This article has been written to follow on from a preceding one on this subject, ‘Top Ten Tips to Secure Maximum Post-Lockdown Bookings This Summer, which addressed actions holiday cottage owners can take to stand the best possible opportunity to attract bookings during the Coronavirus lockdown.

It is hoped that all restrictions on freedom of travel in the UK will be lifted by the latter part of 2020, allowing people to once again enjoy a coast or country holiday in this beautiful country.

We are, however, unlikely to return to pre-pandemic habits and activities at the metaphorical flick of a switch. Understanding how people will behave – and what the ‘new normal’ will be, is of utmost importance to self-catering businesses. The new rules are probably still being written, but I have hazarded informed guesses at some of the likely scenarios that will unfold. Read on to see if you agree, and feel free to contribute your own thoughts or evidence.

Booking trends: The first steps in booking holidays are, after a short initial surge (see previous 10 Top Tips blog), likely to be tentative ones, booking locations not too far from home and, as far as the British are concerned, definitely in the UK. Triggers may be birthdays, family gatherings, reunions or weddings. These will not only suit the national mood but there will also be a backlog of delayed COVID-avoiding celebrations to be ew-scheduled. Large holiday cottage owners take note that it’s possible that people may be a little reluctant to return to the major hotspots, preferring the comfort of rural, isolated locations. So, update your website’s location and things to do’ pages accordingly to match this mood and inclination.

Post-pandemic reviews: These will be important, if not essential, to help you overcome natural levels of trepidation. People will want to be reassured that your property is a safe and welcoming haven. Don’t be afraid to invite people to send in a review. People happy to say good things about your cottage will be equally happy to be asked to do so. My Favourite Holiday Cottages encourages guests to submit testimonials describing their favourite things about it. These can be added directly to the site, sent to an owner, or drawn from comments in the” Visitors Book’. All testimonials are moderated and verified to comply with these criteria before publication.

Booking Terms and Conditions: Given the Covid-generated outrage over the varying refund policies in the self-catering industry, people will pay more attention to your cancellation terms and conditions. Do ensure that these are specific and unambiguous. It’ll be essential to distinguish cancellations arising from government decrees (not advice) from those where people felt disinclined to travel (including bad weather conditions).

Financial Reserves: Owners who emerged the least unscathed from the impact of COVID-19 had built a capital reserve that enabled them to operate without bookings for six months or more. If you haven’t already done so, that is something worth factoring into future budgets if you haven’t already done so because, at some future point, there will be a COVID-19 (sorry to depress you—but at least you will have time to better prepare to financially survive it).

 

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness (or possibly before it)

This is the big one.

COVID-19 has made us more aware than ever before of the importance of cleaning. When it comes to preparing your property for visitors, pristine cleanliness will be the order of the day. What may have been shrugged off in the past will no longer be acceptable. If you doubt the validity of this viewpoint, note that hotel chains such as The Hyatt and Hilton, as well as Airbnb, have already implemented new cleaning processes and protocols.

Hilton Hotel cleaners will now be equipped with an electrostatic sprayer containing hospital-grade disinfectants recommended by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to kill all known pathogens. They will also sanitise your room key. Don’t get left behind with this essential ‘New Norma’!’

Having a clean-looking and feeling holiday cottage will be essential – especially in the next 2-3 years. It will impact reviews and repeat bookings. This means considering things like:

1.     Including anti-bacterial or anti-viral hand soap in the welcome pack.

2. Ensure a suitable cleaning spray and a clean duster in the cupboard below the sink.

3.     New dishcloths and scourers.

4.     Polished brass work: shininess means cleanliness!

You must review your cleaning schedule and, if necessary, discuss this with your cleaners, sorry, you “Internal Hygiene Manag’r’.

Before they became the norm, there was a time a few years ago, when it was necessary to mention that TV sets were ‘flat screen’. Nowadays, everybody assumes they will be, and reference to a flatscreen TV is becoming a little dated! 

