marketing : know the area
Know The Area
An apartment in the middle of a lively resort town is not going to be suitable for families with children, disabled people, golfers, etc. You need to know your holiday property and the area, or resort, it is in, so you can prospect to your customers of the future.
Talk to people and find out from existing customers what they think about your holiday property and accept criticism - in fact welcome it as it will make you get better and create the right holiday property.
Love Thy Neighbour
The chances are, your neighbouring properties are also holiday lets and you have no control over them. It is inevitable that neighbourhoods change and if you are prospecting to families and your neighbours are attracting 'lads holidays', etc. there is a clash and the quickest to adapt will prevail. That doesn't mean back down, you need to establish the 'state' of the whole neighbourhood. And that works two-ways - you may have to be selective on who you sell to. This can be achieved in different ways including pricing.
The Town (resort)
Not easy to do at arms length but if you make an annual visit to prepare your holiday property for the 'season' or just to see how things are, spend some time researching how the resort is changing - a popular fish and chip shop round the corner of your spanish apartment tells you which way that resort is going - and it changes constantly. Take a look around (during the day and at night) to get a feel for the place. Is it families, couples, groups? - if so what age group?
Even back at home, the internet is a great resource for finding how the town (or village) is portrayed. Does your message fit? Are you attracting the right type of person? Remember we are talking about maximising your revenue from your holiday property - and the best way to do that is by maximising your audience.