Why there has rarely been a better time to market to guests from outside the UK

Anyone running a holiday business in the UK (outside London, and possibly Bath and Edinburgh) will quite likely see the vast majority of their guests coming from the UK. Nothing wrong with that, but it is a market under pressure. As despite all the noise about the so-called Staycation, reality is that for a raft of reasons, it is getting harder and harder to market holiday accommodation to the UK population outside the 10 or so main school holidays weeks. Furthermore, due to today’s climate of political uncertainty and negative wage growth for many, people are much less likely to take one or more ‘cheeky’ UK short trip(s) in addition to their main summer holiday.

So, all the more reason to try and reach markets outside the UK. Markets which bring other advantages too:

• Different countries have different weeks in which their schools have holidays. This alone can lengthen your peak season considerably
• Currency fluctuations: by marketing outside the £ market you can benefit when currencies such as the €, $ or Aus $ weaken against Sterling
• Hedging against local challenges: the more different markets you attract guests from, the more you ‘proof’ yourself against specific challenges in one or more of these. For example, economically, most countries in the EU are currently outperforming the UK (oh, the irony), and therefore people have money in their pockets
• Less affected by the ‘late booking disease’: if Mazzard Farm’s bookings are anything to go by, then there is ample evidence that people in countries such as Belgium, Netherlands and Germany still book their summer holidays much more in advance than Brits do these days. Not only does this help cash flow in December – March, it also nudges others into getting into action, as ‘visible scarcity’ is being created

And last but not least:

• It’s fun! Having guests around from different corners of the world makes running your business so much more interesting; for you and for your guests

“But how?” I hear many of you ask. It really isn’t that difficult. A good start would be to add a few foreign language mini-sites to your main website, optimised with the right (translated) keywords and URL’s, as this helps people from outside the UK find you. Cost of this could be as little as the proceed from one additional non-UK booking!

Want to learn more? Drop us a note and we’d happily explain a bit more.

Good luck!

Ruud Jansen Venneboer

Mazzard Farm

info@mazzardfarm.com

www.mazzardfarm.com 

The Power of Working Together

It must have been some 10 years ago (we hadn't yet found Mazzard Farm) that we were looking at a holiday property for sale, when the owner proudly told me that "He never had to pay a penny in the local pub." He explained that as he sent 'every guest' to that same pub, and by making sure the guests told the landlord who had sent them, the pub reciprocated by never charging him when he and his wife would pop in for something to eat or drink. "Just one of the perks of running this business" he added.

"So is it the only decent pub around that you send everyone there?" I asked him. "Oh no, there are some great places, but none of the others offer me this benefit, and also, it only works because of the volume I send to this one." I contemplated for a second or two to challenge him and ask whether possibly his guests would be better served by a more independent attitude to the advice given, but I quickly decided that this conversation would probably not go anywhere. He was way too proud of his little arrangement, as his rather significant paunch paid testament to....

The 3 years or so (!) we spent looking before we finally stumbled upon Mazzard Farm taught us a lot about the industry we were about to enter. Some really useful insight (best tip: have Friday as your changeover day, as you just won't find cleaners for the Saturday!), some less so. One clear (and rather sad) message we came across rather too often was the notion that people felt they were very much 'on their own', with little cooperation amongst people in their industry locally. People seemed to feel everything was just down to them.

So when in July 2008 we opened Mazzard Farm, the one thing we had at the top of our minds was that we wanted to break through that. Our start wasn't encouraging though: the 30 or so local tourism businesses we invited to our opening party decided to collectively ignore the invite (bar one that is: thank you Alistair and Lorna!), and we seriously asked ourselves what we had done entering this world.....

Yet it didn't stop us from having the strong intention to work with others, and we made sure that when we advised our guests on what to do, where to eat/drink, etc., that we listened to what they were after, before giving them our best and fully impartial advice. In fact, we quickly developed a Guide to the area, ensuring there was something in it for everyone, and making clear we had absolutely zero personal interest in anything we recommend. We just want to make sure our guests have the best possible time. Drop us a note if you want us to send you a copy. We also added a page to our website aiming to inspire potential guests about our local area, and one listing our favourite local pubs.

