Our Inns

I think there are few people who would disagree that 2010 was a bad year all-round for the economy and in particular for tourism, but is there any sign of an upturn any-time soon?

Unfortunately, it looks like it will take quite a while to get everything back on an even keel. A number of our owners have sold up over the last year but there are probably just as many who are trying to sell and that overhang of unsold properties will take quite a while to clear. Right now, reducing the price seems to make little difference to sales prospects. Moreover, even when you do get a buyer they will almost certainly still want the price reduced further no matter how much you’ve already reduced it. Then, of course, there’s the bank to contend with and they may well want the buyer to negotiate a further reduction.

Thus, sitting tight and waiting out the recession seems the only option for many owners. Unfortunately, that mentality of reducing prices also applies to guests. Also, there’s the economic impact on potential guests who are fewer in number thanks to job losses and salary reductions although if you’re in the eurozone, you’ll at least have the advantage of improved exchange rates reducing the cost for guests.

So what can you do?

The key is not to reduce your prices beyond what you can afford. Not even that far in fact as potential guests may well ask for a further reduction which you won’t be able to offer if you’re already at your base cost. What you can do is to add low-cost enhancements to what you do offer but which significantly improve the perception of your place by the guests.

For example, if you already have wifi for yourself, you can add it for the guests at very low cost (just by buying a router in the simplest case) which lets you add “Free wifi” as one of your services on offer. Assembling a local guidebook costs little (other than your time) but can significantly improve the impression of a holiday at your place.

Perhaps most critically, update and maintain all your marketing efforts. Cutting back on marketing expenditure is a death-knell to any business and particularly so in hard times.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Once they’ve got the advertising for their holiday property up and running most people don’t put a great deal of effort into looking for new places where they can advertise their property. After all, if you’re getting good returns from your existing advertising, why would you bother looking any further?

Whilst in days gone by that might have been a viable strategy, the changing nature of the market means that it’s not nearly so reliable as it once was. For example, last year the combined effects of the rise in the euro and massive price hikes by the discount airlines meant that the nationality mix for our own property in the south of France changed from being a largely British/French split to one that was mainly German/French and that in turn meant that the sources of bookings that we received changed too ie the previously very popular sites produced very few guests for us.

Similarly this year, the sources providing the most guests is changing again. We’ve seen a quite pleasant rise in the number of bookings both via our own property site and indeed via OurInns. Why that should be so is too early to say but it does show that it’s worthwhile maintaining the mix of advertising that we do rather than relying on those places that worked well in the past.

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Most places around the world change quite markedly as the seasons change, but many holiday accommodation owners concentrate exclusively on the benefits for their guests should they come in just one season which may well be losing a lot of customers.

The difference is, of course, much clearer for some destinations than it is for others. For example, most ski resorts will typically have two distinct seasons: in winter they obviously target the skiers but in summer they can target hikers just as effectively. However, whilst the distinct marketing groups are evident in the case of the likes of ski resorts many other holiday destinations are, or could be, virtually year-round destinations albeit with different attractions as the seasons change.

In that relatively few people put a lot of effort into seasonal marketing, you could find it quite profitable to establish separate sections on your site describing the changing attractions of your place as the seasons change. Don’t try to second guess when guests will book their holidays though and instead maintain the seasonal attractions on your site throughout the year. Finally, don’t forget that although most listings sites are summer-oriented, there are a sizeable number that are winter-oriented.

What about Autumn/Spring? In most cases they are basically just extensions of your main holiday season(s) but lots of regions have festivals in both and it’s worth looking into the possibility of targeting them.

Before you start down this route, check that your place is suitable for bookings well out of season. Not only are some summer properties extremely expensive to heat in the summer, but some winter properties are just too hot to use in the summer. Both these can obviously be corrected for, but it’s best to do that in advance rather than when the guests have booked in

Popularity: 100% [?]