What would you consider "a good year" ?

Up, down, could be better? How to get more bookings is our number one obsession. Talk shop here.
User avatar
John Borg
Posts: 183
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Malta
Contact:

What would you consider "a good year" ?

Post by John Borg »

I know that this may be an open ended question, with many answers, but not so much as overall profit and feasability etc, what would be considered a good occupancy rate for a whole year? I am asking this because I am new to this business and I would like to get a general idea, that's all.
I have asked "for the year" due to the fact that for me, my property's high season is May-October, wheras for someone with a property in the Alps, high season would be December-April etc. On a personal basis, till now, I will have had 31 weeks out of a possible 52 weeks of occupancy, which works out to about 60% for my first full year, with no previous contacts etc.
I know that benchmarks may vary from country to country, with factors such as competition making a huge difference, but it would be good to hear different views.
Malta – always in the sunshine!
PeeJay
Posts: 93
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:43 pm
Location: Los Cristianos, Tenerife

Post by PeeJay »

Hi John

We are approaching the end of our first year here. It is a full 12 month season on the Canaries and we anticipated that a 50% or 26 weeks would be a very good start not having any *repeat bookings* or referals available.

To date (10 months on) we have achieved 32 weeks out of the 44 weeks available. Which I think is a reasonable effort and return from the original 2 website ads.

For the coming year we have 14 weeks already booked and we have established a referal system with 3 other owners on the complex whereby if we have an inquiry for dates that are already booked we refer it on to the others and visa versa.

So far not had a repeat booking despite many compliments from guests on the quality of the apartment and the facilities in the area.

Have produced a small brochure handout and intend a mail shot just after Xmas to all previous guests in the hope of reminding them of the good time they had!!! Hopefully this will provide some returns.

Pete
User avatar
paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
Contact:

Post by paolo »

I would say those results constitute a more than reasonable year - excellent is more like it. If you are only using two ads to do it, it shows how good listing sites are, despite the great number of them. And what a great return on investment too!

The question of a good occupancy rate depends on your type of property. If I had a 5-bed villa with pool somewhere near the Med, I would be very happy with 5 months booked.

On the other hand, if I had 5 months booked in my own little village houses, I would be deeply depressed. They are aimed at couples, and are priced to be attractive year-round. I don't make much in the winter months, but I would rather make something than nothing. So I aim for 52 weeks. Anything less and I want to know how to improve - either with better marketing or lower prices.
Paolo
Lay My Hat
User avatar
Sue Dyer
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Belford, Northumberland

Post by Sue Dyer »

31 weeks which isn't bad for chilly Northumberland!!! We even have someone in for a full week this week - hardy souls!!
I've gave up on full weeks for Christmas/New Year and took a 5 night then 4 night break which I'm happy with.

I'm sure your repeat bookings will happen. We had quite a few and even better, referals to their friends and families... Hope 2005 is as good for us :) This is our second full season...
User avatar
John Borg
Posts: 183
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Malta
Contact:

Post by John Borg »

Thanks, your feedback is reassuring! As for Paolo's benchmark standard of 100%, much as I would like to aim so high, I never set myself targets which are impossible to attain.
My target for 2005 is 40 weeks, around 77% which in my opinion is a realistic goal. I have 14 weeks booked already so that's a head start from last year.
Malta – always in the sunshine!
User avatar
tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

Well, here in Normandy...we were told by to only rely on 12 weeks per year then anything on top of that is a bonus!

Up to this autumn (when we have had nothing, booking came to a complete stop) we were on about 22 - 26 weeks which is considered excellent around here - I have heard of folk not even filling for peak season with the influx of all the 'gites' now available.

You all are making me very envious....but a new marketing strategy is soon taking place - we're down sizing to one house with the view to match our neighboours on Utah Beach - 50 weeks per year.

It's all a big learning curve!
Christine Kenyon
Posts: 623
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Glenridding, Ullswater Valley, Lake District, UK
Contact:

Post by Christine Kenyon »

Good question, John. It'll be interesting to see the replies. I don't have our exact booking figures to hand, but from memory it is as follows:

Stybarrow Cottage, Glenridding
Our 4th year of letting this cottage (which we used to live in). We pay for advertising on one listings site (cottageguide.co.uk - about £75 per year) and have listings on a few free sites (well, one costs £10 per year) and have links to other sites in the area. We also have a brochure on display in our shop in the Lake District which is about one mile from the cottage.
2004 has been our best year yet - full since February, with our first vacant week this week. We close for approximately two weeks in January for our own holidays and to have maintenance work done, so we expect to be achieve about 40 full weeks (or equivalent of full weeks, ie, 2 x short breaks = one week) out of possible 50.
For 2005 we already have about 12 weeks booked and a number of weekend stays in January and February. Last year at this time we had about 3 weeks booked for the following year, but then got a good stream of bookings in January. I would guess that about 30 - 40% of our bookings are repeat bookings or recommendations - so you've got that to look forward to!