And it works: we know our guests love it, and it makes them want to come back! And over the years, we have been able to build a great network of local tourism businesses, and the people behind it, meaning we are kept informed of new developments, are sometimes given discount passes to pass on to guests, and generally work towards East Devon as a fantastic place to stay, eat, drink and discover.

So the images you see here highlight some of the great local attractions we know our guests like and enjoy, just as we have a list longer than our arm of places to eat and drink, with the added knowledge of which one is best for a given occasion. Likewise, we know and appreciate that a growing number of these businesses have started developing a similar attitude to working together, meaning between us we support, encourage and serve. People appreciate when they are offered suggestions from those who know, and who better to provide such advice than people right at the heart of things?

In tourism in particular, there are very few platforms remaining that collectively support the 'industry', so we have to work together to achieve results. As much as we may regret the 'death' of 'tourist boards' as many people still think exist, reality is we need to do it ourselves. Thankfully, more and more of our colleagues realise that too, and (East) Devon will be a better place for it! Will you come and discover for yourself? We look forward to it!

Ruud Jansen Venneboer

Mazzard Farm holiday cottages

Ottery St Mary, Devon

www.mazzardfarm.com

Why does the UK Government prefer businesses to stay small?

This week will see Britain’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, present his first ever Autumn Statement. I suspect the word ‘growth’ will feature a lot. He will probably tell us the economy will grow, and that it is largely through the efforts of this Government that this will happen.

The Chancellor will no doubt list a whole raft of measures he and his Government have, or will soon, put in place, allowing businesses to grow, new businesses to emerge, and Britain generally remaining a welcome nation to businesses locating here from outside. Whether we’re in the EU or not. Rumour has it Corporation Tax will be reduced.

The Chancellor may even single out ‘my’ industry, tourism, as a major vehicle for his growth plans, and outline all the ‘fantastic work’ they are doing to help us. I am thinking LEP’s, (possible) infrastructure investments, support for VisitEngland, etc. And no, I won’t knock any of that, or indeed deny that these are important. They are!

Yet, no matter what initiatives we can welcome, and what possible investment(s) we can expect, the impact small businesses - of which there are many in tourism! - can make on the UK economy will remain stifled, unless one huge barrier gets taken away, or at a very minimum, changed significantly: the VAT threshold!

As long as the UK keeps maintaining a VAT system where there is a threshold, and that as soon as a business breaks through this threshold, it becomes liable not just for the amount over the threshold, but for all of its turnover (so the £83K included), many small businesses will make a conscious decision to stay small. Because unless you are confident enough that you will grow well beyond the level needed just to pay this additional taxation, why take the risk? A quick sum shows that a business needs to jump from £83K (current VAT threshold) to well over £100K in turnover just so it can fund this (new!) VAT bill. Assuming the average business to operate around the 5% profit margin, it becomes clear that for many, to make paying VAT a viable prospect, they would be looking at growing well beyond £150K in annual turnover, even taking into account scale advantages, etc. Many won’t be able to do so, or indeed be prepared to take that risk.

So in summary: the VAT threshold as it stands is a massive hurdle, effectively preventing many thousands of enterprises from reaching their full potential, as both the cost and risk are just too big. What a waste! And the solution, other than scrapping the threshold all together, is straightforward: just remove VAT liability below the threshold all together, for all businesses. If that means the threshold needs to drop somewhat, or for Corporation Tax to reduce less, then so be it, but it will mean that growth becomes attractive to all, opening a potentially huge pool of additional economic activity to the UK economy overnight.

And sadly, it doesn’t stop there, as the Government is just about to score its second own goal effectively stopping the opportunity for growth for many: abolishing business rates for small businesses. Where I am all for a major overhaul of business rates (Britain’s most confusing and unfair tax?), what George Osborne announced in his final budget earlier this year, to take some small businesses out of rates altogether, yet keep in the ‘slightly less small’, is likely to repeat the mistake which is the VAT threshold: a business may make the conscious decision to stay small! Looking at what constitutes a business likely to qualify for the 100% Business Rates discount, we are likely to see a group very similar to the ones (just) below the VAT threshold. A double whammy if ever there was one. Why try and grow your £80,000 or so a year business to £90K, £100K or even £125K, when running it at £80K is more profitable? 

