How to make the most out of the UK’s growing staycation trend

Following the recession, the ‘staycation’ has become a popular option so tourism accommodation is now a big business. In 2015 British residents spent £19.6 billion on 102.7 million overnight trips in England*.

Hard work and increasingly busy lives mean that the average person looks to those two blissful weeks in summer as a way to lift the burdens and let the stress melt away. Careful planning and marketing will have them beating a path to your door.

Finding your guests

Know your customers, who are they? From overseas or Britain? What is their perfect holiday? What will make them book? Market research in the early days will make a huge difference to your occupancy rates and will make your marketing activity easier and cheaper.

Holidays don’t stop when guests go home, they will share photos and discuss the experience with friends. Word of mouth and recommendations are likely to be your biggest source of new customers, so keep guests involved throughout the year and make it easy for them to share their experience with friends.

See also: Glamping start-up Q and A with Kate Morel

Make sure your website is beautiful and regularly updated with lots of photos, videos, testimonials and the option for people to share pages with friends. Guests will expect to see availability and book online. There are many booking platforms available or alternatively, you can use a holiday directory service with booking features, but this can be expensive because you will end up paying for marketing within your package.

It is a crowded market so spend time optimising your website so people can find you easily and consider using pay per click advertising.

Invest in social media. Pinterest is one of the fastest growing platforms and has the highest rate of viewing to buying and booking. Equally, Instagram is becoming the new trip advisor with many people now searching accommodation pictures on the platform before booking.

Be the best host

Be realistic and try not to spread yourself too thinly. There will be pinch points, especially during the short summer season, so make sure you have good and trusted staff who share your ethics, are well trained and made aware that they are appreciated.

Be ruthless with your bookings and don’t be tempted to squeeze another guest in. The impact of overcrowding and diluting your service will be felt by all the guests. You want people to recommend you as a fantastic and relaxed holiday venue.

See also: Is the boom in glamping holidays here to stay?

Keep an up to date record of other local accommodation that you trust, guests will appreciate your recommendations based on your knowledge.

Be prepared to have your life disrupted during the peak holiday months – you will have to live your business and put everything else on hold, so make sure you take time during quieter months to recharge your batteries so you can face the new season full of energy.

The customer experience

When it comes to holidays, one size doesn’t fit all. Understand that even if holidaymakers are in the same place at the same time, their expectations will be different. Everyone has a different vision from what they want to get out of a holiday, whether that’s to relax and unwind or to explore the area by bike.

Gather as much advance information as you can, ideally when they book and offer as many different options as feasible.

See also: Meeting, managing and exceeding guest expectations

Team up with local providers and producers to offer a complete experience from food to attractions. With a limited time to spend assimilating themselves to the local area, guests will appreciate your local knowledge

To offer a fantastic holiday everything you do must have the guest at heart - it’s their holiday, not yours so take time to listen, understand and respond accordingly.

*Visit Britain: https://www.visitbritain.org/value-tourism-england

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