Monarch Explorer – now available online

The new Monarch Explorer magazine is now available online with our advert on page 108.

We have experienced a great response so far.  Keep up the good work Monarch!

www.monarchexplorer.co.uk

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The new era of advertising for holiday homeowners

The traditional method of advertising holiday homes is about to change radically and owners may have to rethink their strategy. The internet giants have arrived and are looking at ways of increasing their revenue from holiday home advertisers. Tripadvisor and Google have moved into take over the big rental websites and the changes are rapidly becoming evident. The private owner now has to compete with estate agents and hoteliers who are being offered very attractive rates to add large numbers of properties for inclusion on these sites.

 

The agents are hoteliers deal with these enquires on a professional level and their conversion rates are much higher, this is resulting in some holiday home owners wondering where their customers have gone.

 

The market is now diluted to such an extent the single property owner is ranking so far down on these pages he simply doesn’t get any enquiries. When the owner wants to move higher on the ranking he will be offered a pay by enquiry option.

 

The pay by enquiry sounds very attractive when pitched by the sales team but the Ryanair pay by enquiry did not prove a resounding success for the owners. It is important to work out a marketing budget and calculate the value of paying by enquiry. These are various factors to consider before committing to a system which potentially could costs more in 1 month then a years subscription. Owners need to think do they answer all their enquiries on the same day and follow up when no reply is received. The conversion rates needs to be at least 35-40% to make this type of system pay for those who charge less than €600 a week on average for their property. It does not seem fair that a owner of a small apartment in Cyprus pays the same as a luxury villa in Spain which can cost over €10,000 a week. Then there is the questions of paying for enquiries which are a waste of time, the bargain hunters and those who ignore the fact your calendar is already booking out and make the same enquiry to numerous owners. When you contact these enquiries they don’t even remember which property they enquired about, otherwise known as “tire kickers”

 

The costs need to be considered if a property generates 1 enquiry a day which isn’t unreasonable if you are paying per enquiry £6 this means a yearly bill on one website of £2190 multiply this by average of 2 websites must owners have and the costs become prohibitive.

 

Progress cannot be stopped but considering the demise of smaller airlines and travel companies when the large multinationals invaded  the individual owner is right to be concerned.

 

A Place in the Sun – March 2011

The marketing team are on the ground in Earls Court this weekend for one of the biggest shows of the year, A Place in the Sun.

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Exhibitors List

http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/exhibition/exhibitors/ExhibitorsEarlsCourtMarch2011.aspx

Update & Results

Pop back next week for our analysis.

Holiday World Shows – Anaysis

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The Holiday World shows in Belfast and Dublin proved to be not only informative but entertaining this year with a question and answer session from Ryanairs`s “Michael O Leary”.

Michael took to the stage in Dublin and advised everyone to book flights with the airline and not through travel agents. He was met with quite a bit of opposition from both agents and the general public. He does point out if you don’t like his rules you have a choice and can book elsewhere. He might be a bit concerned to know we spoke to many visitors at the shows who indicated this year they were looking for TWO things, value for money and consumer protection. DIY travel was not an option. Ash clouds, political unrest and extreme weather conditions extensively covered by the media have taken their toll.

We were able to reassure our visitors that we offered both value for money and peace of mind as well as helpful advice and expert knowledge if the resorts. Unlike previous years we didn’t get so many direct enquiries for specific countries. People are prepared to be flexible in order to ensure they get the best holiday available.

It was good to see tourist boards proudly promoting their countries and Spain, Croatia, Cyprus and Turkey all had a steady stream of visitors doing their research on what the countries had to offer. There were tour operators, cruise operators, and airlines displaying their wares and all reported steady business with flexible customers open to good offers.

Lets in the Sun also noticed an increase in off season enquiries for longer stays, a direct result of the extreme winter weather, lots of couples are intending to spend at least 4 weeks in sunnier climes.

We also met lots of guests who thought villas were an expensive option, when we quoted them on a per person basis they were amazed at the value this holiday offered them.

The two most popular trends for 2011/2012 are all-inclusive holidays and self-catering holidays. The Irish holidaymakers despite all the financial problems in the country will not give up their holiday. They do want to budget carefully and have identified these two types of holiday as the best way to stick to a budget.

The next show is A Place in the Sun at Earls court in London. It is a different market and will be interesting to see how perceptions have changed from the last show in Birmingham.

Holiday World Shows 2011

Belfast 21-23 January 2011 / Dublin 28-30 January 2011

Billed as The Travel Show for 2011 for the UK and Republic of Ireland, these two incredible exhibitions, in conjunction with the Sunday Times and Belfast Telegraph, kick start our 2011 marketing with a bang.

This show has won the best “Consumer Exhibition” in Ireland and is a real meeting point and huge marketing tool to showcase our incredible portfolio of properties.

If the results of the 2010 exhibition are anything to go by these two professional shows should be outstanding.

Exhibition Promotion

We will be running a promotion during the shows to give away a holiday. Come along to the show or contact us to find out how to add your property to our portfolio. Please note Friday 28th morning is TRAVEL TRADE ONLY.

http://www.holidayworldshow.com/show-features-page47224.html

Exhibitors List

http://www.holidayworldshow.com/exhibitor-a-z-page.html

 

2011 Travel Exhibitions

As we near the end of a very successful 2010 we are very pleased to announce two travel exhibitions for January 2011 in Belfast and Dublin.

