That sinking feeling... I'm not getting bookings!

[Alan Knighting]

I have given up with this line of advertising - I used to do this, including dotting posters and cards at various strategic places around our home town, which is twinned with the town where our house is located, and have NEVER had a any interest generated. I have come to the conclusion that the only worthwhile advertising is through the paid listing sites.

Some owners sprinkle my local tourist office, shops, restaurants and bars with flyers and cards. I've never seen the slightest point in doing so. It might work for B&B which is a very transient business but I don’t believe anyone arrives in Monflanquin and then asks themselves “can we now find a self catering cottage for the next week?� I think visitors do a little more forward planning than that, thus the value of Listing Sites and personal Web Sites.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

Might be useful if you found yourself in a 'coal-hole' and wanted to move on I supose, but serves very little purpose otherwise. LOts around our village last winter, but could be good if you wanted a season let I suppose, and for workers/house hunters turning up 'on spec' , but only if you have the right sort of accommodation

[Alan Knighting]

Helen,

For some tiny details of the holiday market I suppose there might be some point in using flyers and cards. They might even be a good way of selling next year’s visit.

Longer lets are in an entirely different marketplace where things like flyers, cards and “word of mouth� come into their own.

Alan

[Normandy Cow]

Some owners sprinkle my local tourist office, shops, restaurants and bars with flyers and cards. I've never seen the slightest point in doing so.

Just to clarify...

I too don't see the point in advertising in the local town. But the town I was referring to in my previous posting was my local town in the UK. My property is on the outskirts of its twin town in France, so I thought that I would target local people (in the UK) who might be interested in visiting their twin in France. Everyone in Heathfield has heard of Forges-les-Eaux (the drive past the "twinned with" road sign every time they come and go, so my line of advertising was along the lines of "Cosy logfire weekends in Forges-les-Eaux" and "Springtime in Forges-les-Eaux", etc. I put posters up in shop windows, at the rugby, tennis and local health clubs, and left cards at the local farm shops etc.

After two years, not a single response....

So I don't bother any more. Too much effort for no return.

[la vache!]

Well.... I don't agree, I think it is worth advertising in the local town if you are not already booked to attract potential French guests, who are notorious for leaving everything until the last minute. They don't have ferries and planes to book, so they don't have to be as organised as UK guests.
I have the same discussion with the lady at the local office de tourisme every year when I go to collect the new brochures in April - she always asks me for a card for my gites and I say there is no point they are fully booked through to end Sept and she is always shocked - all the other gite owners (most who attract the French market) get bookings through people visiting the local town.
So Moondog, it may be worth contacting the local tourism office, but you may need to lower your prices a little to attract the French market - a French version of your website would also help, but if you get on Abritel or Homelidays they will translate all the essential info. Did you check out the bookings of your competition on the Abritel link I gave you?
AND GET THE PHOTO OF THE SEA ON YOUR WEBSITE ASAP.

[Alan Knighting]

Helen,

I feel the same way as you do about advertising “at source�.

When Joan and I first came over to France we were the “clever clogs� who imagined we would be inundated with paying visitors because we were both quite well known in our part of the UK. We were wrong. With one or two notable exceptions all we got was an unending flow of enquiries from free-loaders.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

We have quite a few frinds and colleagues that ski too.

[Alan Knighting]

Well.... I don't agree.

That's OK. Just because I don't get last second bookings from people who arrive and look at flyers left at the local office de tourisme doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

If in April I was already booked through to end of September there wouldn’t be much point in leaving flyers at the local office de tourisme or anywhere else, would there?

Alan

[Moon Dog]

Aha! I see the light! Thank you brothers and sisters!

I shall be sending a letter to the good people at the tourist office 100 metres from our front door with a bunch of leaflets in comically bad French. Nice idea. Thank you.

And yes, Noble Vache, I will also dig out a picture of my portly self lying on the beach with the beautiful people of Colioure. that home page needs to become a more focused pitch, doesn't it?

I've taken out a small ad in the French News to target house hunters etc for longer lets of season and hope to do the same with other local rags.

Great debate here, it's good to hear how your wider strategies have worked out rather than purely the waxing and waning of various listing sites. Thanks again,

Luke.

[Marion]

Moondog,
I hope things pick up for you. our first year was very slow but things were much better in the second. The Pyrenees is a lovely place we had a two week holiday there a few years back.

I just had a quick look at your website and I found it hard to find out what exactly you were offering. May be you should have a headline on your homepage e.g. 'Comfortable 2 bed roomed house in perched village', (Not saying this is exactly what you should say of course), but if I am searching for something i need to see what is offered in the least number of words, then, if I am interested, I would read the paragraphs. Also a list of facilities would also help - you can probably guess, I like lists

Good luck, don't give up quite just yet.
Marion

[Normandy Cow]

I kind of agree with Marion, if I was looking for accommodation, I probably wouldn't bother to read through your blurb - there is too much of it and it is not easy to pick up the relevant bits.

Also, and I could be wrong here so forgive me if I am, but when I think of "La Vie Tranquile", I imagine a rural house with a big garden in the middle of nowhere, not a house slap bang in the middle of a village with no garden. Sorry. But that's my viewpoint.

Finally, I would definitely suggest that you lose the 2nd picture on your "The Village" page. Is that the only view of the village you can find? It's not particularly picturesque or inviting - if you can't find something better, then I think you would be better with no picture at all.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I'm sure you would prefer honest opinions....

[Partridge]

I'm afraid I have to agree with NC, I really wouldn't go further than the first page.

That first page has to be different from the blurb, it needs to be to the point, with a lovely pic or 2 to entice me further and it simply doesn't. Please look at your pics closely, there is not one of (well, at a push, one) a blue sky, they all merge in with the white background, where's the warmth.

Holidaymakers want to be sold a dream

[mpprh]

Hi

just worth saying that there seem to be quite a few people searching for 6-12 month lets in Languedoc at the moment.

They are either househunters, house renovators or people with short term employment contracts.

Peter

[Moon Dog]

Well the number of pages views etc has been increasing nicely so i have to take on board your points on the impact of those pages...


It's now only seven days until baby is due... unlikely to rewrite it this year!