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Local accommodation (LA) has been one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic. The scenario is marked by postponements of reservations, cancellations and many doubts on the part of the guests.

Are you an LA Manager? Start working today to design a recovery plan to manage your business in these tough times. Here are some of our recommendations.

See how your business is doing

Make an analysis of the situation. How many reservations have been changed? How many have confirmed? Which areas are most affected? This is the first step to understand what strategy to implement.

Invest in the presence of your brand

It is natural that you think about cutting costs at this time of uncertainty. But the truth is that if you stop now and wait until the crisis is over, your competitors will gain a competitive advantage. With proper planning, you can make your campaign extremely successful.

If you have not already done so, it is essential that you start investing in digital marketing now, in order to protect your brand name and notoriety.

You should include, in your communication networks, information about the changes and adaptations that are occurring at this time

• Show that you have consideration for your employees, suppliers and customers.
• Is there flexibility in prices and reservations? Were there any changes to the cancellation policy? Show customers that they can book securely by offering money-back guarantees.
• What are you doing to ensure proper cleaning of the accommodation and adequate social distance? Ensure that the space is clean and sanitized and that all safety measures are being followed.
• Can you offer some extra convenience? To make a tourist rental house stand out from the wide offer, “extras” can be added that add value and can lead the interested party to choose one house over another.

Offer promotional vouchers and discounts for longer stays

Vouchers are an excellent way to make sales now that they will be used later, when the tourist context stabilizes. Remember not to place date limits on vouchers, at least until the end of the crisis.

Another option is to offer discounts to families looking for longer stays, in order to attract the attention of this public.

Manage cancellations

Returns should be your last option. If possible, make vouchers available for people to use whenever they want, as noted above.

If the customer insists on the cancellation, do not give too much resistance. This can give rise to disaffected people who, in turn, make negative criticisms. You can try to give a partial refund if full refund is impossible for some reason. Always show an image of responsibility, warmth and understanding.

Improve your ratings and comments

Being able to count on the comments and appreciation of guests is essential to build and cement their notoriety and have a stamp of confidence in future reservations. You can take this time to contact some previous guests that you know were satisfied and ask for an evaluation or comment. These, being aware of the difficulty of the sector at this moment, will realize and make available some of their time to help.

Read our article on this subject here.

Focus on the 2021 offer, advance reservations

If you are not comfortable competing on the basis of price penetration (this is especially true for superior and differentiated products), you can make discounts for early reservations for the coming seasons. Early booking is the only discount that is not seen as detrimental to a higher value tourist offer.

Hopefully, these recommendations have helped you. What steps are you taking or are you planning to take in these challenging times? Share with us!