Troutbeck Cottage, near Windermere
We've just completed our first year of letting Troutbeck Cottage. It's aimed at a different market - couples and small families rather than enthusiastic walkers - but it's had a superb first year with about 10 months of bookings. But if you had asked us at the beginning of September, the winter months weren't looking good. For example, the couple who have arrived today only booked 10 days ago!
We've advertised on two listings sites at £75 each and on various free listings sites. We've also got a link between our two cottage websites and a brochure in our shop (see above - we're about 10 miles from the cottage). We've also benefitted from folk who have stayed at Stybarrow Cottage before and have now tried Troutbeck Cottage (and interestingly vice versa!). In January 2004 we sent a "pretty" card of the Lake District to a number of people who had stayed at Stybarrow Cottage - to remind them about their stay and tell them about Troutbeck Cottage. It worked - a number booked for one or both cottages.
Bookings for 2005 are about 4 - 5 weeks.

The only other I would add is that approximately 90% of our bookings are from the UK. We have very few from overseas - two from the States and one from the Netherlands this year.

I don't think we'll be able to maintain this level of bookings for ever, particularly as there are now a number of new holiday cottages in the local area. We're focussing on getting repeat bookings.

Hope this helps ... and that the sun is still shining in Malta. We've just had our first snow of the winter, but typically it disappeared in a few days!

Cheers

Christine
keithfenton
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:07 pm
Location: property South west Corner of the dordogne St Meard de Gurcon. Me East Yorkshire
Contact:

What is a good year

Post by keithfenton »

It is impossible to compare very different properties in very different parts of the world
so readers may like to compare similar properties to their own to see if they 'could do better'
I am in Rural France with an expensive property £1800 per week peak
and have let 16 weeks in 2004
and 9 so far for 2005
I have never had an enquiry for outside of May to September
and would consider 20 weeks very good
This is an excellent question and please lets have some more answers
helene
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:47 pm
Location: Bretagne, France
Contact:

Post by helene »

We are in rural Brittany (2x 2 bed gites) with a shared heated outdoor pool. For the past 2 seasons we have had about 15 weeks per cottage (30 weeks in all) with a lot of repeat bookings (25%) and given our location are quite pleased with the result. I suppose we are probably in a similar market to Tansy and we also have heard of properties unable to get full months for August. However we would like more and so have targeted websites more this year - so far it is looking promising.
Helene :D
User avatar
Sue Dyer
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 2:26 pm
Location: Belford, Northumberland

Post by Sue Dyer »

I guess also to be taken into consideration is what you expect from your rental return. i.e How much do you expect it to make profit.

Ours was bought as somewhere to put the money we used to pay out in mortgage for our main house. and primarily for to use ourselves at weekends/holidays. Our final aim was in the dire money markets after 9/11 to put money into property for our pensions. It was an afterthought to rent out and a move we were very wary of initially, but one which has been very successful for what we require.

However, the rentals just more than cover the mortgage for the year and some of the outgoings so we're happy with that. We're catching up on the initial outlay of furniture etc and we'd have council tax, some utility bills to pay anyway.

As I said we had over 30 weeks last year, I've taken it off rental for a little while so we can use it and have a rest from changeovers. I guess if I had to actually earn an income from the cottage I would try harder!!
DivineMrsM
Posts: 155
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:16 pm
Location: The Dordogne and London

Post by DivineMrsM »

As some of you know, we have a large single property with pool that sleeps 14+. We have set rates for school holiday periods with a maximum of £2310 for the summer weeks. Outside of that time, we are flexible for start days and charge a per person rate of £150 per person (minimum of £500pw).

2003 was our first year which gave us 5 weeks starting from when we opened in mid July. 2004 gave us 6 weeks, but for 2005 we have already let 11 weeks which includes the whole of the school summer holidays.

