Drawing visitors to your homes during the off-season is one such problem, especially for those operating vacation rentals as opposed to metropolitan listings. Fortunately, there are tactics that hospitality businesses may use to increase occupancy rates when they often decline. Here are six strategies to maintain year-round occupancy at your holiday rental:
1. Speak to businesspeople
True, year-round business travel is often associated with metropolitan property management firms, but with the right promotion, hosts in cities nearby may also draw in business travelers. You may aggressively approach neighboring businesses that need to host partners or investors and offer them your homes at reduced rates, emphasizing your listings’ closeness to important conference centers and indicating if they’re only a short bus or train trip away. By emphasizing in your listing description that your hotel provides the best of both worlds, you may also profit from the expanding bleisure trend, in which visitors mix work and pleasure.
2. Market to live customers
One of the unexpected advantages of COVID-19 was the proof that workers could effectively operate from distant areas. This fact has allowed individuals much more choice regarding where they may settle since they no longer need to reside close to their places of employment. Vacation rental property management firms may offer their homes to sample various destinations as more and more individuals seize this chance and look for new places to establish roots. Promote your listings on real estate websites or in-area Facebook groups to reach this market, and update your property descriptions to include mentions of relevant neighborhoods.
3. Provide discounts to recurring visitors
Each reservation offers a special chance to win over a lifelong client. After giving your all to please your visitors and leave a memorable impression, be sure to save their contact information so you may stay in touch with them even after they’ve checked out and offer them exclusive discounts. There should be tempting offers for times that coincide with your off-season. You may sow the seeds for impromptu weekend getaways at a time of year when people may not be as eager to take vacations by providing outstanding guest experiences and hard-to-resist pricing.
4. Modify your prices.
Speaking of impossible-to-resist pricing, one way to get customers is to provide incredible deals that tourists know they won’t find during busier travel seasons. Use sophisticated rate methods or specialized revenue management technology to guarantee that your rates appropriately reflect demand and are increased and dropped to maximize income and occupancy all year long.
5. Consistently update your listings
Every season offers fresh justifications for vacationing, so it’s critical to keep track of them and update your listings as necessary. For instance, if there’s a nearby event coming up, you should include in your description how close your homes are to the location so that those looking for accommodations close to the event may discover your listings. Make regular changes to the titles and descriptions of your listings to portray them as the ideal locations for vacationers looking to attend local activities all year long.
6. Establish your properties as the go-to places
Property management firms that offer appealing in-home features and facilities have effectively lured visitors since the regular tourist destinations are closed to the general public, and people are still hankering for a change of scenery. The takeaway is that hosts may still draw guests even in wet or chilly weather by emphasizing their in-home amenities more than neighboring attractions. With clever features and a ton of entertainment alternatives, such as a Netflix subscription, a pool table, or a vintage pinball machine, you can turn your listings into the ideal getaways.
As the industry recovers from the effects of the pandemic and travel returns are in full gear, vacation rental managers may continue to increase reservations all year long with the correct mix of the strategies above.
