photo by: Kafeole

I have a problem with this blog. My problem is that I am talking to holiday home owners, yes that means you! And you’re a secretive bunch. The problem is that none of you will share this wisdom with your fellow holiday accommodation owners. The reason is obvious. If you share with others they will also know how to improve their bookings and you will receive less. Of course this statement makes sense, but only in the short term. Let’s take a longer term view of how sharing could actually increase your bookings and push up your prices.

Here’s how it works [and stay with me ... it gets a little complicated]. Owner A has a holiday home in a lovely part of Cape Town, right next to the beach, and bookings are pretty good. But good news travels fast and other owners see that they can make good money from having a holiday home on the beach too. So what do they do? They build a beach house next door to owner A. Bookings are slightly down for owner A because there is now a choice of similar types of accommodation but with more holidaymakers visiting the area the bookings soon pick up again. And so it goes on … owners C, D and E all build beach houses. More people visit, they tell their friends who then tell their friends and before you know it this little patch of Cape Town near the beach is now recognized as a great beach destination. And the fact is that owner A didn’t just create this by themselves .. it took the combined marketing efforts of ALL the owners.

Now although bookings are healthy, owner A knows they could be better. They then read this blog and get lots of advice and tips on how to differentiate themselves, target customers and be more consumer focused. So now they also market themselves as a ‘romantic honeymoon destination’ to a targeted audience. Not surprisingly their targeted messages create lots more bookings and, also not surprisingly, their profits soar. Now instead of sharing this new found wisdom they decide to keep it to themselves … mwah ha ha [Dr Evil laugh!]. However taking a longer term view and being more holistic in their approach may yield better returns. If they shared what they knew each owner would differentiate, create niche offerings and hence reach a greater potential audience. In turn more people would know about this great beach resort, the ‘word of mouth’ would spread like a virus and before you know it this little corner of Cape Town starts calling itself another Camps Bay. Sure it’s no longer the ‘best kept secret in Cape Town’ but you’re accommodation is full AND you’re prices have increased. And the locals, although they might complain ‘that it isn’t what it used to be’ will also benefit from the inevitable increased trade that tourism brings.

Why do you think Biarritz became such a hugely popular and exclusive holiday resort. I can tell you for a fact that it wasn’t because someone found it, plonked a house there and never told a sole. So go go go … get out there and start sharing. Make your destination the new Biarritz and watch the bookings soar.