🏠 How to choose a photographer

👋 Welcome to this weeks newsletter and I’m glad you continue to find my newsletter of value to you and your holiday let business.

Although I’m not a big fan of networking events, it was great to chat to hosts and to gain ‘real life’ updates on their experiences at a recent Airbnb networking morning. It also re-highlighted the diverse range of hosts - from solo owners renting out a spare room on Airbnb, to professional property managers with a portfolio of properties. Both being equally valid.

See you next Saturday at 5pm?

Phil

Founder, My Holiday Guide

IN THE NEWS

There have been a number of articles this week highlighting the proportion of empty homes compared to the number of holiday let properties.

The source came from a study completed by the STAA (Short Term Accommodation Association) and Key Data.

Across 313 UK local authority areas, the report showed that 58% of them have more homes sitting vacant long term than there are holiday lets.

The Scottish Government have announced a number of changes that relaxes the law around their short-term lets licensing scheme. Specifically :

• Licences to be transferred to a new host, such as when accommodation is sold

• Prospective hosts building a new short-term let to apply for a provisional licence before construction is complete

• Hosts to apply for a maximum of three licence exemptions totalling six weeks in a calendar year

In Ireland, the TRIS (Technical Regulation Information System) have decided to pause the Registration for Short Term Rental Bill which the Department of Tourism was bringing through the Dáil.

Other News

• The mayor of the Spanish city of Barcelona has pledged to eliminate short-term tourist lets in the city within five years

• Booking.com is warning artificial intelligence (AI) is driving an explosion in travel scams, with cases increasing by between 500% & 900%

• Common cleaning product releases trillions of microplastics each month, study warns. Search our interactive inventory list for more eco-friendly products

• Looking for a niche location for your holiday let business? How about offering a fly-in holiday let?!

LISTING PERFORMANCE & GROWTH
Tips and strategies to enhance the visibility and attractiveness of your holiday let.

You may be considering engaging a photographer to take high-quality photos of your property but how do you go about selecting the right one for you? As a interior photographer for Harbour View Photography here are my top tips :

• Use good search terms - Use search terms such as ‘[location] holiday let photography’ or ‘[location] Airbnb photographer’. or ‘interior photographer near [location]’

• Check our resources directory - Our resources directory has a list of interior photographers you can review

• Contact at least three photographers - The common information they will need is location, the size of your property (E.g. square footage or number of bedrooms, etc.), providing a link to your existing listing is always helpful, potential timeframe for the photo shoot and if you would like them to stage your property

• View an example set of photos - Ask them to send you a link to a full set of photos they have completed for a holiday let within the last six months. This is a great way of appreciating what a set of photos might look like rather than just the ‘best of the best’ on their website

• Check their social media feed - Check their social media feed to confirm that they are primarily a interior photographer

You can read the full article here :

FEATURED RESOURCE
Highlighting useful tools and resources for your holiday let.

Social Media Management

I was at a Airbnb networking event this week hosted by Faye Roberts and it was great chatting to a number of existing hosts, both large and small as-well as a few service providers. We discussed the topic of social media and alongside reading good articles, how hosts could engage with someone to manage their social media.

Within our resources directory we have a few social media managers listed, of which Sara Appleton is one.

If you’re considering getting some help with marketing then feel free to contact Sara to see if her services can be if use.

SAVINGS
Here's a quick round up of discounts and deals we are aware of from providers to the holiday let industry.

• Dunelm currently have a clearance sale on with up to 50% off

• Hug at Home currently have 15% off using the code HUG366

• Ethical Superstore currently have yo to 15% off in their home and garden sale

• Emma mattresses have up to 35% off in their current sale

• Habitat have up to 50% off home and furniture items in their summer sale

INTERIOR DESIGN
Interior design inspiration and decor tips.

PROPERTIES OF THE NEWSLETTER
We all love looking at and getting inspiration from other properties so here’s our top pick for this edition.

NO FOMO
Missed last weeks newsletter? Here’s one thing you might like.

In last weeks newsletter we delved into what the latest staycation index report from Sykes tells us; especially around the increasing amount of shorter bookings being dubbed ‘staycation snacking’.

You can read the full newsletter here :

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