Lay My Hat

I considered posting this in this thread, but it seems slightly different.

Hubby and I went to Hawaii for a vacation a month ago, and we (of course) rented a self-catering condo. I used VRBO and inquired at a lot of places. I tried to get back to people to say we weren't booking with them, but only did so for the few that actually responded with more than a form letter.

Anyway, I just got this e-mail:

A rental owner wrote:Welcome back from Kauai!

We hope you had a great Kauai vacation, but vacations are always too short so we hope you are thinking about a returning to Kauai. While you were planning to visit Kauai this year you inquired about one of our Poipu homes, but for one reason or another you chose different lodging. Next vacation, we would like the opportunity to accommodate you in one of our Poipu homes.

It isn’t too early to start planning for your next Poipu vacation! Our houses are already about half reserved for the next twelve months because about 70% of our reservations come from families who plan their vacations at least six months in advance. But 70% of our inquiries come from families planning vacations less than six months away, so the early 30% of families get the best choices for lodging. We hope to include you in the group that really has their choice of houses.

When you and your family begin planning your next visit to Kauai, please visit our website. We have availability in our first house located near Poipu Beach Park and we also own two houses located near the Beach House Restaurant and Baby Beach.

Mahalo and Aloha,
(name withheld)

Have any of you ever considered sending an e-mail like this? I thought it was an interesting idea.

That's a different take on a follow-up I usually send to guests that have enquired but not booked with us Brooke. I normally send a 'gentle' reminder that they enquired about staying with us, but didn't and was there anything else we could perhaps tempt them with for the following season. We always mention too that we tend to get very early enquiries for the peak weeks and that perhaps it's not too early to be thinking of their next holiday here in France. We always apologise for the 'reminder' though, and wish them a very happy holiday wherever they choose to go.

The response so far in the past two and a half seasons has been good. If 50 e-mails like this attracts one booking then it's well worth the effort in my book!

It always surprises me that people return back to the same location every year for their holidays, which is why I would never send out an e:mail such as that. It's a little impersonal too, no?

Stu wrote: I normally send a 'gentle' reminder that they enquired about staying with us, but didn't and was there anything else we could perhaps tempt them with for the following season.

When do you send the reminder?
I was considering something like this, giving the address of my new website, but not sure if I should do it now in the hope of drumming up winter business or wait til winter to attract summer visitors.

I usually send the reminder a few months after they enquired about vacancies. Sometimes it's just the jolt they need to start thinking of their next years holiday.

I can fully understand why people return year after year to the same place and I'm grateful for it. Already we're building up a client base of returnees. It's great not to have the pressure of seeking out customers when you already have them 'on tap' as it were? I was perfectly happy to revisit a place in Cornwall that became almost like a second home to us. My kids grew up with the owner's kids and we still exchange cards at Christmas etc.

Overboard wrote:It always surprises me that people return back to the same location every year for their holidays

I always used to think that people who went to the same place every year for their holidays must be really boring and lacking in imagination, that is until I discovered the Ile de Re - and we are going back this August for our 8th consecutive year in the same holiday rental... It's great to go back - we know where everything is, which restaurants to go to, we don't have to bother sightseeing because we've seen them all, so we can just relax and get into holiday mode immediately....

(And this is even though we have our own perfectly lovely place in Normandy... )

Brooke - this question is currently flickering its flames on another thread or two now - what did you decide? I have a view but am still open to its being changed if enough people say it works for them!

We usually send a newsletter/Christmas greeting. We have many returners - as NC says they like to slip straight into relaxing without having to suss out the shops amenities region etc.

I'm glad this topic has been resurrected as I did think about it at the time, but rejected the idea because:

- I assumed that guests searched many properties and settled on one they liked.
- I assumed that ours was rejected because it did not fit one of their criteria (price, location, amenities, accomodation etc.), so why should they book this year/next year ?

Thinking again, and assuming (yes, another rash assumption), that they want to return to the same location:
- Maybe their accomodation this year wasn't up to scratch.
- Maybe last year they needed 10 bedrooms, but next year they only need 4 (or some similar change of circumstances)
- Maybe we have changed something (added a pool, heated the pool, added another property etc etc)

So, IF we're going to do some pro-active marketing then I would suggest that its done in a very personalized way, and that you have kept detailed info about their last enquiry, so that you can send a new email:
- Immediately on their return. You know the dates they were planning, and my experience with repeats is that they book within a few weeks of their return.
- You personalize it and identify specific differences or changes from last time that they enquired.

Its all a bit more work, but I imagine that it just may work.

In fact..... when I have time, I may even try it myself

Yes, agree Richard - it has to be personalised to be appreciated - if it's going to be, that is. And the reasons you've given for doing it are very valid. And, paramount, the timing is all-important, as you've pointed out.

I agree that both of those points can be a good thing but we have not so far found them to be necessary.
We have adopted a lower key approach, just putting everybody who enquires into an email group. They get more or less the same newsletter by email as the past guests (but not the Christmas card - too expensive). The newsletter contains news of improvements to the house and the area, so is a subtle reminder to book next year because is it so much better.
A reason not mentioned for people not booking this year is when we are full, so there is every reason for them to try to book again next year - many just go off to another area. And certainly the group sizes and dates often change, even for returning guests from year to year.