A difficult year for everyone
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.
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