Now just pause, and think of how many 1,000's of businesses are in this situation? Crazy, indeed!

Ruud Jansen Venneboer

Owner, Mazzard Farm holiday cottages (a small business above the VAT threshold)

www.mazzardfarm.com 

The Ghost of Michael Gove

Ask anyone whether attending school is good for children, and few will disagree. Check whether there is a correlation between school attendance and performance, and we all expect to find a positive outcome. Our children benefit from being at school, there should be no doubt about that. Yet, every so often a child may benefit from something else too: grandma's 85th birthday celebration, a family wedding, a long weekend with family or friends who live afar, or - dare I say it - a trip to London or Paris. Is any of this going to negatively affect the child's future prospects? I would argue it isn't. Quite the opposite in fact.

Until just over two years ago, scenarios as described above were generally accepted, and 'watched over' by School Heads who had the authority to make common sense decisions about requests for absence (taking into account parents' reasoning, as well as the child's general attendance levels and educational progress made). A system that to all intents and purposes worked well. Or did it? 'Not so' decided then Education Secretary Michael Gove, and from one day to the next, all UK Heads of Schools were given a clear message: absence during school time is no longer permitted, no matter what the reason for the request, and only a handful of exceptions would still apply. In a nutshell, your child can still attend granny's funeral, but please don't ask for time off when she celebrates her 85th...

Why the sudden mandate? Gove believed there was a large group of parents systematically taking their kids out of school for prolonged periods of time, for example allowing them to benefit from cheaper, term time holidays, and this had to be dealt with. Not that odd an argument per se. Leaving aside the question of the actual size of this group of 'truant parents' (Gove's research used was flimsy, to put it mildly), two important questions remain: 1. are these 'truant parents' really going to be stopped by a 'no absence or pay a penalty' message from their schools (the large number of penalties handed out to such parents since this came into force suggests it doesn't) and 2. why apply the broad brush approach, and rule out even the most reasonable requests for the odd day off? It very much seemed that the 'good ones' were made to suffer because of a few 'bad ones'.

Because let us be absolutely clear: the vast majority of parents totally agree that their children should attend school as much as possible, and that taking them out for a week, just so they can have a 'cheap holiday', is wrong in principle. But there are occasions where keeping them out for the odd day is the right thing to do. We've already mentioned granny's 85th, but there are many more. For example, many of us now live far away from family and friends, and seeing them may involve a very long journey. Is taking a Friday off, once or twice a year, just so as a family you can make the journey to see the kids' cousins, going to scar your children's academic future? Of course it isn't. Family time together, increasingly hard in today's environment where mum and dad may both be working full time, is something the whole family will benefit from, and dare I say it, possibly a touch more important once every so often than that extra day at school.

And some families, for example those working in tourism, or farming, may struggle taking out time when everyone else is on holiday. In the past, such families were allowed a degree of discretion when it came to when they could go away for a week or so. Not any more! Here in the West Country alone, this affects tens of thousands of families, yours truly included.

Most of the debate around this topic, and thankfully there has been quite a bit of late, has concentrated on families 'taking the kids out for a cheap holiday', and indeed the Prime Minister himself has weighed in on the argument by stating 'We won't change the rules to allow people to bunk off school'. Yet as much as I would agree that this is something in need of dealing with, this '0 tolerance' approach is not the way to do it, and it ignores the problem all diligent parents (read: most parents) now have when they are looking for just one or two days absence, for usually very valid reasons.

I am arguing this point as much as a parent (half of our kids' family lives abroad, and we are now encouraged to lie - 'throw a sickie please' - when we make our once a year family trip there), as I am reasoning this as owners of six holiday cottages. Where until two years ago we welcomed many family groups for a weekend stay in Spring or Autumn, often extended families with 3 or more generations having some real quality time together, this market has virtually dried up, with a reduction in weekend bookings since 2013 of no less than 50%! Travelling upwards of 3 hours (times two!) for a stay of less than 48 hours is just not attractive enough for many to make the effort.

