Welcome to Holiday Letting
Visitors to this year’s Farm Business Innovation Show at the NEC in Birmingham were looking for inspiration to find an extra source of income by utilising their land in new ways. Elliot Bilsland, Regional Manager at Welcome Cottages was on hand to give advice to farmers considering holiday letting as a way to make their land more profitable. Here are his top tips from the show.
Know your customer
The best place to start is by looking at your competition. Find out what other nearby holiday lets are offering in terms of number of beds, facilities and pricing. Also consider what attractions your local area offers and what type of holidaymakers these appeal to.
Once you know the customer you can work out a budget to get started. Make sure you include any costs for renovations, decoration and furnishings as well as insurance, bills and maintenance costs.
The majority of our owners have converted existing farm buildings into holiday lets, rather than build a new property. Size therefore matters and it’s important to use space effectively, ensuring your property is comfortable for the maximum number of guests. Look at property layout carefully, for example can you include twin beds for added flexibility?
Customers searching for holiday lets on www.welcomecottages.com can filter properties based on features, so including Wi-Fi, a wood burner or a bike store can ensure you appeal to as broad an audience as possible. Cottages which allow dogs are proven to have more bookings per year than those that don’t, but you have to be prepared for the additional work this can involve.
Market your property
Once your property is ready for guests, you need to ensure its being marketed to its full potential. Images are key and we recommend professional photography to best capture your holiday let. Customers tend to focus on kitchens and bathrooms so it’s always worth investing in these rooms to make them look as clean, spacious and well-maintained as possible.
To help promote your property, most agencies will offer a grading system to help establish a quality rating for customers. At Welcome Cottages, all our Regional Managers are trained to VisitEngland standards and can
work with owners to achieve the best grade for their property size.
Once you are welcoming guests, first impressions count, so making sure the property matches the photographs is important and keeping up with property maintenance is
vital. Keeping the garden tidy, windows clean and paintwork checked regularly can make a huge difference to customer feedback, another area which needs to be
considered for modern owners. Welcome Cottages uses an independent review site called Reevoo which allows guests to leave ratings on cleanliness, location, comfort and equipment as well as comments on their stay. For owners with high scores it’s a great way to attract more bookings and we’d recommend you always respond to and investigate any comments made about your property.
Get the right support
Choosing the right partner to work with depends on your situation and what you want to achieve. At Welcome Cottages, we never ask new owners to sign up with us until they've met a Regional Manager who will advise on how to make a success of your cottage rental. They’ll give hints and tips on issues such as your home décor and health and safety requirements as well as provide an estimate of expected income should you require it in order to gain financial support or planning permission.
With more than 30 years of experience, we know the holiday cottage rental industry inside out and the best way to reach its customers. We use a range of tested and innovative marketing methods to ensure our owners' properties get noticed including a close working relationship with Google and other search engines. We also offer a comprehensive Owner Services function which handles your booking process, advice on legislation and of course your local Regional Manager is on hand for any queries you may have.
So whether you have an existing holiday let which you want to make more profitable or are thinking of renovating an outhouse to welcome guests, make sure you build a good foundation for your business by getting the best support possible to maximise your letting potential.