Every holiday home rental has its very own key selling points. Its these that you need to sell to prospective guests.
En-suite bathrooms, open fire, wonderful mountain views and good local nightlife are all good selling points. Use these to paint a picture for your guests of how their holiday could be.
A picture speaks a thousand words
A picture speaks a thousand words. Or so a wise man once said. You have a great opportunity to really sell your holiday rentals by taking some great photos of the property. Dont waste the opportunity!!.
Make sure that you use a good digital camera, take the pictures in good light and make sure that your holiday home looks at its best and use them to capture your prospective customers imaginations.
Reply to your customers promptly
It may seem trivial to some but replying promptly to emails and answer phone messages is essential.
Take your time in getting back to your customers and you could very well lose out on a booking. If possible call them back asap so that you can answer all their questions thoroughly.
Special deals and offers
We all love a bargain. Why not offer your customers last minute offers or low season reduced bargain rates to try and fill those gaps in your availability calendar?
Market your property effectively
We believe that marketing your property with holiday rental listing sites is the most effective form of advertising available. Putting your property on these sites in front of thousands of viewers is an obvious and tried and tested method of holiday home advertising.
Another excellent way of giving your property even more exposure is to create your own website specifically for your holiday rental. Once the site has been designed and optimized for the search engines it has the potential to bring in many more bookings.
Keep in touch
One very important aspect of generating more rentals is to stay in touch with your previous guests so that you can get referral business and repeat bookings. Why not have a guest book and ask your guests to leave their address or email address in it.
Then periodically you can send them some written correspondence such as promotional leaflets, special offers or an email newsletter to let them know you are still around and have some great deals on offer.
Use a guest book for your visitors
why not leave a guest book in your holiday home to encourage your guests to give you feedback as to how impressed they were with your property and their holiday in general. This is an excellent way to find out the things that you are doing correctly and also the things that you may need to improve on.
Little Touches
When we say "little touches" we mean the little things that you can do to make your guests stay that little bit more special and comfortable.
How about some fresh flowers, welcome pack including milk, butter, bread, jam, coffee, tea and a bottle of wine to greet your guests on arrival? Its these first impressions that can make all the difference. You may also want to leave your contact information, local phone numbers such as police and hospital and also some leaflets with information such as zoo's,restaurants,country walks and other local events.
Local information leaflets and guides
Why not leave your guests some leaflets and flyers advertising local events, exhibitions and days out to help them decide what to do on their holiday?
Entertainment
DVD's, videos, books, video games and board games are just a few items that you can have in your holiday rental to help make your guests stay be as entertaining as possible.
It may sound expensive to include these items but your guests satisfaction really is your priority if you want them to return and also recommend your property to their friends and family.
Here are a few handy tricks you can use to greatly improve your vocab within a satisfyingly short space of time. You don't need to walk around with a big dictionary or spend your evenings swotting up to make some good headway into learning Spanish on holiday.
1) Make use of what you already know
Don't worry about getting things wrong. If you have already been learning Spanish words or phrases, say what you can say. You will find the Spanish appreciate the effort you make to speak their language and are usually very kind. Once you start speaking the language, you won't be able to stop!
2) Spend time with Spaniards
To practice, put yourself in normal Spanish situations as much as you can. Places that can help you to learn Spanish on holiday include the market, shops and public transport. Spend your evenings in Spanish-run bars or restaurants.
3) Listen to the young
Although you can expect excellent service on a luxury holiday in Spain, tailor-made packages don't include an option to make the Spanish slow down so you can understand what they're saying! If you have the opportunity, listen to children, who tend to speak more slowly, simply and clearly.
4) Read the newspaper
Buy a Spanish newspaper and try to pick out phrases you have already been learning. Spanish newspapers will help you become interested Spanish life and you might begin to pick up more by taking an interest in current events.
5) Notice the written words around you
Read advertising fliers and look carefully at road signs and posters. It will help you to learn Spanish if you try and decipher the common words and phrases they will use.
6) Turn on the Spanish radio
Listen to local radio, where you absorb unconsciously more than you may think. Learning Spanish by listening to it being spoken is a tried and tested method.
8) Turn on the telly
If you're on a tailor-made holiday in Spain, luxury hotels generally have versatile Televisions, which can help you learn Spanish in a short space of time. Watch the adverts, where key words are often repeated. If you're planning a night in on your Spanish holiday, watch a Spanish film on TV, using teletext to supply subtitles provided for the deaf.
9) Keep it simple
Never translate a complicated English sentence in your head. This can be detrimental to learning Spanish as the difficulty might just put you off.
10) Be determined
You must have a positive and determined approach, as any kind of language learning does not come naturally to adults ? it is a lot easier for children. But once you start to really learn Spanish you will be glad you made the effort, and it will come back to you easily on your next Spanish holiday!
Both Robert Griggs & Kieron Sellens are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Robert Griggs has sinced written about articles on various topics from Advertising Guide, Vacation and Site Promotion. Robert Griggs is the Director of the Direct Holiday Lets holiday home listing website which has rental properties listed worldwide.For further information please visit our. Robert Griggs's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Kieron Sellens has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Touring Italy and Travel and Leisure. Kieron Sellens is the marketing manager of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AiTO). For autumn 2008, AiTO are offering a selection of unique