🏠 Jump start your 2024

Happy New Year!

Now we have seen off 2023 and welcomed in 2024, I hope this newsletter can help you jump into the new year and provide you with news, tips and inspiration as we journey through 2024 together.

See you next Saturday at 5pm.

Phil

Founder, My Holiday Guide

IN THE NEWS

The HMRC clamp down on side incomes has been well covered in the news. In some ways this isn’t really new news, what’s changed is companies like Airbnb now needing to provide data to HMRC, enabling them to see potential individuals who haven’t been declaring. What are your thoughts?

Pointins have closed another one of their holiday parks - the third in the last month. Does this provide a potential boost to holiday lets in these locations?

The latest study from VisitBritian predicts that inbound tourism (foreign visitors) to the UK is continuing to increase however they still predict 2024 to be below pre pandemic levels.

Although Frontdesk is a US based large scale short-term accommodation provider, it’s interesting to see what else is happening in the industry from around the world.

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

A new article that highlights the boost locations get if they are linked to a popular TV show or film. One extract from this article states: “For instance global flight searches to filming locations soaring by up to 53% on Skyscanner whenever a new season of [The Crown] becomes available to stream.”

If your property is near a location linked to a TV series or film it might be something to further highlight on your social media and website to get more eyes on your property. For instance Classic Cottages created a blog post highlighting film locations around the UK. Why not create some social media content about famous locations near your property?

In this podcast / YouTube video Thibault from Rental Scale-Up, Mark from Boostly, Pierre Camille from Hospitable, and Phil from FutureStay discuss how hosts can improve their marketing, and adapting your listing strategy based upon the strengths of each of the major platforms such as Airbnb, Booking dot com and VRBO.

With the start of 2024, here’s an article that might help you review your cancellation & refund policy to make sure your policies are up to date and fair for you and your guests.

Airbtics is an analytics platform that provides details on predicted occupancy rates and average nightly income per area.

Based upon their data of occupancy rates, annual revenue, average daily rates (ADRs), domestic and international travel origins, here is an article highlighting their view of the top 10 most profitable UK locations.

If you are consider using dynamic pricing, we have created a list of dynamic pricing & listing optimisation software allowing you to see the different options available to you.

FEATURED ARTICLE
How Can I Improve My Airbnb Occupancy Levels?

Following the release of the 2023 Hostfully report last month, we have digested the 27 page report and have extracted a number of snippets from it. We have also provided some actionable takeaways that you can consider for boosting occupancy levels through 2024. You can read our full article below:

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

• Emma Mattresses have up to 25% off until the 27th of January. Check out their sale page here

• Dunelm continue to have their up to 50% off sale on bedding

• You can get £150 off beds from The Original Bed Co between now and the end of January by using the code NEWYEAR2024

INTERIOR DESIGN
Interior design inspiration and decor tips.

Tips and inspiration for how to arrange and furnish a small living room to make it feel welcoming and roomy whilst maintaining storage and functionality.

Are you considering some redecoration in the slow months? Here’s an article highlighting some of the most popular Farrow and Ball colours of 2023 to give you some colour inspiration.

Did you know, if you find a specific colour you like that you can create harmonious colour palettes on-line? I personally use the Adobe Color website but there is also Colooors where you can explore trending colour palettes.

Here’s an example colour palette using one of the popular Farrow and Ball colours.

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

JUST FOR FUN

Here’s a holiday let themed, family friendly word search you can download or play on-line.