I had an email today about the new French version of holiday-rentals, inviting me to translate my English-language ad in return for free advertising for the duration of the 'launch' (lancement) of the site. On the site itself it says they don't know how long it will be free to advertise, it depends on how long it takes for the site to establish itself in the market. Here is the link:
http://www.holiday-rentals.com/index.cf ... ch_fr#cost
So the strategy seems to be - get as many h-r advertisers onto the French one as possible, and hope they get some enquiries.
I wonder - will the French pay as much as English-speaking holiday-makers? Presumably people would use the same rates in both languages. So will holiday-rentals (French) be in danger of pricing itself out of the market?
Holiday-rentals.com's new French site
Holiday-rentals.com's new French site
Paolo
Lay My Hat
Lay My Hat
"I wonder - will the French pay as much as English-speaking holiday-makers? Presumably people would use the same rates in both languages. "
I can't see how one could possibly advertise different rates and no, the French don't pay as much - for the very good reason that they don't have the same expectations. It is a completely different market.
For the down market property, this new site could be a good thing - but beware cultural differences. The only people who complained about the cicadas singing in our garden in summer were French, and guess which nationality complained about the French air force flying overhead for Bastille Day celebrations? This is not to say that the complaints weren't reasonable, although I have never worked out how to stop the cicadas or, even less, the French air force........
Has anybody else had much experience of the French holiday maker?
As a general rule, the French like to stay with family or friends on holiday within France, & don't accept paying top prices for top quality accommodation. Their own holiday homes are furnished and equipped with discarded furniture, linen, kitchen china etc from their primary residence - much like holiday homes all over the world which aren't rented out to people travelling from far away looking for home comforts.
If the French want to holiday in luxury in the sun they go abroad!
I can't see how one could possibly advertise different rates and no, the French don't pay as much - for the very good reason that they don't have the same expectations. It is a completely different market.
For the down market property, this new site could be a good thing - but beware cultural differences. The only people who complained about the cicadas singing in our garden in summer were French, and guess which nationality complained about the French air force flying overhead for Bastille Day celebrations? This is not to say that the complaints weren't reasonable, although I have never worked out how to stop the cicadas or, even less, the French air force........
Has anybody else had much experience of the French holiday maker?
As a general rule, the French like to stay with family or friends on holiday within France, & don't accept paying top prices for top quality accommodation. Their own holiday homes are furnished and equipped with discarded furniture, linen, kitchen china etc from their primary residence - much like holiday homes all over the world which aren't rented out to people travelling from far away looking for home comforts.
If the French want to holiday in luxury in the sun they go abroad!
Best,
Alexia.
Alexia.
Alexia is right, the French won't pay as much as the English, but I don't have a problem with this, I get the British who book for June to September, then a lot of my other bookings for the rest of the year come from the French market. So if you have the same pricing structure, you can still attract both markets, without losing income! The British/Americans also book well in advance, so most of the peak season accomodation is already booked by the time the French think about their summer holidays. Many French workers have a lot of leisure time due to the 35 hour week, where I teach, they average 42 - 47 days holiday per year, and they don't have to pay ferry crossings, so there is quite a large potential holiday market. They also have different bank holidays to us, many of which next year fall in a Monday and they often book for long weekends. If you don't mind letting for this time it can bring in additional out of season lets.
Finally, as has been said before on the Forum, the French tend to treat the accomodation with far more respect than your average British holidaymaker and the accomodation is always left spotless, so there is very little cleaning to do. They are also quite happy to bring their own bed linen, or hire it (I don't include bed linen unless the stay is over 4 nights) which saves a lot of work.
Finally, as has been said before on the Forum, the French tend to treat the accomodation with far more respect than your average British holidaymaker and the accomodation is always left spotless, so there is very little cleaning to do. They are also quite happy to bring their own bed linen, or hire it (I don't include bed linen unless the stay is over 4 nights) which saves a lot of work.
Susan,
You are quite right. Most of our renters this year have been french - about 70%. They are also leaving the place generally spotless as they understand the true meaning of final clean, probably due to the expectations of previous rentals. We find that overseas guests while also very good only really get the place to 'broom clean' but we still have a number of hours to get to our required 'spotless' clean.
Also I think most of our guests this year are French because we listed so late in April. I am not sure if its the case that they wont pay as much, more like by the time they are looking most nice places are already booked by overseas players. Also remember to attract the French you need different websites than H-R, Vrbo et al. Abritel are the largest French Language listing site after The French Gites association (which requires exclusivity) and works wonders in targeting this market.
What this year has given us confidence to do is hold tight on pricing until almost May before considering any reductions for the next high session as there are plenty of French and to some extent english still looking during this period.
You are quite right. Most of our renters this year have been french - about 70%. They are also leaving the place generally spotless as they understand the true meaning of final clean, probably due to the expectations of previous rentals. We find that overseas guests while also very good only really get the place to 'broom clean' but we still have a number of hours to get to our required 'spotless' clean.
Also I think most of our guests this year are French because we listed so late in April. I am not sure if its the case that they wont pay as much, more like by the time they are looking most nice places are already booked by overseas players. Also remember to attract the French you need different websites than H-R, Vrbo et al. Abritel are the largest French Language listing site after The French Gites association (which requires exclusivity) and works wonders in targeting this market.
What this year has given us confidence to do is hold tight on pricing until almost May before considering any reductions for the next high session as there are plenty of French and to some extent english still looking during this period.
I totally agree Paolo, so sites like Abritel.fr,
pour-les-vancesacances.fr, guidevacances.fr
will do better as they come up with good ratings on google.fr. and the French trust them.
I get WAY more visits to my website from the French sites I advertise on, but fewer bookings (too expensive in Peak season I think!). Still, they are relatively cheap to advertise on, some 'restrict' advertising in certain areas of France as they don't want too many gites advertised because it will have a negative effect on the existing advertisers in the area. I think FC used to do this, but not now. Also if you pay a small supplement (not a lot) on one advertising site you are guaranteed to get at the top of the first page when a search is done on your dept.
pour-les-vancesacances.fr, guidevacances.fr
will do better as they come up with good ratings on google.fr. and the French trust them.
I get WAY more visits to my website from the French sites I advertise on, but fewer bookings (too expensive in Peak season I think!). Still, they are relatively cheap to advertise on, some 'restrict' advertising in certain areas of France as they don't want too many gites advertised because it will have a negative effect on the existing advertisers in the area. I think FC used to do this, but not now. Also if you pay a small supplement (not a lot) on one advertising site you are guaranteed to get at the top of the first page when a search is done on your dept.