And we are not alone. A recent study by the University of Plymouth has found that two thirds of tourism businesses in the South West of England have seen a drop in income resulting directly from what is now known as the 'Gove Effect'. These are not just accommodation providers, but all tourism related businesses, suffering the same effect: if people don't come, they don't visit attractions, eat out, or buy in the shops. Cost to the West Country economy is estimated at £87 million a year.

The irony of all of this, if irony is the appropriate word under these rather serious circumstances, is that holiday businesses (many are small operators, working to very small margins) are going to HAVE TO make their peak season breaks even more expensive, as demand in these weeks means that this is the only place where they can compensate somewhat for the losses made in off-season.

So what is the tourism industry proposing? In short, a return to common sense, moving away from the 'sledgehammer to crack a nut approach'. But there are other proposals too: spreading the peak weeks through regions (as Europe does), meaning demand is spread more (remember, in tourism, supply is usually fixed!), encouraging schools to 'bundle' their Inset Days into a full week (as some schools in Wales already do) and encourage educational breaks, given travel is often highly educational in itself. Here at Mazzard Farm, we encourage people to make the most of their Inset Days, as that does offer scope for out of season shortbreaks without the rush.

So as a nation, we have a choice here: see a major chunk of our treasured UK tourism industry go out of business, or give them a fair opportunity to compete? And allowing us all to go and visit Granny when both you and her still enjoy it. Or do we - as Gove would prefer so it seems - think it is okay to have to wait until her funeral?

Ruud Jansen Venneboer
Mazzard Farm holiday cottages
Devon
www.mazzardfarm.com 

Greed? What Greed?

Some hard truths about holiday prices during school holidays

It was some time last week that I found myself involved in debate on twitter, where I actually ended up defending, of all businesses, Centre Parcs, against the accusation they were ‘profiteering’ from the fact some people can only take their holiday(s) during school holidays. What quickly materialised, judging by the comments made by various people contributing to the debate, was an alarmingly low level of understanding of why holiday businesses often use a fee model that has different rates for different times of the year. Or maybe I should say ‘Have to use…’ Having reflected on the debate a bit more, I thought I’d share some insights from within ‘the industry’.

What may be a good starting position is to state that most holiday businesses would much rather have a flat charging structure all year round. Yes honestly! Yet, very few do, and there are good reasons for that. For the record, ‘greed’ isn’t one of them! When we started Mazzard Farm some 6 years ago, I for one was adamant that we would keep price differences between low, ‘shoulder’ and peak season to an absolute minimum. As a result, our very first set of rates saw summer peak rates at just 40% or so above the lowest rates in winter. It didn’t take us long to realise it was going to cost us dearly: the small number of peak weeks (6 out of 52) literally flew off the shelves, yet we saw almost no-one booking any of our breaks in winter, spring and autumn! You could say we learned the hard way. But we learned!

So why – you may ask – is a carefully designed fee structure, which may include some large differences for the same cottage from one week to another, essential in your business? Aren’t you just ripping off families with school-age children? Allow me to try and explain:

• Supply and demand – in Britain, there are just 10 weeks in the year (indeed, the main school holiday weeks in Spring, Summer and Autumn), where demand usually outstrips supply. It is in this very short period where a large number of businesses in our industry will have to earn as much as 50% of their annual turnover, simply because these are the only 10 weeks of the year where this opportunity exists. Without these 10 weeks, most of us would not have a business to run!

• ‘Forcing’ demand – by having different rates in different weeks, we encourage those ‘who can’ to book their holidays outside of the main peak weeks. Just imagine how many more people would be after that lovely cottage in the middle of August if it wasn’t for the fact they can actually book it cheaper in June or in September?

• Running a year-round business – To say that the holiday market in the UK in the 42 weeks outside the key holiday weeks is a competitive market is an understatement! Many of us have quite a few months each year where cash flow is actually negative (meaning: we spend more than we invoice). So to try and make sure we attract an as high as possible level of business in those weeks, we simply have to make sure we are as price-competitive as we can be.