We're pretty happy with that for this year and hope that it might continue next year too, although it would be good to let a few more low season weeks. However, we're about to install central heating and also heat the pool - both of which we hope might extend the season a little.
Lynne
for Metropolitan Retreat in London https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/6712284
and
Le Cheval Blanc in France https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/6714302
Lorna
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Greece

Post by Lorna »

Hi folks,

We also have a large property, and most bookings are from extended families with children. We have loads of demand for July and August, but not much the rest of the time. We have been renting now for quite a few years. Some years ago, an author stayed for a long period in Autumn. He got on so well with his book, he is planning to come back this year. Unfortunately, winter guests are few. We were really sad last year that no-one stayed in September. The weather was absolutely perfect, and our new garden was just beginning to bloom....
I would like to know if there is a trick to getting guests in May/September/October - we do offer to rent part of the villa in low season - a couple can stay for as little as £48 per night.
Does it sound like a good deal to you?

Lorna
I would like a holiday myself some day....
Christine Kenyon
Posts: 623
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 10:58 am
Location: Glenridding, Ullswater Valley, Lake District, UK
Contact:

Post by Christine Kenyon »

I suspect the definition of a "good year" depends on two main factors: size of cottage and location.

We have two cottages in the Lake District - one sleeps 4 and the other sleeps 6. We would expect the equivalent of 40 weeks bookings in each cottage. The Lake District maybe isn't one of the sunniest spots in the world, but it does now have a tradition of just about year-round tourism. April to October we insist on minimum of a week's stay; November to March we are much flexible and plan to have most weekends booked, but can end up with all sorts of combinations. It means more work as the cleaning, etc is more frequent (with two cottages we can do up to 5 cleans a week) but it brings folk in - and they are often repeat visitors.

Afraid I don't know the answer for a house in Greece, Lorna, as you probably don't have the same opportunity for short breaks if your visitors are flying. We offer a 3 night stay for £120 for the smaller cottage and £130 for the larger cottage - which if it's shared between 4 or 6 people (or even 2) makes it quite cheap. It can work out cheaper than a dorm in the local youth hostel!

Is there a niche market for Greece in the cooler months for couples who want a walking/sailing/sports holiday? Or can you target Greeks for short breaks?

Hope you come up with the answer. Good luck!

Cheers

Christine
www.troutbeckcottage.co.uk
www.stybarrowcottage.co.uk
User avatar
paolo
Posts: 3885
Joined: Thu Jun 17, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: Provence, France
Contact:

Post by paolo »

Hi Lorna,

To target renters for a season I want to fill, I would include a page on my website dedicated to selling the benefits of that season.

On my site I have a page called 'What's it like in winter?'. This is mainly beautiful photos taken in January of the local area, with a little text about each one explaining what you are looking at.

Not everyone would think about coming to Provence in December or January, but I show how wonderful the weather can be, and how tourist-free the place is, and that may plant the idea in people's minds. I also say that the crowds may not be there, but the restaurants are still there, and the Roman ruins, mountain, walks, etc. All the things that are not dependent on summer weather for enjoyment.

I reinforce that with a Google pay-per-click campaign starting at the end of summer, with an ad headlined something like 'Winter in Provence'.

In your case you could do the same sort of thing for May and September, even April and October. Good photos are the most important thing. If you can show fantastically sunny weather, with empty beaches or other attractions, that will provide a powerful incentive to visit at those times.

Another benefit you could mention - guests can pay for only part of the villa, but enjoy the whole of the garden in full bloom in September. I hope you took some pictures!
Paolo
Lay My Hat
User avatar
tansy
Posts: 2059
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:29 am
Location: La Manche, Normandy, France

Post by tansy »

Lorna...I remember being in Corfu on holiday on my own (I think it was 1986/87) in a beautiful Taverna with fabulous views over the cove, fishing boats the lot...I'd escaped to read and chill on my own for 10 days - after 4 days the peace was shattered the 18-30 club arrived! I'll never forget the sight of our British lads in their union jack shorts all lying in a row on the beach with blow up willies!!

The owner of the Taverna came to me nearly in tears - I;ll never forget what he said - come back in September and October because the sea is warmer and the tourists have gone....so Lorna now I've heard about you...I will take up his advice soon!

Our bookings have suddenly gone through the roof...we were stagnant but all of a sudden it has gone crazy - I've taken something like 19 bookings in the last 3 weeks...keep it coming!

Does anyone else think it could be the tsunami...more folk thinking Europe as a destination?
Post Reply