Investment: A summer of self-catering - Ross Elder, HolidayLettings.co.uk

A summer of self-catering love

It has been a tough year for many, many who pondered over their ability to take a holiday in 2009. However, the holiday home letting industry would appear to have bucked any downturn trend in the travel industry.

The benefactors of this news are primarily the individuals who own the holiday homes and the families, couples and groups who are able to rent homes around the world with a lower cost per head bill. Others include the local economies in which these holiday homes are situated and into whose stores, amenities and attractions these tourists flock on recommendation of home owners who know and love the destination and all it has to offer.

Cost per person is a significant comparative, not to mention space, when renting a home (whether it’s an apartment or a house). It is natural perhaps therefore to expect booking enquiries for private holiday home rentals to be up 40 per cent year on year while hotels continue to offer discounted room rates and packages to pull in guests. I don’t believe that money is the only influencer in this shift though. There has, undoubtedly, been a huge amount invested into educating consumers about the benefits of renting a holiday home over staying in a hotel room; some of which I’m pleased to say we have been responsible for. However, this is not a short term one year strategy or shift. The benefits of renting a home, experienced by hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe, are undeniable.

No longer niche

What was once a niche holiday option selected from lineage advertisements in the weekend supplements is now a global marketplace within the travel industry. Holiday home owners vary in what they own and how they manage their guests; from letting out the barn next door, the one bedroom annexe on their house, to their apartment, villa, gite in another country. They are all in a similar boat, however, when it comes to standing out from an increasingly large selection of consumer options in the holiday home marketplace; not to mention appealing above and beyond staying in a hotel.

As Holiday Lettings enters its eleventh year I look back at how the industry has grown and how we continue to assist those who enter the marketplace from both directions – home owners and holidaymakers. What successful holiday home owners do well and what self-catering customers love most is thoughtful presentation, customer service and provision of helpful, relevant information. Not all holiday home landlords had the primary intention of renting out their second home to guests. But whether they did or didn’t the same rules apply. Holiday home owners need to ask themselves why they would pick their home over the others in the same town, village or resort. In most cases it will take more than having a pool and a king size bed. In all cases, it is the combination of facilities, unique selling points, location, climate, quality, size, price and suitability for the typical tourist demographic to that location that makes one home appeal more than another.

Ross Elder

A buy-to-let investor and holiday home owner, Ross is passionate about doing holiday home letting effectively and efficiently with oodles of customer care. He is a keynote speaker on successfully marketing and managing holiday home lettings and instils much of his drive into the team at Holiday Lettings. Founded by Ross and his business partner Andy Firth in 1999, the company is now the busiest holiday home website in the UK