Availability calendars
|
All our adverts have an availability calendar that is maintained by the advertiser. They tell holidaymakers at a glance whether a property is booked (red), available (green) or if the availability is as yet unknown (grey). Holidaymakers can click to expand the calendar within your advert page to see dates far into the future if they want to book well in advance. We require that you use and update this calendar regularly in order to make the search process for holidaymakers user-friendly.
Our calendars are simple to use: select the first and last date of the period you want to change and then select the colour that you want to make it. All aspects of your calendar can be managed via 'Stage 6' in your Home Management Page. |
 |
The benefits of using your availability calendar
If you update your availability calendar frequently, your advert will get a boost in availability searches, appearing higher than those that haven't been updated as recently. We recommend updating your calendar every seven to ten days.
Holidaymakers are more likely to enquire when they can see that the calendar has been updated recently.
Holidaymakers are far less likely to enquire for dates already booked which will save you time when responding.
The responsible use of our availability calendars is defined in our Terms & Conditions and is a requisite of using our site.
If you have your own website, you can display the Holiday Lettings availability calendar by:
Simply linking out to the calendar as seen on the Holiday Lettings site. You'll find information you need for the 'preview link' in 'Stage 6' of your Home Management page.
Embedding the calendar directly into your website. You can use your personal Holiday Lettings calendar on your website for free. It provides you with an up to date calendar and helps visitors to your site to see immediately which dates are booked and which are free. Whenever you log in to Holiday Lettings to update your calendar, the calendar on your site updates too.
The do's and don'ts of availability calendars
DO update your calendar regularly - we recommend at least once a week, but our minimum requirement is that calendars are updated at least once per month.
DON'T leave booked dates as available to attract more enquiries - this will only annoy holidaymakers who enquired thinking the property is free for those dates.
DO remember that dates on the availability calendar are split into mornings and afternoons to allow for changeovers - if someone is leaving on a Saturday morning, you can leave Saturday afternoon as available.
DON'T neglect to update your calendar because you have no new bookings - simply tell us your calendar is up to date using the link provided in Stage Six of your Home Management Page so we don't think you're abusing the system.
DO mark your calendar as booked (red) as soon as you've confirmed a booking. Holidaymakers often check to see if you've changed the calendar and may worry if you've not marked it as booked.
DON'T mark dates as unknown (grey) unless you genuinely are unsure if the property will be available. If you are waiting to receive a deposit or completed booking contract mark the dates red.
For help updating your availability calendar, watch our 'How to' guide.
