Villa Advertising For Holiday Home Owners

One villa advertising strategy that some holiday home owners implement is to set fixed arrival and departure dates when you’re booking their property. What this does is to ensure that there are no gaps in the holiday homes calendar in-between their rentals.  As you may know, gaps in between bookings can be disappointing for potential renters. This is especially true if one or two of the days they want to rent do not coincide with your holiday homes’ vacancy. This happens whether it’s in the low or peak seasons.  But regardless of the rental season, gaps in-between rentals are unwanted.  But the question is:  Are you thinking to advertise your holiday home with fixed arrival and departure dates?  Before you make this decision, carefully think it through.

Perhaps this advertising strategy will work for large properties like resorts, hotels and timeshares.  However, for a single holiday home owner with limited inventory to offer, this may not be a good villa advertising idea. If holiday home owners offer flexibility to help accommodate the needs of their rental prospects it’ll ensure they’ll keep on coming back.  More than just creating repeat rental business, you’ll develop client loyalty, when you put your clients first.  Another con is the transportation concerns especially flight details – more specifically prices.  Many vacationers would rather choose flights that can save them cash on their traveling expenses.  If their flight itinerary does not match your properties’ availability then there is a problem.  Setting a fixed arrival and departure not only limits your potential rental clients but it also becomes too impersonal for them.

Setting fixed arrival and departure dates may do well for property managers or resorts that have numerous properties or villas to rent out.  But using this villa advertising method to simply avoid holes in your holiday rentals calendar is counter productive in the long term. Travelers book holiday homes to fit their work and family schedules.  You’ll receive a higher return for your villa advertising efforts if you are willing to be flexible enough to adapt to your client’s needs.

So before you shut out renters for not following your arrival and departure dates, think of how much you can gain if you just allow some changes in your rental policies.  Holiday homes need to be rented for you to profit.  If there are no takers, it is you who will suffer the consequences.  Chances are the rental clients you turned down will simply look for others holiday home owners who are willing to accommodate them.  In the business of renting holiday homes its better that you book your rental rather than give away business to your competition.

I’ve encountered many holiday home owners who set restrictions on their bookings and its costing them in bookings.