Hello everybody! I'm new to the business and I'm also new to this forum.
This forum is very helpful thus far and most of my queries (which keep on coming) have been answered.
I've recently built villas in the greek mainland and so far business is doing well, but I've only worked with greek clients.
What I want to do is expand to the european market. I'm translating my site into english and I'll be advertising my property in various rental/holiday sites. My problem is about my location. My villas are at best an hour away from the nearest airport, and almost three hours away from athens international airport (most reliable for nonstop flights all year round, and ease of car rentals).
Will people want to book? Is there an owner who is inconveniently far away from an airport? Are bookings sparse? The surrounding area is beautiful (beaches + mountains) but it can't compare to the islands.
Airports not near - is this a problem?
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Hells Bells
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tree-peony
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Hello and welcome,
Your villa looks beautiful.
We are 50 minutes from Kerkyra airport on the North West of the island. Although not really far to drive it can be daunting for new visitors as there are some 'difficult' roads to travel. Despite this and the fact that we are the first purpose built villa in the area we have done very well with our bookings.
You could argue that Corfu is a ready made market...but this is not so on the North West, but we took the chance and it has paid off. I'm sure yours will too.
I know that there are a great number of people who prefer to visit the unusual and discover off-beat Greek destinations. These are the people who don't think twice about awkward flights or a few hours driving. These Greekophiles are the very ones to target in perhaps specialised Greek magazines/websites, they know what they are looking for and where to find it.
Some parts of mainland Greece are a walkers paradise, does this apply to your area? If so then there are specialised websites for that too.
It is important that you give details of the airports and also the airlines which serve them. If there is a connection between Athens airport and your local one which is served by Aegean Airlines then mention the cheap early booking fares...we all love a bargain!
I will look up some websites etc and send them to you.
Eileen.
Holiday Villa Rental in Arillas, Corfu,
Greece
Your villa looks beautiful.
We are 50 minutes from Kerkyra airport on the North West of the island. Although not really far to drive it can be daunting for new visitors as there are some 'difficult' roads to travel. Despite this and the fact that we are the first purpose built villa in the area we have done very well with our bookings.
You could argue that Corfu is a ready made market...but this is not so on the North West, but we took the chance and it has paid off. I'm sure yours will too.
I know that there are a great number of people who prefer to visit the unusual and discover off-beat Greek destinations. These are the people who don't think twice about awkward flights or a few hours driving. These Greekophiles are the very ones to target in perhaps specialised Greek magazines/websites, they know what they are looking for and where to find it.
Some parts of mainland Greece are a walkers paradise, does this apply to your area? If so then there are specialised websites for that too.
It is important that you give details of the airports and also the airlines which serve them. If there is a connection between Athens airport and your local one which is served by Aegean Airlines then mention the cheap early booking fares...we all love a bargain!
I will look up some websites etc and send them to you.
Eileen.
Holiday Villa Rental in Arillas, Corfu,
Greece
Looks beautiful! I'm sure you can find a market for it...might just take longer to find your niche than in a more well-known spot. We are in a simmliar boat...we are 90 minutes from Naples airport, 2 hours fromm Bari...and 3 1/2 hours from Rome - where I usually fly into direct and rent a car, etc. We certainly are not booking up like someone on the Amalfi coast may be 
but I think I will eventually find enough people who want to stay somewhere less touristed....and my prices can't be found on the coast either 
so I would think that helps. (I just started advertising though in May - so I'm probably not the best person to be answering!)
but I think I will eventually find enough people who want to stay somewhere less touristed....and my prices can't be found on the coast either so I would think that helps. (I just started advertising though in May - so I'm probably not the best person to be answering!)
We're about 45 minutes from our nearest airport but this doesn't seem to put people off. In fact, the drive from the airport is often seen as the start of the holiday and a chance to eat and do some food shopping. It might be a problem if flights arrived late and guests had to drive to us in the dark.
Jim
Jim