Football & Holiday Letting

World cup fever is upon us so I thought I might as well join in but what could football possibly have to do with holiday letting?  The answer is a bit more than you think.

Big Event Effect
The World Cup is the biggest example of this phenomenon which also occurs during the Euros, Olympics and royal weddings to name a few.  If you are able to book outside of school holidays then by definition you are probably not tied to a specific week so there’s a tendency to stay at home for the big event.  I imagine conversations across the dinner table along the lines of wife: ‘I was thinking of booking a holiday home in Sandbanks for the first week in July again’.  Husband composes a straight face and says, ‘Oh I was going to surprise you with a special September break this year.’

Match of the Day Effect
A lot of our booking takes place at weekends and for years I’ve been used to waking up on Sunday morning to a healthy chunk of deposits to process.  It was only this year that I had the aha moment and spotted that a lot of these were arriving between 10.30 and 11.30 – during Match of the Day!  I’m guessing that after a sitting on the sofa and making a decision, one member of the family makes the booking whist the other watches the football.  I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on the match schedule and maybe we’ll even increase our Google advertising during the England matches and the final.  Of course the final will be an England match!

Big TVs
If you’re a regular reader you’ll have heard me banging on about this where size is definitely important.  Big TVs are now very cheap and one of the best investments you can make.  Yes I’ve had the conversation a hundred times with owners – ‘people are supposed to be on holiday.’  ‘Why can’t they go for a walk and enjoy themselves?’  I take your point but when it’s lashing rain and blowing a gale your guest will be grumpy if they want to curl up on the sofa and watch a DVD and all their £1,500 bought them was a 22 inch TV.  Out of season it gets cold and dark early and if you run a company like me the only time you ever get to watch a bit of telly is when you are on holiday.  Most of all it’s one of the things that follow Simon’s rule that you have to find a way to choose and it doesn’t have to be significant.

Imagine you advertise a job and get a hundred applications, you can’t possibly see everyone so you have to make some sweeping decisions – nobody who lives more than 5 miles away, nobody under 25 etc.  Those candidates might have been the best but you have to get to a shortlist somehow.  So it is with choosing a holiday property – 2 minutes of search will give you hundreds of options and you have to narrow it down somehow.  As you swipe through the list a small TV may get you knocked off the shortlist.

Channels & Broadband Speed
Working out the value of paying for extra channels including sports has always been difficult and one of the biggest things to consider is the Champions League.  It’s on for a lot of out of season weeks when there’s plenty of choice so providing access can get you on to that shortlist.  Fortunately technology has changed and now it’s on BT sport so anyone who is interested will have online access so get the fastest connection you can and if you are replacing the TV get a smart one with built in
online display.

I’ll be trying to enjoy the tournament without thinking about the lost rent and maybe we’ll have a bumper September.

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Contact Simon on:
t. 01202 707 357
e. simon@rumseyofsandbanks.co.uk
w. sandbanksbeachholidays.co.uk
a. 2 Banks Road, Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset BH13 7QD

Simon Tolson owns Rumsey Holiday Homes in Sandbanks and a portfolio of holiday cottage agencies in Cornwall.

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