Holiday bookings down considerably

Noneforit999

caprikid1 said:

You have got a distorted view of the holiday cottage market due to Covid and as many are stating we just cannot be bothered to pay that much for a holiday cottage when you can rent something fabulous in Spain with flights for the same.

This is probably a factor also. From a personal perspective, we did 3 UK Holidays in 2020/2021 due to not being able to go abroad but in 2022 we did one which was Cornwall and the AirBnb cost us £850 for 5 nights.

You also have the likes of Haven offering good deals, I think we booked a 3 night stay near Weymouth in 2021 for about £250 and it wasn't one of the cheaper mobile homes. 

We see accommodation as a base as we spend most days out exploring, we look for something comfortable and reasonably priced, hence why Haven caravans are often fine for us. AirBnb's in the Weymouth area for 3 nights were at least twice the price, I would rather spend that eating out or going places.

Everyone has a different view on what they look for when booking holiday accommodation, some prefer location and luxury and are prepared to pay for it but some just want a base so look for price. Overnight stays are a good example too, you can often book a Premier inn for <£100 per night for a quick trip somewhere vs an AirBnb or similar which is often twice the price. 

RelievedSheff

lookstraightahead said:

RelievedSheff said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

RelievedSheff said:

We have just returned home from a 9 night trip to Norfolk and Suffolk with our motorhome and there was certainly no signs of staying at home and not spending. 

Everywhere we visited was busy and thriving. Sites were busy, pubs and restaurants were busy.

If people are cutting back we certainly didn't see any evidence of it!

Some people definitely still have money to spend. It would interesting to see what the percentage of 🇬🇧 was struggling with bills v those who have cash to spend.

From what we have seen I really do think that the media is over hyping (not like them at all) the percentage of people who are struggling. 

They are trying to talk down the economy.

People are likely getting into more debt. Gone are the days of everyone cutting their cloth to fit.

I'm not so sure that is the case.

Yes I'm sure there are some people who are struggling at the extreme end of the scale. But for the vast majority life just carries on.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I think it depends where you are, looking locally on Airbnb for our corner of North Wales there's a selection of very nice cottages which are expensive (up to £250 a night, although for up to 6 guests on that one) and a fair few pods, train carriages, huts, etc at over £100 a night all of which have limited availability over the summer period.

I assume like most things these days you need shout as loud as possible and advertise everywhere you can as well as using social media to promote yourself. 

We live in what could be a holiday cottage and I've been a bit disappointed by the last couple of hotels we've stayed in, gets the point where it's better to pay for budget accommodation and spend a bit more on leisure activities whilst away. 

CurlySue2017

People cannot travel abroad, UK holiday home owners bang up their prices to ridiculous amounts, just because they can

People can now travel abroad again, UK holiday home owners start losing bookings and wonder why......

TisMeBill

Pennylane said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Pennylane said:

This is our third year doing holiday lets on a small property we used to rent long term.  The first two years were excellent and just about fully booked from April to Nov.  Obviously due to covid not many people were going abroad.  I’ve been in touch with our agency and they say our bookings are a lot better than other similar properties in our area. We have received a Customers Choice Award and have excellent reviews. 

We are tied in to their contract but it seems such a shame for it to stand empty.  After Tues we don’t have a booking until end of August. I guess we may get some last minute bookings but I just wondered whether other people on here were in the same position.

Could it be similar to house price in the fact that you’re just over charging? Can you change the prices or is that fixed to the agent?

Checked all that with agent and we are in fact very reasonable.  I look at all others locally and we are not overpriced.  The other two years were definitely profitable but as we pay all the things like TV licence, wifi, water, electric etc and provide loo rolls, kitchen rolls, soaps, handwash, washing up liquid and a welcome pack of milk, biscuits, tea, coffee, hot choc etc. then that all has to be taken from income.  

We are considering going back to tenants as they will pay all the bills and we won’t have to do changeovers, cleaning etc.  we had 13 years of good tenants and apart from 6 monthly inspections there was nothing to do. We have enjoyed the experience of holiday lets though.

