What is going on with the bookings??

[Cas & Irene]

I know this is not a new item but for us it is a new experience and we are getting very worried now.
Since December we have ads on Holiday Lettings (Spotlight +TA), Spain Holiday, AIRBNB, IHA, Sunny Rentals and about 10 free sites.

January and half February were ok for enquiries/bookings and many visits to our website (visible through Google Analytics).
Since the end of February and the whole month of March the visits to our website (through the booking sites), enquiries and bookings have completely collapsed.

Probably some would say “don’t worry, it will come”, but it looks like that someone has turned a button and we are not visible anymore on the booking sites???

We made a nice package for Easter, showed on the booking sites and our own site, lowered the price and send out a mailing with the comparison the cold and snow in the UK and the NL against the nice weather here (sun and 21 degrees!), we had no responds!

Next to that it’s our first rental year so we don’t have any reference.
We have send some “complain” emails to our most important bookings sites but they have no explanation, they come only back with “update your calendar, show your best pictures” etc. etc. We make nearly every week some changes on those sites to keep them up to date and gives us a higher ranking?

Does anyone have the same problems (Spain>Barcelona area) and have they or maybe others some good advice for us??
Thanks!!

[lorca]

Sorry to hear that Cas and Irene

As mentioned before, things have been very bad over the last year or so for many previously successful self-catering business in Spain. Some have sold up where possible and others are keeping going as best they can - looking for new ways of advertising and extending/improving their offer. The feeling of "someone having turned a button" is quite familiar.

Having said that, you have a very attractive and unusual property and you stand a good chance of doing well. So don´t loose heart - you may well get a good number of late bookings. Also, there are a number of websites which specialise in unusual properties. They tend to be selective about the properties they take on, and it could be well worth giving them a try. I can´t recall their names at the moment but will have a think - perhaps others here can help too.

[gunnyandbob]

Well, we were saying the same thing this evening, and adding up our bookings so far, but the main thing we noted is the lack of enquiries lately, like someone threw the switch off.And we have been renting for several years, so we appreciate there is a different pattern.The number of enquiries through Xmas into the new year has reduced for the last two years, we think we get them later in the year, together with more people asking for a discount. So they are later and more price conscious. Maybe Martin Lewis' advice is being listened to! Last year was good, perhaps our best.This year we upped the price a small amount only where its displayed in euros, and now most enquiries are from the uk. Last year the bookings were split 50/50 with the continent. We are on SH 7839, and not in your league!
Good luck,

Bob and Gunny.

[gunnyandbob]

And...I have been checking around on our ad sites and found there are some errors. One site did direct enquirers to the six rentals in our area when using the map to search, but said there were no rentals when searching with boxes/area names.
Another showed the correct thumbnail by one search and then the bathroom as the thumbnail by another method.

It just may be a combination of factors, some referred to in my previous reply, and the awful weather across the entire EU inc. the Uk. Some people will have lost holiday days when unable to get in to work, and people may well feel more inclined to enquire when the weather improves and they simply feel better.

Bob and Gunny.

[Mouse]

I have to agree that enquiries seem to have dropped off significantly. Not a peep for weeks...and whilst we don't have many weeks available we do have the July/Aug week so I would have expected more interest.
Perhaps it is the UK weather...Easter used to be a time when we'd get quite a few enquiries.

It's difficult to know what to suggest...but as Lorca has said, perhaps the more specialist sites would be worth a look?
Are there agents you could try? I know they charge but a good agent will have experience of the market and hopefully good sources for attracting bookings. Might get you over the hump?

Mouse
x

[Jacqueline]

Whew
What a relief i thought it was just us.
Easter break no enquiries !!
We are with the 3 top sites HA HL OD nothing yet and we only have 4 weeks booked for the summer.

[volcano]

Hi to all

Same situation here.
I'm with HR/Ha since 2002 - always very happy. Since Oct 2012 27 enquiries/3 bookings - one third of the years before. I'm very unhappy with HA, still on basic subscription. Since Nov 2012 also with HL - well, my fault. Did not know about the problems - stupid enquiries - not ONE booking!

I'm not using Booking Manager or Reservation Manager, nor do I accept oneline bookings/payments. NO THIRD PARTY IN MY BUSINESS!

The people ask for discount, they are looking for bargains. Well - there are. "All inclusiv" is ruining our business. Shops, restaurants - everywhere the same.

Best wishes to all of you! And HAPPY EASTER!

HA prop. 6979

[enid]

I wanted to find your property on Lanzarote volcano but even with the number it wasn't easy. Now I am a client and nt an owner I look at the holiday rental differently and Home Away is awful IMO

[kg1]

Not one enquiry over the Easter break (unless you count 7 adults, 1 child & 1 dog in a sleeps 5 house). Very unusual.

Have 3 weeks left to book in high summer but not booked for either of the May Bank Holidays, despite breaking them up into short breaks. Did get 2 full weeks bookings over Easter though.

I think it's the weather, no one feels in the holiday mood possibly.

[volcano]

Many thanks Enid - I know HA/HL are awful and I think OD are going the same way. And all the other will follow sooner or later. So what?

I'm also with Espana/Lanzarotebreak - but they dont bring the bookings as well.

We are in a crisis. It's not only the web sites who are not doing it for us anymore. Taxes, bills - everything is going up and income is going down. I'm flexible with prices, change over days. But no way. From 33 enquiries only 2 with conversation (and booking)!

In the past every third was a hit. Later every fifth. But now - not even 1%!

I have no own web site. Would this help? How are your experience?

[booboo]

I wanted to find your property on Lanzarote volcano but even with the number it wasn't easy. Now I am a client and nt an owner I look at the holiday rental differently and Home Away is awful IMO

Hi enid, is there any that you would recommend?

This is our second year and I am disappointed as we splashed out on all the big site etc. We are still on par with our competition.
No bookings for May, two weeks left in June and two weeks left in August. Even though our website is not how I would like it as yet and only been live a month, we still got a booking through it.

Here's hoping that April will bring in the bookings!

[Alvaro]

There are quite a few factors to take under consideration. Some properties can get bookings the whole year round while others (like mine) are only booked when it´s sunny. You also have to look at your target customer, mine is the average working family which are probably the ones that are suffering the most under these economic circumstances. Then you have to look at how far are you from the airport and how expensive flights are. If you are a beginer you have to consider that you have no referrals or returning guests. You have to look at your product to see if it´s attractive and if the price is right. Many factors.

All that beign said I believe that the main factor is low demand due to the economic crisis.

[Nemo]

I think there's no question that things are generally quieter this year, whether you are in the UK or overseas. I've just checked my website stats for March and I have approx. one third less hits than March last year. It was the same for February. I do have returning guests, so clearly that is helping bridge the gap now.

I have no own web site. Would this help? How are your experience?

Whilst there are a few owners who do not have their site, I think it's fairly universally accepted that having your own website is an essential part of the owners toolkit. You can put in more information and more pictures than your listing; plus it stands there in it's own right and will eventually start to pull in bookings on it's own merit. It can be done very cheaply; there are lots of threads on here to help if you search, although quite a few owners use and recommend Promote My Place.

[pepsipuss]

Completely hopeless here too: nothing worth speaking of from Homelidays or Rentalia (both previously our best sites), Holiday Lettings or Spain Holiday. Our only peak booking so far is a returning family.

Enquiries often pick up after Easter from Spanish and French which are our main customers so fingers crossed for this week!

[enid]

From a user point of view OD is the easiest