiday let bookings in winter. Here are some of the spring specific ways in which you can help to boost holiday let bookings as well.
Identify your target market
The people who may be interested in staying at your holiday home in the spring might be quite different to those heading there for a break in the height of summer. In addition, spring is divided into the school holidays and the periods in between, which means there are multiple markets you can attract in different weeks.
When schools are on holiday, lots of families will want to head to the coast and country for that first getaway of the year. Which might mean highlighting information on your listing that appeals to families and groups.
However, in between the half term and Easter holidays, there’s an extended period of time where those who seek a quieter escape can enjoy time out. Couples, individuals who have retired, those with small babies and toddlers, groups of friends - these are the people who are looking for a holiday during this time midweek and weekend stays give you the opportunity to showcase the parts of your holiday home that are right for them.
Doing this might mean making less of a point about family friendly activities and rainy day ideas in your holiday let listing, and more of a fuss about luxury hampers on arrival, recommended walking routes and log fires - for example.
Seasonal events
Capitalise on seasonal events like Valentine’s Day, Easter and half term by building your marketing, social media promotion and content around them. You might consider adding special welcome gifts for different seasonal events, such as chocolates and Champagne on Valentine’s Day or mentioning local restaurants offering Valentine’s Day menus, and highlighting those details in your marketing material, for example.
You can also adjust your pricing for those peak season periods to maximise profits when demand is likely to be higher, as well as considering short break pricing for the times in between. In particular, couples and friends might want to go away for a weekend or just a few days, so as long as you can keep it profitable, consider whether it would be better to have a few days booked than none at all.
That said, pricing should be commensurate with the local market - our team at HolidayHost can help you to get that right.
Flexible arrival/departure days and times
Continuing the idea of shorter breaks, the periods between school holidays are also great for adding value to out of season getaways with things like flexible arrival and departure days and times. If you don’t have a new booking coming in on the same day, then pushing someone’s departure time to the afternoon so they can maximise their stay is the sort of thing that they will really appreciate. It’s a great way to boost your reviews, make guests feel special and encourage repeat visitors at those harder-to-fill times of the year. You might even offer special rates for extra long stays if they book in advance.
Get in touch with past guests
If you have access to the contact information of past visitors and have permission to contact them for marketing purposes, spring is a great opportunity to send discounts, special offers or a simple reminder to those who have enjoyed visiting your property in the past to let them know your home’s availability.
It’s always easier to sell to a warm lead, and hopefully those who have stayed at your property before have (hopefully) nothing but good memories. Right now they’re probably daydreaming about a getaway, so why not give them something to look forward to by reminding them what a lovely time they had?
Best practice ways to increase your holiday let bookings
Of course, there are also things that you can do to help boost your holiday let bookings in general, and spring is a great time to start, reflect on what’s been done to date and consider where you can do more. Here are some of our top suggestions.
Use social media marketing
It will come as no surprise that social media is a great way to generate awareness around your holiday home and its availability. It’s also a particularly good way to showcase it through the changing seasons with regular updates, information about seasonal offers and gorgeous photos of your property, the surrounding area and things to see and do that might appeal to different people at different times of the year.
Start an email marketing campaign
If you have permission to send marketing emails to former or prospective customers, then consider an email marketing campaign using platforms like MailChimp or MailerLite. Much like social media, it’s a great way to share seasonal offers and remind people, especially those who have visited before, to reserve their space before it gets booked up. As the people you are contacting will have given permission for you to get in touch, they have also already highlighted an interest in your holiday let, which is an excellent place to start.
Share positive reviews
On social media, in emails, or as part of your online listing - if you have great feedback from former guests, make sure you shout about it. Trust and personal recommendations are a big thing when it comes to booking a holiday home, and showing that people have had a fantastic time in the past will help visitors to feel confident about booking a getaway at your property. It’s also important to keep encouraging former guests to write positive reviews on your social channels and your online listings as well. It will help to boost your profile and encourage more bookings.
Make booking easy
The easier you make it to book a getaway at your property, the more likely that someone will make a booking. The ‘three-click’ rule is often referred to by website developers - if there are more than three clicks to complete a transaction then people tend to lose interest.
While you might not be in charge of designing the web page when you use online marketing platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo (don’t worry, they know what they’re doing), you can do your part to make booking easier. Once your listing is set up with clear information so they know what they are getting, it’s important to make sure they have any questions answered quickly and effectively, and that any barriers to booking are limited wherever possible.
Of course, this can be extremely time consuming, which is why guest liaison is something that the team at HolidayHost provides to ensure the best customer service and optimal chances of turning a prospective guest into one who’s booked in and looking forward to their getaway.