And there are two key factors that have made this worse in recent years: with people having tightened their belts as a result of the recession, far fewer ‘cheeky’ short breaks are being taken by people during Spring and Autumn, meaning the pressure on holiday businesses to ‘make up’ during those weeks less affected by the economic downturn (most people will aim to NOT cut out their man summer break) is even bigger.

The second factor is the mandate from our current Education Secretary, Michael Gove, to ban outright any 'non-school-holiday' time off taken by school children. So where in the past a family may have been able to go for a long weekend break by ‘keeping’ the children off school during a Friday or Monday, this is now no longer a realistic option, which is impacting heavily on people deciding to go away for a weekend (as ‘what is the point as you already have to travel back on the Sunday?’ some argue). Here at Mazzard Farm we have seen a dramatic decline in such breaks, and where people do take them, almost none stay until Monday morning!

It is for all these reasons that we have been advocates for a long time of the spreading of holidays across the country. For the whole of England to enjoy their summer breaks in one or more of the 5 weeks between late July and late August is just crazy. Ask yourself, if a small country like the Netherlands – with a quarter of the UK’s population - sees the need to spread their summer holidays over 9 weeks (across 3 regions), and has done so successfully for many years, then how come this has never been properly debated – leave alone tested – in the UK? I for one am convinced that summer holidays will become cheaper (supply vs. demand!), and holiday areas and main roads less crowded, if such a model was adopted in Britain.

Or maybe, if we do feel we need to be so hard-line on school attendance, just give every child one or two days a year ‘off’ at a time of their (parents’) choosing? Surely all schools now have the hardware in place that records attendance, so keeping a tab on this would be easy, and families can have some real quality time at a time when a weekend break doesn’t cost the earth. At Mazzard Farm we often welcome extended families on a family weekend, with young and not-so-young having a great time together. I don’t think anyone will ever convince me that a get-together like this every once in a while is less important than being present during all 40 or so Monday morning assemblies at school….. And for the record, I make this comment first and foremost as a parent, and much less as someone who happens to be running a set of holiday cottages!

So I hope this has helped clear up a few misunderstandings, and that the price of your holiday is based on hard economic facts, rather than greed. And that there are things we can do as a nation to somewhat alleviate ‘the pain’, if only there was the willingness to do so! And finally, there is of course a silver lining: most families only ‘suffer’ from this issue for about 10 – 15 years in their lives, meaning there are many years left to benefit from those great, low, off peak rates. Well, unless you are a teacher I suppose…..

Ruud Jansen Venneboer

Owner, Mazzard Farm holiday cottages

www.mazzardfarm.com

When Being Green is Just Not Enough

I can still picture him today, the man appointed to assess Mazzard Farm for the UK’s main Green Tourism grading scheme, now almost 5 years ago: twenty-something, a tad introvert, probably an environmental science degree, and clipboard in hand. Of course he had a clipboard in hand. On it a set of forms, each with endless rows of questions and obligatory check boxes. Questions about the number of light bulbs, shower head flow rates, our recycling habits, whether we grew our own veg, and many more. Main purpose in the man’s life was to try and tick as many boxes as he possibly could. Had he ticked a sufficient number, he would tell us we had achieved ‘Gold status’, and everyone was happy.

We’ve had him back here once more, but having realised he was still ticking the same old boxes behind the same old questions, we decided not to bother again. Some risk I should add, because without an ‘official green grading’, we could run the risk of losing out on awards, specific green (promotional) listings, and dare I say it, bookings. But thankfully that concern could be laid to rest when bookings kept coming in just as before, and we were crowned most sustainable Devon tourism business in 2010 and again in 2012, leaving behind us quite a number of businesses who could (still) show their official gold status in green tourism.

So what do we think is wrong with a set of questions and tick boxes when it comes to striving to be ‘as green as possible’ you may ask? Not a lot, especially if ‘being green’ is your key objective. But it is 2013 now, and what we aspire to is not just being as environmentally sound as we can be; we want to be as sustainable as possible. And being a sustainable tourism business takes a lot more than a recycling policy, LED lighting, a compost heap, and a few Renewables on site.

