Guest loyalty strategies for holiday rentals

April 2024

Loyalty strategy in the realm of holiday rentals refers to the strategic plan, approach, or model that hosts rely on to retain their guests and ensure they stay longer in their holiday homes and/or secure their return in the future.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that guests feel well during their stay, have their needs met, and thus, foster a loyal relationship with the host. A lodging’s customer base grows with quality, personalised, and attentive service. In this guide, we break down a variety of ideas, recommendations, and tactics to maintain holiday rental customers and motivate them to return soon. 

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Communication, essential for guest retention

It might seem obvious, but good communication is fundamental to demonstrating our professionalism as hosts and, ultimately, retaining our guests. There are common-sense tips that are worth keeping in mind.

• Show good treatment to the guest. It’s very basic, but friendly, approachable yet tactful, empathetic, and proactive communication is essential for connecting with clientele and establishing a lasting relationship. In cases of conflict, never forget manners and the pursuit of consensus.
• Work on multichannel communication. Email, phone, instant messaging, apps, and/or social media. Offering different channels to receive and respond to messages will attract more customers, as the target audience will be broader. If we also handle these channels with ease, we’ll demonstrate our professionalism and commitment to new technologies and, ultimately, to our customers. It will be an added value.
• Encourage transparency. Guests appreciate clear, concise, and understandable communication. Don’t hesitate to talk about prices or money, but always maintain good manners. However, under no circumstances add any extra charge to the guest’s final bill that wasn’t agreed upon beforehand.

The effectiveness of welcome kits

A guest welcome kit is a technique that is becoming increasingly popular in the realm of holiday rentals. It involves welcoming your guests with some pleasant gifts that are useful and practical. For example, you can put together a gastronomic pack consisting of some soft drinks, snacks, bottles of water, and some fruit. If you want something more useful, perhaps a set consisting of classic travel items such as a map of the area, sunglasses, and a cap might be better. And there are those who prefer to create a personal hygiene kit with moisturizing gels, hand wipes, toothbrushes, and perfume.

These types of amenities contribute to making the stay more pleasant and comfortable, providing guests with accessories that may be necessary during their holidays.

The importance of personalising the experience

A good guest experience is fundamental to ensure that the customer repeats their stay in our holiday rental. The experience begins when the guest discovers our accommodation on a holiday rental website and ends when their stay ends or they interact with the host for the last time. In all these phases, you can personalise the guest experience as a retention method.

The pre-arrival phase of the guest is the ideal opportunity to start a conversation with them and help them plan their trip. Send an email with additional practical information (for example, shuttle services from the airport, nearby parking, or other important buildings) and some useful recommendations such as the nearest restaurants or museums.

If guests still have doubts, it’s very important to show ourselves accessible through different channels. We’ve addressed this before; guests have different preferences when it comes to communicating. Some prefer a phone call, while others opt to send messages through social media. Provide, in any case, friendly, detailed, and quick responses through all these channels.

Try to gather as much information as possible about the preferences of your future guests: if they travel with children, if they are vegetarians, if they have any allergies, etc. This way, you can organize the accommodation in a personalised way with enough time and meet their demands. Having details doesn’t cost much and yet increases loyalty.

Discounts when advertising your holiday home

Have you thought about offering discounts specifically targeted to guests who have already stayed in your holiday home? There are several possibilities in this regard; from offering an economic discount with a specific percentage — usually from 5 to 20% — to offering the addition of some experience or a last free night, to name a few examples. Another idea is to implement prices adjusted to the season and demand. You can explain to your guests which are the cheapest seasons and the possibility of making an early booking.

You can also design a loyalty program. When the guest stays in their accommodation, they will earn points which, by accumulating them in a coupon, they can later exchange for discounts, specific services, or various improvements in the stay.

How to get guests to return: Some tips

Cooperation and collaboration with local companies and establishments are a good way to retain customers. For example, if we manage to partner with a good restaurant serving typical local food, we can offer, in addition to an authentic culinary experience, some kind of discount on the reservation. Similarly, we can become partners with tour guides, taxi drivers, adventure sports companies, etc. The possibility of doing activities parallel to the stay without having to organize them is highly valued by guests and is a model that encourages word of mouth and, therefore, customer retention.

Implement technical facilities

Check-in and check-out should be, as far as possible, simple and adapted to the needs of the guests. Offering some flexibility in entry and exit times is an interesting aspect for many travellers. The ease of leaving keys without the presence of the host or of carrying out some procedures online will be details that may not be essential, but that can convince your guests that they have chosen well.

Follow up on the stay

At the end of the stay, it’s not a bad idea to make a call to check that everything went well and measure the satisfaction of the tenants. The before and after are equally important. You can also send an email with an evaluative survey to be filled out confidentially. In that message, you can include the discounts for the second stay that we discussed earlier.

Well, at Holidu, we’ve already provided you with a good catalogue of guest retention techniques. Now, you know how to get your guests to return. All it takes is commitment, some investment, and, above all, initiative and enthusiasm to offer the best possible service.

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