How can you increase the number of bookings for your summer rentals?

In the northern hemisphere, the sun is shining, the weather is pleasant, and the holidays are near, and we all want to unwind. You’ll want travelers to choose your summer rental as a travel location if you’re a vacation rental manager or owner. There are some steps you can take now to start filling your reservation calendar and make the most of summer 2021.

The secret to getting the most summer reservations is to planning your summer rentals ahead of time:

HOW TO GET YOUR SUMMER RENTALS READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Create a coronavirus-free zone in your summer rental.

First and foremost, put your safety first. For many travelers, this is likely to be their first significant vacation since the pandemic began. Guests are still wary of safety and cleanliness, which is understandable. Make sure to emphasise all of the steps you’re taking to keep your guests safe from the coronavirus. Every minor detail is crucial. Travelers take this topic extremely seriously, so you don’t want to overlook any important details regarding the cleaning, social distance, or other factors that may influence your guests’ perception of your summer rental’s safety. If the garden is shared, for example, make these restrictions very explicit.

During the coronavirus, there was a lot to learn about how to improve your vacation rental business. Watch our free webinar to hear from industry professionals about the future of coronavirus trends in vacation rentals.

Prepare your listings and homes for the summer.

The listings are made up of many different elements. Updating these to include a summer focus can help travelers decide on a vacation. It is critical that you give your property a summer look.

• Adding outside furniture or grilling amenities, for example, can help you pitch your summer rental as an appealing summer retreat.
• It’s also time to put the summer linens and quilts on the beds.
• Another great approach to preparing for your summer rental is to get your garden ready for the warmer months.
• If your summer rental has a pool, now is the time to start cleaning and preparing it.
• Take care of the gutters and drains, as well as any other details that could cause issues throughout the summer.
• If your home has a chimney, it may be a good idea to clean it well and add some logs to it to make it appear nicer.

Remember to update your web listings to reflect any changes you make, including posting a written description that emphasizes summer activities.

Setting the correct cancellation procedures and fees is also crucial. Flexible cancellation policies, as you may know, have been shown to perform far better than stringent cancellation policies. A guide to vacation rental pricing in 2021 can be found here, along with all the necessary information. Setting several cancellation policies based on the level of flexibility that travelers want and tailoring the charges for each one is a solid choice. Finally, be mindful of your market’s booking demand and adjust your prices accordingly.

If demand for bookings is great, you may be able to employ peak rates that are comparable to those before the epidemic. However, if demand in your area remains low, you may need to be more conservative with price increases this year.

Reviewing your prices and cancellation procedures will almost certainly boost your OTA ranking.

Discounts for early birds

This tool is quite effective for attracting potential clients who are interested in booking your summer rental months in advance. It is advantageous since it allows you to begin filling out your calendars and confirm your appointments for the peak season. This year’s early bird price may appeal to the most hopeful travelers or those who live in places where they are confident of making it to their destination.

You can choose how long users will be able to take advantage of the discount. Depending on the platforms and the proportion of the discount, the time can vary. In most cases, these savings are only applied up to a month in advance. Another advantage of the early bird discount is that it allows you to impose a stricter cancellation policy in exchange for a lower fee.

Bookings made at the last minute

Given the limits imposed by the coronavirus, there is a good chance that many last-minute reservations will be made this summer. In the tourism business, constraints play an important role, and if it is possible to travel abroad in the summer, last-minute bookings may increase. As a result, if your calendar is vacant, you should aim to attract unplanned travellers.

An excellent way to achieve this is to remove the minimum or maximum length of stay to allow potential clients greater flexibility. In addition, in last-minute bookings, price is a critical factor. When the time comes, look at what your competitors are charging. The biggest motivators for a spontaneous tourist to make a decision are last-minute savings. When choosing a discount, be smart and compare it to the prices of your competitors. Keep in mind that discounts normally help you rank higher on the sales channels.

Upload photos that evoke summertime feelings.

A thousand words are painted by a single image. We want the user to feel as if he or she is in your summer rental when they see the listing in this example. You should publish the best photographs you can in order to achieve this. Other suggestions include:

• When the property is ready for the summer, take the photos.
• Before the shoot, I thoroughly cleaned the entire site.
• Colorful components, such as fruits or decorations, should be included.
• Pick a sunny day.
• Create a staging to make the places appear to be in use.
• You can add people to the photos to make them look more realistic.

We have a guide with more extensive advice on how to take good images for your holiday rental.

Keep an eye out for special summer events that may increase your bookings.

Normally, the summer season is when the majority of events take place, such as concerts, festivals, fairs, contests, and so on. However, 2020 and 2021 are a little different, as we all know why, and activities will be quite rare. Nonetheless, some of the events are corona-friendly and take place nonetheless. You can take advantage of the travelers who attend these events near your summer rental and host them in these situations.

You can state the distance from the event’s location or provide a friendly discount in your listings. You can also strive to establish loyalty with your guests so that if they come to the event every year, they will return to your summer rental. More advice on how to leverage major events to promote your vacation rentals may be found here.

Many different channels can be used to promote your summer rentals.

When you use a PMS, or property management system, you may market your properties in a variety of venues. This may boost the likelihood of your listings receiving reservations for the upcoming summer. In particular, if you select the channels that best suit your requirements.

We will assist you in selecting the appropriate rental channels for your properties when you register with Votiko. Aside from that, you won’t have to handle the many properties of each OTA because you’ll be able to control them all from a single platform. Messaging, synchronized calendars, listings, cancellation restrictions, and more features are available.