bright spot

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costa-brava
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bright spot

Post by costa-brava »

In the news is Tui accepting bookings for Costa Daurada for mid May even though flight restrictions haven't been lifted yet. It's for self-catering and the thought dawned on me that holiday homes have a distinct marketing advantage over hotels. You can keep your social distance especially if it's a villa or town-house.
Living here the most difficult thing has been getting online groceries but we managed to track one local shop down.
So if you are hoping to get bookings for this year, I strongly recommend that you start now in pinning down a supermarket that delivers in your area. There are also several sites doing a great range of wines.
Delivery dates tend to be up to two weeks ahead so your guests would need to be able to order before leaving home. One or two have their site in English but not all of them. Some also offer a pick-up store near you but movement by car for now is restricted. The important thing would be to have that information in your adverts. It used to be that a nearby supermarket was a plus but this year it's going to be if you can get home deliveries.
But the situation could flip in your favour especially if you have a garden and pool. This is more optimistic than all of my recent posts.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

You can keep your social distance especially if it's a villa or town-house.
Until you are at both of the two airports you have to use, at least! :lol:
We have had no food shopping difficulties. There should not be a need to shop on-line. Beside a waiting time of weeks will mean the frozen and fresh goods will have "gone off" before delivery.
As you pointed out movement by car is presently restricted. That and some of the other severe restrictions presently implemented I personally cannot see why anyone would want to try and take their vacation in Spain at the moment. Those some restrictions will make running a business seriously impossible.
The latest government declarations could mean that Spain simply will not be fully open and ready for business before TUIs wishes.
I love your optimism.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Marks
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Post by Marks »

Not a chance of any holidays happening mid-May.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
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roxytoo
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Post by roxytoo »

Ryanair are still taking bookings for May even though they have said they are not flying to Spain until mid June.......
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

The plans have been realised. Read them and weep. Planned to take 6 to 8 weeks before normality may return. That will depend on the health of the nation remains good or betters. If not steps will be taken to go back to the previous regime.
Companies taking money now for vacations/flights in the following weeks are acting in a criminal manner.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

I wasn't suggesting that anyone should book for May with Tui. I was suggesting two possible competitive advantages that hol-let owners might exploit. The latest Government edicts suggest we will have "new normality" by June. Everyone knows that it will be many months more before we can enjoy any sense of normality.
As this "normality" returns people will still be very wary of anywhere that groups or crowds converge. Two of these are hotels and supermarkets.
So I do believe that the market for villas and individual homes will return quicker than for hotels, cruises and bus tours. I also think that more people will opt for travel by car (when frontiers relax). We have a supermarket 100 metres from our house but we use it tentatively. Home delivery or pick-up offer much more personal safety so good information on this will be useful to guests.
It's all about competitive advantage and rental owners will have much more advantage in the next couple of years than in the last few years.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

roxytoo wrote:Ryanair are still taking bookings for May even though they have said they are not flying to Spain until mid June.......
Martin Lewis has submitted a complaint to the Civil Aviation Authority and Trading Standards about Ryan Air


https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/ ... g-refunds/
Marks
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Post by Marks »

99% of my guests are from northern Europe so until border restrictions are relaxed and foreign tourists return I am not seeing any advantage. There are plenty of Spanish tourists who I could rent to but they all seem to want to stay in August so I suspect I will have a few guests for a few weeks then.
Some guests just need a sympathetic pat. On the head. With a hammer.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Marks wrote:99% of my guests are from northern Europe so until border restrictions are relaxed and foreign tourists return I am not seeing any advantage. There are plenty of Spanish tourists who I could rent to but they all seem to want to stay in August so I suspect I will have a few guests for a few weeks then.
I would suggest you try the Spanish market. Part of the problem with the spread of the virus was that many Madrileños fled to all of the coasts to get away from, what was at the time, only a city wide lock down.


The publication of this news is very confusing, maybe incomplete, at this stage. For example it is stated that hotels (not vacation lets) can open in May, with certain limitations. However, there will be no mobility between provinces. Maybe it is to help the business traveller? Who knows?
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Even TUI has got all wrong.
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/ne ... 89716.html
No good guessing about what the future holds.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft aglee.
Sunbeam
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Post by Sunbeam »

I agree with CB's optimism - self-catering holiday lets will have an edge over hotels.

Hotels and other tourist accommodation can open if phase 1 is achieved and I can't see why this would not include self-catering accommodation.

It is only province-wide but there will be some ex-pat residents and spaniards within our provinces who have experienced lockdown in cities/apartments may be keen for a break in a house with private garden and pool. And families will be allowed to visit other family as long as it's in the same province.

I guess we will need to be vigillant about checking ID for province of residence for logging details into the guardia civil guest register.

what i'm keen to find out is what special measures we need to put in place – are there minimum gaps between bookings or certain hygiene standards that we need to prove we are providing? Can't find any info so grateful if someone has some.

Bravo CB for your positiveness.
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joddle
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Post by joddle »

I cannot see things getting much "better" or more "normal" for some time yet. However my rental agency seems to want the same money for a service they simply cannot provide - i.e. queries or bookings as there is at the moment a ban on travel across borders and even provinces - and we simply don't know how or when these will all be lifted.

Most of our bookings come from Northern Europe and since the outbreak I have not had a single query whereas in previous years I would be booked up solid by now.

Having said that I have great sympathy for those people who booked but still don't know if they will be able to come or not - (or even if we will be able to accommodate them)! many of which are repeat bookings. So far none have wanted to cancel but I think this is just a matter of time and of course we would be returning all deposits for those who find they cannot make their intended trips. Offering alternative dates at this stage seem premature as we simply don't know if we will be able to honour those either!
I don't profess to own anything here apart from my own opinion.
costa-brava
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Post by costa-brava »

Thanks Sunbeam.
Sunbeam wrote, "
It is only province-wide but there will be some ex-pat residents and Spaniards within our provinces who have experienced lockdown in cities".
There will, almost certainly be people who want to get away even if it's in their own province. Here on the Costa Brava there are lots of people who come from the city of Girona (35 klm) to enjoy the coast.
The market used to be for renting the whole summer (June to September or longer). That takes everything clear of the weekly Holiday let that involves, cleaners, preparation, deposits, tourist tax, guest registers etc. It's just one simple 3 or 4 month contract and perhaps most importantly allows you to claim the overheads for the full period of the let.
The sites to advertise used to be habitaclia.com fotocasa.com idealista.com and you can usually advertise free. In the market you're aiming at somebody should be able to speak English.
Contract templates are easy to get online.
There shouldn't really be any need for an agency except for the first clean. You should be able to get it arranged direct with the guests from the UK.
There's nothing to lose and several thousand euros to gain.
Here's one near Malaga for example: https://www.fotocasa.es/es/alquiler-vac ... iodicity=3
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