If last years exhibitions are anything to go by these should be the perfect way to kick start 2011.

World Travel Market – Analysis

Lets in the Sun attended the World Travel Market at Excel and the team report the visit as very worthwhile. The focus of the exhibition was on how to survive and thrive during a world recession. Travel is still a luxury item although it does rank very highly in peoples priorities.

The hoteliers worldwide have recognised how tough it is out there and they cannot use price reductions to attract guests and the rates have been reduced considerably in the last two years. The general consensus is to explore new avenues for marketing and the big word was “Social media”. Companies are using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to attract new customers. It may seem quite a simple cost effective way of marketing but it is actually a highly specialised sector. There are companies who will look after “the brand” and advise on the best ways of using “Social Media” to attract and maintain customers. These companies were very complimentary about our brand, we are contemporary, multi-functional and “very now”.

We met with large suppliers to the travel industry and will be adding some exciting new products over the next few months. Lets in the Sun is able to connect the individual property owner to products only available to travel industry professionals. This means we can offer a more complete booking experience for our guests and means we don’t lose our customers when they go to book their travel arrangements and get enticed by their accommodation offers.

Lets in the Sun also took to opportunity to look for new horizons and by meeting tourist organisations from around the world we can identify where demand is for the coming 18 months. We have added several countries to our portfolio as a direct result of this. Lets in the Sun can now offer you Thailand, Tunisia, Montenegro, Morocco and Curacao. There are some spectacular properties around the world and we know our guests will love the new additions.

A Place in the Sun – Analysis

Two weeks after the show in Birmingham we are still dealing with the large number of enquiries we received from the Lets in the Sun stand at the NEC.

After every new exhibition we get the team together and analyse the show, the exhibitors, the visitors and any new trends in the overseas property industry.

The show was a great success, reasonably well attended for a property show in the current financial climate. The other exhibitors were a mixed bunch. Some developers, some long standing names in the real estate market and quite a few newcomers. The visitors were predominantly lifestyle clients taking their first tentative steps in the process of buying overseas property. We identified a new trend after just a few hours at the show. Lifestyle buyers do not want to take a weekend trip and commit to buying a property on a whistle stop tour. .  We had an overwhelming number of requests for 3-6 month winter season rentals. The potential purchasers we spoke to, told us they wanted to spend some time in the area and decide at their leisure what and when to buy. A trend which is an encouraging development for the resale market, so for those of you thinking about selling your property at last some good news.

Over 90% of the clients we spoke to were looking to move to sunnier climes in the not too distant future. What they did not want to do at a property show was buy property.

This try before you buy option shows how perceptions have changed and extensive coverage in the media of what can go wrong means buyers are extremely cautious. It is a very sensible option for future expats who will get to know more about their new countries and stand a much better chance of succeeding in their new lives.  It also excellent news for property owners who can tap into this trend and achieve better rental returns with these long winter lets.

Next step on the marketing front for us will be the World Travel Market, in London Excel from the 8th to the 11th of November. This is the premier global marketing event for the travel industry. Watch this space for a bit more on our objectives for the upcoming show and preparations we have been making to make it a big success for the Lets in the Sun marketing machine.

A Place in the Sun – NEC Birmingham

Autumn is upon us and brings with it the season of Travel and Property exhibitions which showcase the regions, developments and properties that are all important to the sustained growth of our industry.

Our first exhibition of this new season is from the 1st to the 3rd of October in the NEC in Birmingham.

A Place in the Sun http://www.aplaceinthesun.com/exhibition.aspx is the UK’s biggest and best-attended overseas property exhibition.

We will be taking all our rental properties and a selection of our properties for sale to this exhibition and look forward to seeing you all there.

For free entry please click on the following link www.aplaceinthesun.com/letsinthesun

Mainland Europeans could be the only possible saviours for Summer/Autumn 2010

As the Icelandic volcano crisis continues to wreak havoc across European flight schedules the upcoming summer and autumn holiday maker traffic is in limbo. Those who are reliant on air travel to get themselves and their families to their holiday destinations over the coming months are facing an uncertain run up to the hopeful start of their vacations.

The industry is being rocked by uncertainty as people who traditionally would be parting with their hard earned cash during April & May are holding off till the very last minute before booking anything.

As always there is a silver lining to any cloud. Both Eurostar channel tunnel and the UK ferries have seen huge growth in demand due to the airspace closure as many people have forced to change their travel plans at the last minute. Not forgetting the UK & Republic of Ireland’s own Tourism industry who are naturally going to benefit from the uncertainty created.

This however is little consolation for the overseas holiday home owner, as those relying solely on their own English speaking markets, and websites with .ie & .co.uk domains fail to deliver on the most important market – Mainland Europeans. Apart from the obvious benefit that their public holidays are not generally the same as ours they have the huge advantage of not needing to catch a flight to arrive safely and timely at their holiday home.

Although English is widely spoken throughout Europe most holiday makers prefer to search the internet in their own language, and to hope that they would make the giant leap when looking for a property in Spain, for example, that the property might be owned by an Englishman is exceedingly short sighted.

Those second home owners who are suffering a spate of cancellations need to react quickly and make sure the season does not pass them by – maximum exposure is always the key to marketing and choosing to ignore the European market should be done with caution. Make sure your marketing strategy is working for you.