You say that you are not overpriced compared to local properties and you are doing better than others for number of lets, yet still not close to capacity. I would suggest that all the properties in your area may be overpriced, holiday lets is a national business, so people may be opting for cheaper properties in other areas. A price reduction may be the way to go if you wish to continue in the holiday let business.

Pennylane

Update, received two bookings this morning. 1 x 7 nights (July) and 1 x 4 nights (Aug).  Sept is already full.  Hopefully we’ll get a few more.

To the person who suggested not taking dogs, we considered this carefully when we started out.  We mainly get couples and I should think half bring a small-medium dog which we charge extra for. They are usually keen walkers and are out and about with their dog every day.  I think if we didn’t take dogs we would lose a lot of business.  The vast majority you would not know there has been a dog in the house.  I leave a dog bowl in case they forget, dog towels in the shed, dog treats and dog poo bags.  The garden is completely secure. 

Skiddaw1

Pennylane said:

Update, received two bookings this morning. 1 x 7 nights (July) and 1 x 4 nights (Aug).  Sept is already full.  Hopefully we’ll get a few more.

To the person who suggested not taking dogs, we considered this carefully when we started out.  We mainly get couples and I should think half bring a small-medium dog which we charge extra for. They are usually keen walkers and are out and about with their dog every day.  I think if we didn’t take dogs we would lose a lot of business.  The vast majority you would not know there has been a dog in the house.  I leave a dog bowl in case they forget, dog towels in the shed, dog treats and dog poo bags.  The garden is completely secure. 

We don't have a dog but have stayed in 'dog friendly' holiday lets many times. Wouldn't bother us in the slightest.

Noneforit999

Pennylane said:

Update, received two bookings this morning. 1 x 7 nights (July) and 1 x 4 nights (Aug).  Sept is already full.  Hopefully we’ll get a few more.

To the person who suggested not taking dogs, we considered this carefully when we started out.  We mainly get couples and I should think half bring a small-medium dog which we charge extra for. They are usually keen walkers and are out and about with their dog every day.  I think if we didn’t take dogs we would lose a lot of business.  The vast majority you would not know there has been a dog in the house.  I leave a dog bowl in case they forget, dog towels in the shed, dog treats and dog poo bags.  The garden is completely secure. 

I agree on the dog front, many people have dogs and that is the reason they holiday in the UK. Ours can't be put in a kennel so our alternative would be to pay someone to house sit while we are away which we do when we go abroad but its £45 per night so having the ability to holiday in the UK and take the dog is a huge benefit for us.

I don't actually know many dog owners who are prepared to use kennels and we have several friends who book UK trips because they can take their dogs. Sure, its not the bigger market but there is a market for it so if you are not near maximum capacity now, not allowing dogs is not going to help. 

YellowCarBlueCar

Another North Norfolk holiday let owner here, and have been letting for about 12 years now, and this is the first year we've had summer vacancies (previous years largely because we are competitive on price, but also have a character cottage).

The OP has perfectly illustrated the problem, with a lot of people either switching from long term lets to holiday lets, or buying holiday homes and letting to recover some of the costs, so yes there is an oversupply issue.  When we opened there were 2 other holiday lets in the village, there are now more than a dozen.

The costs are high, but the margins are slim - on a good year we'll make about a 3.5% yield.  It only makes financial sense for us while house prices are rising.

This year we'll make a loss.  The fire regulations for holiday lets tighten considerably in October (comparable to hotels/commercial premises rather then domestic) and we're going to have to install fire doors and linked mains-powered heat & smoke alarms, which is not easy without destroying the character that people look for.

I suspect a lot of the current cottages won't be there in 2-3 years as there just isn't the demand to support the current over-supply.

p00hsticks

Pennylane said:

Update, received two bookings this morning. 1 x 7 nights (July) and 1 x 4 nights (Aug).  Sept is already full.  Hopefully we’ll get a few more.

That's another point when your target market is generally retired. 
Once we've finished work and don't need to book time off months in advance. we're more flexible on where and when we go and so can wait until the last minute to see what bargains might crop up. 

I've just had details of a friend of a friends South Somerset holiday let come up on Facebook - they have availability for all but one week in July and August, and have dropped their prices in an effort to get people in.