As a vacation rental property owner you already know what challenges and opportunities you face each season. In order to be successful you will have to know the “right time” to anticipate every one of these seasonal factors in order to maximize your occupancy rates and provide some excellent customer service. Be it planning to out manage a vacation rental property, your property for more summer travelers or the quiet, undesirable time of year you will have to know the “right time” to manage seasons. This article will focus on how to properly prepare your property for the various seasons and make sure that you are offering the most competitive and desirable property to your potential guests year round.
Understanding Seasonal Trends in Vacation Rentals
Recognizing the Importance of Seasonality
When it comes to vacation rental property management, knowing the seasonal trend is key. Trends in demand can be very powerful factors that impact occupancy and income at your property. By having knowledge of these seasonal trends you can implement effective pricing strategies and marketing techniques to best accommodate peak and Seasonal off-peak seasons. With a timed adjustment to pricing on your listing, you can capture as much interest as possible during seas What Happens When the Season Changes in Demand? Seasonal trends in demand are tremendous factors that determine occupancy and income for your property. Since you know the seasonal trend you can use it to adjust your pricing and marketing efforts to have maximum occupancy during peak and off peak seasons. With a timing adjustment to pricing on your listing you can get the most interest possible at seasonal times of highest demand and keep your property filling. Opal times of highest demand and keep your property filled.
Prioritize Guest Experience
Think about ways in which your restaurant and hotel feel more unique than your competitors’ by offering added amenities or personal touches. An example o. Make sure during busy periods, managing a vacation rental property guests’ experience is good for Manage a vacation rental property Advertisement: Consider how you can make your restaurant/hotel feel more special than other competitors by offering more perks or services. (an up-market option may be an all-you-can-eat welcome basket with treats from the local food vendor or personalized guides to local landmarks).f an up-market touch would be an all-you-can-eat welcome basket with treats from local food vendors or personalized guides to local attractions.
Maintain Operational Efficiency
Simplify your tasks using software and automation tools, such as property management software like Baselane. When you use the software you can streamline cleanings and bookings and keep finances organized. . Plus, think about hiring employees or letting cleaning services make your property squeaky clean and ready to go between the last guests who arrive. Handling and preparing for your vacation rental property well in advance will ensure that your operation goes off smoothly, and your guests enjoy a trip they’ll never forget. Being oriented towards customer satisfaction, managing pricing wisely, and being efficient are all great strategies to take when managing a vacation rental property in the spring and summer months. That way you’ll get repeated business and great reviews.
Maximize Off Season Maintenance
Most importantly, with the seasons progressing you’ll be able to complete most of the maintenance that needs to be done during busy times. In addition, schedule an annual maintenance program for your property such as maintenance and pest inspections.
Enhance Your Marketing Strategy
Probably the most important thing, as the seasons progress, it will be easier to accomplish important maintenance tasks that need to be completed during busy periods. Have a thorough property assessment done to identify any issues or structural malfunctions that could potentially compromise the integrity and value of the property. Finding issues now will not only make guests more comfortable, but it will also save you money and hassle down the road if something goes wrong. You should also schedule a regular maintenance program for your property to include HVAC maintenance and pest inspections.
Data Driven Decision Making
Data has never been more important in the vacation rental industry and with Baselane’s analytics tools you can provide up-to-date information for trends and predict future occupancy levels, revenue streams and more so that you can make the pricing decisions that will have a positive impact on the performance of your property so that you can maximize your rental income each year. When you integrate into your property management platform not only will your operations be less complicated but also your guests will be happier and your bottom line will be better too. By using these features you can manage a vacation rental property and focus on providing the best holiday experience for your guests.
Building Local Partnerships
You can also engage in relationships with local businesses (restaurants, transportation companies etc). In return you want to be able to provide your guests with even more value by providing people that don’t come to the area with special deals/discounts at establishments that your guests won’t come across and giving them a better overall experience as well as helping them post awesome reviews for your property and will return for more. Beyond giving valuable benefits to your guests, building relationships with local businesses helps you build your property’s reputation locally. By looking at local events and attractions, you can effectively run a vacation rental property and create as much value as you can both in terms of bookings and customer service. That can be done by positioning your properties strategically to capture the flow of visitors drawn to the local scene.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive vacation rental market, you have the opportunity to turn any challenges that may come up each season into opportunities for you to rise to the occasion. If you use these season specific strategies will give you the greatest return on your property and better guest experience. Whether you use peak season demand as an opportunity to maximize the resources of your property or do an unconventional way to take advantage of other marketing opportunities during off season, you’ll be well prepared to ensure that your vacation rental will also have a seat in an increasingly competitive market. More important, by using these season specific strategies you are conserving the value and developing the brand reputation of your property while you are preparing you for a successful future in the vacation rental industry.