Now, it is the turn of cleanliness to be reassuringly bragged about. As long as you can back it up, it may be advisable to include a reference in your adverts and your website to the property’s cleanliness. This will be a necessary reassurance to guests that they are not at risk of infection when staying in your property.

Going the extra mile should earn you a positive mention in despatches. This will lead to more repeat bookings and be heavily influential when included in reviews. I appreciate that this means a little more work and diligence, but you and your cottage will earn a priceless reputation if it is done correctly. Don’t ignore the new hygiene standards if you are a proud and independent cottage owner. I suspect it won’t be long before holiday cottage agencies request written evidence that you comply with recognised cleaning standards delivered by accredited agencies before they put you on their books . They’ll use this to create the perception that an independently managed property is less hygienic than one booked through an agency with its strictly enforced and certified hygiene standards. Don’t let that happen!

To help make life a little easier for cottage owners, the following property hygiene blogs we plan to publish on this subject in May will be:

·      How to make your holiday cottage easier and a little bit quicker to clean without compromising on standards.

·      A cleaning task checklist to ensure your house is kept in pristine condition.

 

Got A Good Hygiene Idea?

What other suggestions do you have for cleaning and presenting a cottage? Share your advice with us. When accrediting you, we will include links to all properties advertised on this site when accrediting you. 

Click here to email your thoughts and suggestions to me.

 

Curious About How My Favourite Holiday Cottages Works?

We offer free expert advice and support to individual cottage owners and are also pretty good at advertising holiday cottages—currently, we have around 2,000 properties on the site. We don’t charge booking fees or commission rates to owners or guests—just a single annual payment backed up by outstanding customer service. 

Rates start at £125 (2024) for a single 12-month cottage advert, with generous discounts for multiple cottage listings or for including a link back to us on your own website.

Click here for further information on the benefits of advertising with us - and what makes us uniquely successful.

What will it look like for the holiday cottage business when cometh the dawn of a new everyday world?

In particular, what trends will occur as people start thinking about booking self-catering holidays again? What will they do? Where will they go?

My Favourite Holiday Cottages has put together a few thoughts on how the recovery might look and what holiday cottage owners can do to prepare for it.

This first article looks at some easy-to-do things you can do now to keep the bookings coming in during the current lockdown period (and beyond).

The second article will dwell more upon the ‘new normal’ – what potential bookers will prioritise once the pandemic ceases to be a fear factor.

 

Action This Day!

During World War II, Winston Churchill was in the habit of sending memos to his chief of staff entitled Action This Day! Given the present war footing on which we stand in our battle against Covid 19, It seems like an excellent place to start to minimise opportunities lost.

As in all trends, the first rule is that if you don’t spring into action until it’s clear that people are booking holidays again, you’ll miss out on bookings. By the time you’ve rebuilt your advertising, ramped up your social media and updated your website, your property won’t feature in the initial surge. Actions you take to promote your holiday property after the lockdown ends won’t deliver the same level of returns as those you put in place NOW. It would be best if you were ready.

Fresh or silk flowers can transform the arrival experience

In some ways, recovery has already begun.

• People are using their enforced leisure time to dream and plan their next holiday. We’ve noticed an increase in people creating a private shortlist of properties to enquire about. If you’re not advertising on sites that allow bookers to prepare a shortlist, then this is one opportunity going begging.

 

• People are booking for 2021 on the assumption that by the summer of next year, it will be safe to return to the coast and countryside.

 

Our Top Ten Tips For Successful Bookings

To ensure your cottage appeals to the early bird market, holiday property owners are advised to:

1.     Ensure their availability calendars are extended to at least December 2021.

2.     Display rental prices through to early January 2022.

3.     Add a short statement that your property is taking bookings for 2021 (or earlier if appropriate).

4.     Review all your adverts - including those you may have cancelled - and update them accordingly with similarly worded statements. Don’t forget to review and bring up to date any adverts that you are re-activating.

5.     If cash flow is crucial, consider offering an early bird discount for bookings made no less than twelve months before the date of arrival.

