www.gosouthfrance.com

There are an estimated 127,500 holiday homes in the South of France region. Each year the South of France attracts around 1,650,000 people staying in holiday rental accommodation. Our research indicates that there are approaching 7,600 rental properties advertised on the main holiday rentals websites that promote villa vacation rentals in Languedoc. This figure has grown by nearly 16% in the last 2 years. It is estimated that 85% of all holiday rentals are obtained through the internet.

South France holiday rentals marketing

The market for holiday rentals is very tight. We have seen some evidence of prices being held level or even reduced to attract bookings. The market for South France holiday rentals is predominanty a web based business. It pays off to work with professionals who who understand how best to market your property and know the South France holiday rentals business.

Go South France

Over the last 6 years we have developed a wealth of experience in the holiday rentals sector. Our aim is to help make owning a second home cost-neutral for you by earning you more rental income. We work closely with a whole range of property owners to maximise the booking potential of their property. As well as our own website promotion, we utilise a range of online services to publicise our vacation rentals in the South of France. Here is some of our advice to help you promote your holiday property online:

10 tips for marketing your vacation rental in South France

1. What is your unique selling point?

Every property has its own special feature: fabulous views; close to the beach; near a pretty town or village; remote and tranquil; located in a vibrant holiday resort; etc. Whatever it is about your property, you need to articulate this to the buying public. Give them one or two reasons why they should stay with you. Avoid being bland. Make your property stand out.

2. High quality photographs

The other photographs should emphasise how your property is clean, light and airy. Make sure that your photographs encapsulate the unique selling point of your holiday rental in South France.

3. Concise description

Provide your potential guests a concise and accurate description of your property. Emphasise your unique selling points in your first two or three lines. Avoid listing every knife and fork that you provide. Make use of strong adjectives: comfortable, spacious, relaxing, etc. Paint them a picture in words of what it will be like staying in your holiday rental home. Don't forget to offer some holiday activity ideas that are located nearby. But remember, don't be bland. Turn 'walking nearby' into 'walk the beautiful trails of the Black mountains' and 'canoeing' into 'canoe down the spectacular Gorge d'Herault'.

4. Power of Recommendations

Research from USA has shown that consumers are 6 times more likely to follow a recommendation than a standard classified advert. Recommendations give us confidence to purchase. If you have time and space, include some comments from past guests. Just one or two lines will do. Too much and it will come across as 'cheesy' or artificial.

5. Key information

You have about 1 minute to capture a potential customer's attention. Generally they want to know 4 key pieces of information. 1.) how much it is going to cost? 2.) Will it be big enough? 3.) Is it available? 4.) Where is it? Make it easy for them to find this information in the description of your vacation rental. Let them tick all their requirements there and then. Wherever you advertise your holiday rental keep your availability calendar up to date. Leave statements of when the calendar was last updated (to shown that the information is accurate & up to date).

6. Respond quickly

This is not so much a promotion issue, but more common sense. If you do get a booking enquiry, get straight back to them. At Go South France we always try and get back within 2 hours with confirmation. We have alerts sent to our mobile phones and we can pick up and send emails on our PDA. Never lose a potential booking by being slow off the blocks. Also, try and offer them an incentive to book there and then. Throw in an extra night, mention a fete taking place nearby during their stay, tell them if you have added something to the house. Tell them anything that might wet their appetite.

7. Guests list

8. Provide the personal touch

The internet is very impersonal. Anything you can do to show that you're a real person sets you apart from your competition. At Go South France we write to our rental customers the week before they arrive to tell them about good local restaurants to try or a festival that is tking place (see "Recommendations"). It is always a nice touch to write to a customer after they have stayed at your house. We email them to thank them for their stay and ask them if everything was OK. When it comes to getting referrals or repeat bookings, the personal touch is absolutely essential.

9. Keep track of your enquiries

It is always wise to keep track of your booking enquiries. Which of your advertising areas generated the most enquiries? Where did your guests find out about you? It might be that one website generates lots of enquiries but no bookings. Speak to the webmaster about why this is the case. All of this information will help you update your advert details and plan your marketing plan for the next year.

10. Plan to succeed

Also it is important to mix and match where you advertise. Combine global sites with national and location specific sites. Think about what marketeers call 'short reach' advertising. Market your property to people you know - your work colleagues, your friends, your golf club members. At Go South France we also place our properties on a number of free to advertise websites that charge a commission for a booking. We add in the commission to the rental price so that this does not cost us too much. We also keep a bit of a budget back to pay for short term adverts on places like eBay, laterooms.com and lastminute.com.