So, what will June have in store for self-catering accommodation providers? After comparing our June booking stats for the past three years, it’s apparent that guest booking patterns have been strikingly similar.
Short breaks increase in popularity
It will come as little surprise to discover that bookings for short breaks of 0-6 nights are the most popular with guests – they have increased by more than 5% since 2013. At the same time, bookings for week-long stays have dropped by 4.4% and bookings for 7+ nights have dropped by 0.7%:
Don’t panic! There’s no need to feel despondent if you find you’re taking fewer full-week bookings. Just make sure you load your prices in SuperControl to ensure any length of stay is profitable. You can do this in your Price planner.
Booking leadtime
The majority of the bookings you take next month will be for stays that start in the following 60 days:
Guests’ propensity for last-minute bookings has been well documented, but you should still make sure you show your availability for at least the next 12 months, in order to catch those early bookers (log in to your SuperControl account and go to Properties > Chart display to do this).
Overall, bookings are up
The good news is that the number of bookings placed in June have increased each year since 2013:
- June 2014 bookings were 10.0% higher than June 2013 bookings.
- And, June 2015 bookings were up 5.5% on 2014.
In theory, next month should bring more bookings than last June. However, if it follows the pattern of previous years, the increase will be less significant.
So, what should you do? If you find that your bookings are looking sluggish, perhaps consider a special offer or discount to tempt more guests.
Discounted v full price bookings
Between 2013 and 2014, the proportion of discounted bookings placed in June fell from 15.1% to 14.5%. Last June, however, discounted bookings increased by 0.4% on June 2014:
Whether or not we’ll also see more discounted bookings next month remains to be seen.
Discounting is a useful tool to fill dates you’re struggling to sell. However, there are lots of tools in SuperControl to help you limit having to do this, such as:
- Make the most of our MailChimp integration to keep in touch with your past guests – remind them what they loved about your property and perhaps you’ll tempt them to book again.
- Reward guest loyalty with a tempting voucher.
- Make it as easy as possible for guests to book with you – offer online booking and ensure your Book now button is easy to find on your website; allow your guests to be able to pay online at the time of booking, if they want to; make sure your availability and pricing is up to date and showing for at least the next 12 months.