6.     Ensure you continue to maintain – if not expand – the ways you market your holiday property – from adverts to social media.

7.     Review your terms and conditions. Make them explicitly clear on the basis on which bookers will be entitled to a full or partial refund in the event of a force majeure, e.g., an official government lockdown ruling is in place during the dates booked; then, a full refund will be given. In 2020, many owners incurred losses from people cancelling bookings as far ahead as August and September.

It’s worth saying what refund entitlements there are if a guest cancels their booking, as opposed to the booking needing to be cancelled due to your property having to shut down to meet government requirements. Don’t forget to include any entitlements a guest may enjoy, such as the option to defer dates and the rule applied if their subsequent choice of date is for a different price band. Do they pay the balance – or will you refund the difference?

Make your terms fair – but transparent.

 

Click here to order your free copy.

8.     Do a Photoshoot. If it’s been a while since you last whipped around with the camera, or your photos feature leafless and wintery trees, then May is a glorious time to take advantage of the emptiness of your cottage and fill it with flowers for a photoshoot. If you’d like a copy of our document full of tips for preparing a property for a photo shoot, click here to email me, and I’ll send you a free copy.

9.     When it’s safe to do so, book a couple of nights in your holiday cottage and play at being critics. List all the things you love and the things that could be better – or need fixing. You’ll be surprised at what you find! Many of them will be subliminal – but you’ll find you get fewer little niggly complaints and an extra star in reviews.

10. Still got an unhygienic, tired, worn and much-thumbed House Directory? Throw it out! Replace it with an electronic version that you can email guests a week or so before they arrive. This way, they can spend a week planning their holiday and arrive knowing where essential appliances, switches and WiFi codes are BIG plus points - especially as it’s much less of a problem to update them. This final tip might not earn you a booking – although you might like to mention this on your website, it will go a long way to helping with repeat bookings, as your guests will love your care and attention well before they arrive.

 

Copper Kettle Cottage and Ladybird Barn in North Devon

“We took advantage of a gap in our normally busy calendar to enjoy a long weekend in our holiday cottage. We’ve always taken great pride in its appearance and have always enjoyed nothing but happy reviews. So we were surprised at finding little things we could easily do to improve the quality of our quests experience. These included sealing a draft in the family bathroom, purchasing a new knife sharpener and oiling a squeaky door. We have had more repeat bookings as a result!”

Amanda Budd, Ladybird Barn and Copper Kettle Cottage, Exmoor.

Click here to read our second article on the way people are behaving in the way they will choose and book holiday cottages in a new post-pandemic era. It will be what our politicians are already calling the ‘New Normal’.

If you would like to add suggestions as to ways holiday cottage owners could attract more bookings at this time, click here to email them to me. If they are appropriate, I’ll upload and credit them.

 

Curious About How My Favourite Holiday Cottages Works?

As well as giving out free expert advice and support to individual cottage owners, we are also pretty good at advertising holiday cottages - and currently have around 2,000 properties on the site. We don’t charge booking fees or commission rates to owners or guests - just a single annual payment backed up by outstanding customer service. 

Rates start at £125 (2023) for a single cottage advert for 12 months, with generous discounts for multiple cottage listings.

Click here to view further information on the benefits of advertising with us - and what makes us uniquely successful.

What's Lakeland life if, full of care,

We can no longer stand and stare.

No chance to stand beneath the boughs 

And stare as long as sheep or cows. 

No longer walk where lakes we skirt, 

Where squirrels hide their nuts in dirt. 

We cannot see, in broad daylight, 

Becks full of stars, like skies at night. 

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began. 

A poor life this if, while we isolate,

We can only stare and in hope, wait.

With thanks and apologies to William Henry Davies 1871-1940

 

Photo credit: Holiday Cottages Cumbria

Thanks to Holiday Cottages Cumbria for the photo of Coniston Water. 

For details of more  Lake District holiday cottages in which to stay (as well as stand and stare) - view our Lakes Cottages collection here.