For us, key to being sustainable is that we are firmly rooted in our local community. And that we work hard to try and make our guests appreciate, support, and engage with this same community too. We do this by informing them we ‘buy local’, why we do so, and why we think they may have a much richer holiday experience if they do so too. We spend a lot of time promoting local things to do, and enthusiastically telling our guests about all the beauty they can find (almost literally) on their temporary doorstep. Doing this hits two birds with one stone: they help support our local community, and they significantly cut down on car miles whilst here at Mazzard Farm. Oh and by the way, they tend to have a much more enjoyable holiday too.

In addition, we try and involve our community in what we do. We invite local groups to enjoy our orchard and woodlands, we build fires with Brownies, juice apples with school children, and we get actively involved with schools and in local initiatives.

But there is more: we believe that a sustainable business is a completely transparent business, and for us that includes total transparency, and dare I use the word, fairness, when it comes to our pricing policy. For us this means no late booking discounts, no negotiating for a better price, but awarding loyalty, direct referrals, and early booking. We know this sometimes ‘costs’ us a booking, but we accept this, knowing that in the end everyone can be assured that the price they have paid for a stay at Mazzard Farm has been a fair price, and that the people staying in an identical cottage next door have paid this price too.

And I could continue for a bit, but to keep this article a ‘sustainable’ length, I probably better leave it at this. What I will do though is invite anyone who wants to know more, see what we have done, tell us about their experiences, or for whatever reason wants to chat with us, to contact us, and we’d be delighted to engage. Because sharing is also sustainability, as is learning. A very big part of it in fact!

Ruud Jansen Venneboer & Jacqueline Parker

Mazzard Farm holiday cottages, Devon, UK

http://www.mazzardfarm.com/home/mazzard-farm-and-the-environment/

info@mazzardfarm.com

01404 – 815492

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MazzardFarm

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MazzardFarm

Forty Shades of Green - Sustainable Holidays at Mazzard Farm holiday cottages

Take a holiday anywhere and you will most likely see claims that your accommodation ‘strongly cares about the environment’. Examples of what it does will range from a ‘towel policy’, ‘we recycle’ statement, low energy lighting and / or activity responsive controls, to local sourcing arrangements. All good of course, irrespective of whether these steps were actually taken with sustainability in mind, or ‘just’ plain old cost saving measures.

Increasingly however, operators in the tourism industry go well and truly beyond the ‘please hang up your towel if it doesn’t need washing’ statement, and here at Mazzard Farm cottages on East Hill (Ottery St. Mary, Devon), we believe we do as much as we possibly can to keep up with these developments. And dare we say so, we may have even developed one or two initiatives ourselves!

In broad terms, we distinguish between two major elements: the actions we have taken ourselves / behaviours we show, and guest behaviours we hope to influence, trying to make sure our guests have a great holiday, and one which is as sustainable as possible.

Looking at the former, besides all the obvious ones (i.e. materials used when converting our barns into cottages, energy and lighting, green cleaning solutions, appliances, recycling, biomass boiler, solar PV panels), we provide discounts to guests arriving by public transport and encourage guests to enjoy local wildlife (we are in an AONB). Furthermore, we are very active locally (schools, business forums, green networks), and we regularly offer Mazzard Farm as an ‘educational playground’ for local groups such as the school, nursery and Brownie packs.

It is in regards to influencing our guests’ behaviours where we believe we have discovered new and innovative approaches. Innovations which are easily transferable to other tourism businesses. For example, ahead of guests arriving at Mazzard Farm we e-mail them two documents: a comprehensive Guide to ‘what to do in the area’ and a ‘Shopping Locally in Ottery St. Mary’ 2-pager. Both have a number of objectives: ensuring our guests have the best possible time at Mazzard Farm of course, but other aims include supporting the local economy, keeping food-miles down and reducing the use of a car during people’s stay. We estimate that the East Devon Guide alone reduces guests’ car use by as much as 75%, and since we launched the local shopping 2-pager, supermarket deliveries have virtually ceased.

We very much believe in the carrot rather than the stick, and that is why our approach works. And what is more, we know that some aspects of the ‘Mazzard Farm experience’ can lead to changing behaviours at home too!

www.mazzardfarm.com / 01404 815492