We were the same...lots of bookings in 2014 for 2015 and then hardly anything this year. However what we did get converted in the main, so that's a positive, and we have the most repeat bookings we have ever had (I am quite giddy about it).
Trouble is, booking up so early and having almost 50% repeats doesn't give me a handle on the marketplace. We have 1st week in June to sell yet and a 10 day period over late June/early July and so far have only had only 1 enquiry for 5 days.
If neither are sold by Easter I will do a mail out to past guests.
Mouse
x
Lack of enquiries
-
charles cawley
- Posts: 1205
- Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:53 pm
- Location: Herefordshire, Shropshire, Borders
Although the £ - Euro exchange rate is beneficial for UK visitors going across the Channel, the view of foreign parts becoming more dangerous is growing.
Events close to Turkey and, now, in Tunisia, appear to be spooking people. Should ISIL type activity increase in the heart of the EU this could drive more people to either not holiday or choose UK destinations. The Charlie Hebdo killings also hit confidence; if ISIL starts blowing up Leptis Magna and other N African sites, a further blow to confidence will be substantial.
EU and National Governments' impotence and failure to secure a safe world will lead people to suspect that visiting mainland Europe could be less safe than in the last 70 years. There is little or no logic or reason to this... confidence can be emotional matter.
On the residential properties trying out holiday letting, we have to knock back many of them. Where it works, it often takes several visits and lengthy advice to get the formula right. Owners often have to buy new beds, sofas and sort out kitchens. They do not always like the bad news and often have poor attitudes towards guest hospitality. I have heard the expression 'good enough for them' more than once.
From out perspective, 2015 is shaping up to be a vastly better year than the previous two years.
Events close to Turkey and, now, in Tunisia, appear to be spooking people. Should ISIL type activity increase in the heart of the EU this could drive more people to either not holiday or choose UK destinations. The Charlie Hebdo killings also hit confidence; if ISIL starts blowing up Leptis Magna and other N African sites, a further blow to confidence will be substantial.
EU and National Governments' impotence and failure to secure a safe world will lead people to suspect that visiting mainland Europe could be less safe than in the last 70 years. There is little or no logic or reason to this... confidence can be emotional matter.
On the residential properties trying out holiday letting, we have to knock back many of them. Where it works, it often takes several visits and lengthy advice to get the formula right. Owners often have to buy new beds, sofas and sort out kitchens. They do not always like the bad news and often have poor attitudes towards guest hospitality. I have heard the expression 'good enough for them' more than once.
From out perspective, 2015 is shaping up to be a vastly better year than the previous two years.
No web-site for now.
Advice about holiday letting
Advice about holiday letting
Thats an interesting viewpoint Charles, and I cannot say that I disagree with it, but do you have any evidence to back up your thoughts regarding the terrorist incidents impacting on the tourist industry? I would have thought that it would impact on the UK as much as anywhere and yet you appear to be having a great year.
-
charles cawley
- Posts: 1205
- Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:53 pm
- Location: Herefordshire, Shropshire, Borders
Confidence is an odd thing. I know, for instance, that the Christmas floods in 2013 /4 seriously damaged spring and early summer UK bookings. We had people ringing up in March questioning if they could get access to holiday lets in June as if the floods and bad weather were to last to then. By March, the floods had gone and they did not come back. People are not logical in this.
Short lead time bookings held up much better in the two wet years where the usual bookings made several months in advance took a serious hit.
Some guests seemed to feel that the entire West of England, Wales and, illogically, parts of Ireland had submerged into the North Atlantic. The worst blow to confidence was not Somerset Floods but when outer London suburban areas in the Thames Valley flooded. Meanwhile, weather forecasters fueled with climate change doom suggesting this would be the rule rather than an exception, caused further damage to confidence. Not learning their lesson, they recently delighted with their 'weather bombs' until the 'Snowmageddon' incident on New York where forecasters got it radically wrong and looked very stupid. This ended their self-important hype and their irresponsible damage to the UK rural economy.
Yes, the UK has its own quite serious ISIL type problem at home but flying or crossing the channel or going from one country (despite the EU trying to destroy nations) to another is still felt as going abroad.
Confidence is weak enough for people who cannot speak a language other than English, sling in a nagging doubt or two and many will stick with what they think they know. The Tunis incident is particularly damaging because a part of Cruise ship demand comes from people who are not always that comfortable with immediate experience of societies other than their own. Going on a cruise is considered 'the safest choice'. To see Cruise ship passengers put to death in a seemingly merciless hateful growing religious war will strike home quite hard.
There's little reason to this. Indeed, I suspect that if religious strife breaks out in Yorkshire, Birmingham or East London or bombs explode elsewhere in England it could, even, increase demand for UK holiday lets with people wanting to get away from the cities for 'a bit of peace and quiet'.
Short lead time bookings held up much better in the two wet years where the usual bookings made several months in advance took a serious hit.
Some guests seemed to feel that the entire West of England, Wales and, illogically, parts of Ireland had submerged into the North Atlantic. The worst blow to confidence was not Somerset Floods but when outer London suburban areas in the Thames Valley flooded. Meanwhile, weather forecasters fueled with climate change doom suggesting this would be the rule rather than an exception, caused further damage to confidence. Not learning their lesson, they recently delighted with their 'weather bombs' until the 'Snowmageddon' incident on New York where forecasters got it radically wrong and looked very stupid. This ended their self-important hype and their irresponsible damage to the UK rural economy.
Yes, the UK has its own quite serious ISIL type problem at home but flying or crossing the channel or going from one country (despite the EU trying to destroy nations) to another is still felt as going abroad.
Confidence is weak enough for people who cannot speak a language other than English, sling in a nagging doubt or two and many will stick with what they think they know. The Tunis incident is particularly damaging because a part of Cruise ship demand comes from people who are not always that comfortable with immediate experience of societies other than their own. Going on a cruise is considered 'the safest choice'. To see Cruise ship passengers put to death in a seemingly merciless hateful growing religious war will strike home quite hard.
There's little reason to this. Indeed, I suspect that if religious strife breaks out in Yorkshire, Birmingham or East London or bombs explode elsewhere in England it could, even, increase demand for UK holiday lets with people wanting to get away from the cities for 'a bit of peace and quiet'.
No web-site for now.
Advice about holiday letting
Advice about holiday letting