If you own a vacation property for rent, then you know that the holiday season is when you have the most number of guests and customers. A lot of people are looking to book a place for their weekend staycation or getaway.
However, the holiday season has already ended, and the next peak season for you is a couple of months away. It will be much more difficult to find guests during this season. Therefore, you probably should have to up the ante to get more bookings even though it is the off-peak season.
On that note, here are some tips on how you can gain more bookings even though the holiday seasons are over.
Adjust your prices
One of the first things that will get your potential guests’ attention is your unit’s rental cost.
This tactic of lowering the prices during the off-season is something that a lot of companies already do like airlines and hotels. If you don’t adjust your price during the off-season, you will be unable to generate a passive income from your rental property.
Thus, you should make sure that you find a balance between having enough profit to get by at the least and not scaring away potential customers because of your high prices.
Decrease your required minimum stay
If you set your vacation rental for a minimum number of stay, then maybe you want to be more lenient about it during the off-peak season.
It doesn’t mean that you have to remove your minimum-stay rule entirely, but at the very least, it won’t deter potential customers away from making a reservation or booking your rental.
For example, if you have a five-day minimum stay rule, then maybe what you would want to do is ease up on that rule and reduce it to a three-day minimum. Since it’s not the holiday season, you might be able to get the attention of people who are booking your vacation rental for over the weekend.
It is a great tactic that can help you maximize the short term rental cleaning service that you hire.
Create special offers and packages
Advertising your vacation rental during the off-season can be difficult, but if you have special offers and packages in place, then you can get more attention. Doing so can also be an alternative to lowering your usual rates.
For example, you might want to collaborate with nearby businesses so that if someone books your unit, they can have a discount if they patronize another business. You can also try and give out free meals from nearby restaurants if you choose.
There are plenty of ways you can market your vacation rental as long as it is relevant to the people booking your property.
Contact previous guests
Even if you are not offering any sale or program, it would be worth it to try and contact past guests and see whether they are interested in booking again.
Connecting with your clients and previous guests and maintaining that connection is valuable for your business.
Not only will it be easier to market to them since they’ve been to your property before, but they might be open to book during offseason.
Offer referral incentives
You should also try and keep in touch with your former guests so that you can offer them incentives to come back and book your unit again.
You can also offer them a referral program wherein they can get an incentive if they can refer a new guest to book your unit.
Not only will this sort of program allow you to get in touch with more clients, but it will also encourage your previous guests to book a stay again with you.
Update your listings
Changing your description every once in a while might be an excellent strategy to get the attention of people looking to book your property.
Of course, this means that you have to stay relevant and not just change your description for the sake of it.
Instead, it would be best if you conveyed something that has to do with offseason bookings and generating excitement around it.
Get more social than ever
Creating a social media account for your vacation rental is a good idea because it’s easier to reach a lot more people with it. You can have a lot more opportunities to market your property, as well as create fanfare around it.
You can even directly answer concerns or questions that potential guests may have so that it’s easier to convince them to book your unit.
Wrap Up
It’s a no-brainer that you should keep your income stream flowing even during the off-peak season. That said, you should boost your efforts so that you don’t lose out.
The tips listed above are going to help you gain more bookings even though it’s offseason. Now that the holiday season, there’s no better time to give these tips a try but now.