Lay My Hat

1. Let's hope no one has a memory of the 2015 'summer'.

2. OD which is in 3rd place for bookings this year has bombed since the new site launched.

Yes, I have been thinking what this summer's weather will do to next year's bookings.

I'm not unduly worried. As my customer base is all UK guests anyway, they are used to the vagaries of the weather. I suspect Norfolk has had a drier summer than other areas of the country, which helps.

I'm a little worried. Only one person came straight out and said they'd had a rotten time, but I think she would have preferred to be in sunnier climes even if we'd had a good summer. Maybe Costa Del Sol, or somewhere, instead of a windy Scottish island...
But I'm sure there were others who just thought ..well , next year.. Turkey.
Part of the problem is the lack of indoor activities in Millport.

I think having a customer base of dog owners really helps. The reality is they will holiday in the UK regardless; they're very unlikely to simply choose abroad instead and put their dog in kennels. They might just have a short break instead of a week.

Yes, that's true, Nemo. I may big up my dog friendly status, by joining the Facebook page, perhaps. Do you advertise on any specialist dog friendly holiday sites? I'm forever getting emails from weacceptpets.com but it doesn't show up anywhere on a Google search for Dog Friendly holidaysin Scotland ,or similar searches...

My 2p worth on dog sites: we get a lot of visits to our website from
www.dogfriendlybritain.co.uk and www.dogpeople.co.uk.
Dog People have revamped their website since I last looked so it's time I did some work on my listing there.
I don't know how many visits convert as the "how did you find us?" check box on my booking form currently only has one option to cover all dog friendly resources; my Google Analytics obviously does show the detail and visitors from both sites almost invariably drill in to my website rather than bounce off at the landing page - ie they're already interested before they arrive, so more likely to convert.

The sites aren't expensive, they're no-frills, they are purely listings with links to your own website, not even a contact form of their own; they don't want to control how you run your business........ and they're good value for the hits they generate.

But, as ever, different sites work in different areas/markets; however dog friendly is still a niche and the sites are serving that niche and nothing else (this is a good thing.)

Before I take us too far off the original topic, weather affects us all but our markets are differently affected - so it becomes a matter of degree. Very few people are going to decide to come to the rural enchantment and grandeur of the quieter areas of Cumbria with the intention of spending a week sunbathing, I'd hazard a guess that even fewer are going to consider a Scottish island as the ideal venue for catching some rays - so they're not our market. Of course, when it's teeming with rain day after day (which I understand happens in other parts of the country ) guests aren't going to have the best of times anywhere, but to what extent will that put them off having the type of holiday they want next year?
Interesting times......

We just spent a very wet week in Devon, with a leaking car boot as well, so had to have some towels tumble dried every day to put back in the boot to soak up the enormous amount of rain. Turns out that statistically August is a wet month in Devon. Who knew? Not me that's for sure. Will it put me off going back? No. But I might go in June or September once I'm not tied to school holidays anymore.

As far as the dog friendly sites, I would simply do a search with your area or chosen key words, and see which sites come up for you. Then choose from that. I have never seen weacceptpets in a search although I too get their numerous emails.

Turns out that statistically August is a wet month in Devon.

And in Cumbria too Nemo!It didn't stop us being fully booked by the end of January and all our visitors have commented on the few dry days they have had!
I always say " bring wellies, woollies and waterproofs! " even in August!

ellerhow wrote:

Turns out that statistically August is a wet month in Devon.

And in Cumbria too Nemo!It didn't stop us being fully booked by the end of January and all our visitors have commented on the few dry days they have had!
I always say " bring wellies, woollies and waterproofs! " even in August!

See we went to the Lake District two years ago and got rained on. I vowed then to go south for my summer holidays and north at other times. I can't win either way. Should have booked Norfolk for myself - it's had a pretty good summer.

Several of our guests who want to bring a dog have mentioned the photo we have of our dog in the garden on our webpages. As they say a picture speaks a thousand words.