Short notice is back. Hurray.

[charles cawley]

It is good news is that less than 8 weeks in advance have come back and last minute have revived, following the floods and dismal weather that dogged the UK for nearly eight months in 2012.

Now that short notice has reappeared, assuming we do not get a repeat of the worst rain in decades, this rebirth should make up for a very average start to the year. Short notice also tends to be more focused on lower occupancy cottages due, partly, to the need to organise for larger parties. But this is only a tendency, large cottages could, also, do well from the return of short notice bookings.

Even better, we have had a few ultra short notice bookings a two or three days in advance in the last few days. Occupy 2 cottages are showing signs of recovery after going through a really tough time since late May 2012.

We have also noted that guests are spending more time on the web site before booking. This indicates that greater care is being taken to ensure the right choice and that guests are taking time to make their money go further; they might, also, be shopping around more.

2012 was exceptional. Adjusting rates based on a blighted year could be a mistake. 2013 is going to be a difficult year to predict. Our gut feeling is that short notice will have a double impact, in a positive way.

The old short notice pattern will return and larger cottages may also join in the trend. This could be caused by natural care that people will now be taking having seen the danger of booking well in advance and ending up under grey skies and torrential rain. More advance planning could now be taking place, but with the final decision to make the booking put off to closer to the planned stay.

If these factors are coming through, any minor disappointment for total rentals in booking value made during January and February (to date) could, in fact, be far from bad news. The way bookings held up in 2012 in appalling conditions shows the resilience of the UK holiday cottage market

Short notice could be the story for 2013 in our area.