Implementing discounts in your holiday rental
Discover strategies to increase the occupancy and profitability of your property.
- Discount strategies to maximise occupancy and profitability in holiday rentals.
- Price adjustment according to supply and demand, taking advantage of special dates and events.
- Diversification of offers to attract and retain different types of guests.
- Effective use of social networks to promote discounts and increase visibility.
Would you like to boost the profitability of your holiday home? Well, we’re here to help you do just that, as well as improve occupancy rates. But what exactly is the occupancy rate? Essentially, it’s the percentage difference between the total available days of our property and the actual days it’s occupied.
The key is to maximise that occupancy, reducing the number of empty nights to ensure maximum profitability. And to achieve that, we present a series of strategies – which we’ll discuss later – essential in such a competitive market as today’s. Although the best of all is always to apply discounts and special promotions.
Someone might want to rent my holiday home, but at the last moment decides to opt for another. What happened? That person has a wide variety of available homes to choose from and will go with the one that seems most attractive to them in terms of price. Holiday homes with discounts are seen as a savings opportunity.
And how does our brain react to an offer or discount? When discounts are offered for a brief period, people feel compelled to make quick decisions, wanting to take advantage of the discount. That’s why strategies to implement discounts have become a very useful and effective persuasion tool.
Discount strategies in holiday rentals
If you’re wondering how to set prices for holiday rental, we advise you to apply dynamic pricing, also known as smart pricing, from Holidu. It’s the best option to make your business work and achieve good profitability. Before, we only relied on high and low seasons, but now there are many more parameters to consider when setting rates.
What are these parameters? Supply and demand, special dates throughout the year, personalized services, etc. The variables are countless. You can offer discounts for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Carnival, or for weekend getaways. You can even offer discounts for birthdays or wedding anniversaries.
This way, you can play with different dates on the calendar while increasing demand for your property. And if you’re wondering how to apply discounts in holiday rental, you can easily do so from the holiday rental portal where you have your house listed. Or, if the guest pays you in cash, you can apply it upon their arrival.
What we strongly advise against is cancelling reservations to increase prices because you notice there’s demand. This will significantly harm your reviews and your overall perception as a host. Here are different strategies to apply discounts for renting a holiday apartment on Holidu and achieve maximum profitability.
Launch weekend promotions or on special dates
Many people plan weekend getaways or trips during holiday periods and long weekends. You can take advantage of these travellers’ desires to launch special promotions or holiday rental discounts for your holiday apartment. For example, a weekend near Valentine’s Day or the December holiday period. And if you do this regularly, your guests will pay attention to your promotions if they are satisfied with their stay.
Offer seasonal promotions
Is a holiday approaching and your calendar isn’t fully booked? Would you like your holiday rental to be consistently occupied on weekends? Then, offer interesting discounts to guests. Adjust prices according to the season and customize the apartment as much as possible to the needs of each guest.
Adjust prices based on occupancy rate
When we notice an increase in demand after listing a holiday home, we tend to raise the rates. This is a mistake as it can lead to losing many potential customers. The right thing to do is to maintain correct rates and lower prices as the days pass and we see that our occupancy rate is lower than expected. A holiday home occupied thanks to an offer is better than one empty and unprofitable.
Apply different types of discounts
You can offer 6 nights plus an extra one for free, a 5% discount for bookings of 4 nights or a promotion for booking within 24 hours. Another holiday rental discount strategy is to offer discounts to seniors, groups of friends and families, or business travellers. Remember, promotions are also very useful for guest loyalty. You can even put discount codes for holiday rentals on your page.
Go for last-minute deals
There will always be travellers who wait until the last moment to find interesting holiday rental offers or who impulsively want to travel. If your property has low occupancy, we recommend resorting to last-minute holiday rental offers. Additionally, each traveller is a new opportunity to get positive reviews and improve web positioning.
Use automation tools to apply discounts
Finally, you can use automation tools to implement discounts in your holiday rental. These tools analyze the market, supply and demand, average prices, etc. They act based on data and will save you a lot of time. Take a look at your holiday rental portal to see what options it offers you.
Key ways to make your property successful
- Analyse the competition, only then can you differentiate yourself from others
- Study guest profiles and, if possible, specialize in several of them
- Work on positive reviews, this will help optimize your web positioning
- Apply dynamic pricing: it will greatly improve your profitability
- Advertise the property on a website: a holiday rental website like Holidu will be a great ally
- Apply discounts to attract guests and increase demand
- Allow booking as far in advance as possible, this way you’ll gain guests
Social media, the ideal place to advertise your discounts
Do you already have a promotional code on the website? Then, it’s time to share this information on social media. Remember to use appropriate hashtags to make it more visible. Practically everyone uses social media and, among other things, uses it to search for information about their next destination, as well as to check holiday rental opportunities. Social media, moreover, provides an open window that brings you closer to potential guests.
This means of communication is used to send suggestions, ask questions, or write reviews. Don’t miss the opportunity to make your property and your discounts more visible. Your chances will multiply, as information can be shared instantly. You can even upload videos or photos of both the apartment and the most popular events in the area where the holiday home is located. Social media are indeed a very powerful marketing tool.