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13/04/2008, 20:03 Clair Joined on 23/08/2004 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot (46) Posts 7,277 Re: Gite Bookings!! No they don't. They allocate a number of seats on each flight to a minimum price and once that number of seats is sold, the price goes up to the next tier. Clair, a Real Virtual French Person    Report

13/04/2008, 20:04 Cendrillon Joined on 19/10/2007 S.E. England & S.W.France Posts 410 Re: Gite Bookings!!  Russethouse wrote: FWIW my opinion is that Gite holidays offer better value when funds are low - you ca cater for yourself, bring tinned food etc   Quite right RH and gites in France are often cheaper than renting a cottage in the U.K. especially during high season. Cendrillon    Report

13/04/2008, 20:09 Cendrillon Joined on 19/10/2007 S.E. England & S.W.France Posts 410 Re: Gite Bookings!! "And surely there are very few overheads with Gites? The investment was in buying them, but the costs of staying in them is carried by the holidaymaker who has to buy their own food, pay the electricity etc." NormanH Many gite owners include electricity / gas / other heating, laundry and water costs in the weekly rental.   Holidaymakers still have to buy food for the family whether they are at home or away. Cendrillon    Report

13/04/2008, 20:14 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,955 Re: Gite Bookings!!  cooperlola wrote:  NormanH wrote:  ltf wrote:  NormanH wrote: Surely the answer is to reduce prices 20% to allow for the low exchange rate. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/10/currencies Great idea Norman! For those of us whose main income is from gites and live in France, do you think that our overheads, shopping and fuel bills etc. have also gone down 20%? Do you really think that we pluck our prices out of the air when we are pricing? A bit of tweaking may be necessary, but I doubt there are many people who run gites as a business who could  maintain their level of service to customers with a 20% reduction in income. But this is what is being asked of people on  a fixed income in sterling, such as Pensioners living in France. And surely there are very few overheads with Gites? The investment was in buying them, but the costs of staying in them is carried by the holidaymaker who has to buy their own food, pay the electricity etc. Isn't it better to accept a lower margin, but keep up the level of bookings? Years ago I worked in the hotel business.  If the rooms weren't full as the high season approached, then the prices were cut until somebody booked one. Ultimately you have to ask yourself - is it better to have an empty gite, or one that brings in 20% less than it did previously?  And only the owner knows the real answer.   Depend how low your profit margin was in the first place and what the competition is doing to some extent - but if I was marketing I would do a few sums and highlight the value for money compared to x.y and z www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

13/04/2008, 21:16 nimportequoi Joined on 15/11/2005 Posts 506 Re: Gite Bookings!!  NormanH wrote: But this is what is being asked of people on  a fixed income in sterling, such as Pensioners living in France. And surely there are very few overheads with Gites? The investment was in buying them, but the costs of staying in them is carried by the holidaymaker who has to buy their own food, pay the electricity etc. Isn't it better to accept a lower margin, but keep up the level of bookings? As Cendrillon says, many gite owners do an inclusive price and even if they don't, they extra charges they add on for cleaning, heating, bed linen etc. add up. Do you think the gites maintain themselves, that guests replace every glass they break, that you don't have to invest in new things to attract more guests, that swimming pool filter pumps, cookers, washing machines, dishwashers never need to be replaced? Well, they do, and it all costs money. Those costs aren't included in my overheads, they are just for utilities, cleaning, taxes, etc. I don't think anyone gets rich doing holiday rentals.    Report

14/04/2008, 7:00 bigears Joined on 16/07/2007 Posts 191 Re: Gite Bookings!! hi Not in the gite market personally but talked to a couple recently who have give up holiday letting their gites and long term rent them to french people.     Report

14/04/2008, 10:25 NormanH Joined on 10/04/2008 Posts 179 Re: Gite Bookings!! This is what I did five years ago when I was that the market was becoming saturated. I had a small country place that I now let to local people long -term.  It's not the same sort of luxury market as those with swimming pools and dishwashers, but it does mean I have a guranteed income from the CAF.    Report

14/04/2008, 11:20 Ian Joined on 04/07/2007 Posts 388 Re: Gite Bookings!! As someone with a mix of "long-term" and "holiday" buy-to-lets I reckon there is no magic answer to the conundrum of finding that holy-grail of zero-hassle/workload, good capital appreciation, great rental incomes, caring tenants falling over themselves to stay with you and assets easy to sell.  There really are so many variables to take into consideration.  With I suppose key questions being "which propertites shall I have in my portfolio and how much should I spend on each?" ... you make your money (capital) when you buy. (That's the theory anyway - I've made several mistakes myself!) ... key questions that are of no help once you have bought 'em! And I guess my own trial and error discovery over the last 7 or so years for both type of buy-2-let (once you have bought them) is to offer a few luxuries over the norm for your price bracket and employ the very finest property managers you can find (check out references with a fine tooth comb and don't cost cut on this vital member of your team): the rest is largely marketing. For many of my gite-owning friends there is another consideration - they are lifestyle-gite owners.  Not the typical buy-2-let investor at all, rather live-on-site property owners with one or two (or three) self contained units, often in an annexe, outbuilding or converted barn.  For them the scalability of their business is not important - rather it is having a rural french lifestyle in a lovely property that can be (part) financed by guests.  Often sociable people, their priority is maintaining and enjoying their lifestyle. Walking that tightrope between having a succesful business and a gorgeous lifestyle can be tricky. (especially if you live on-site). If one is trying to "have a it all" (business and lifestyle) with your buy-2-let concept problems can occur when the lifestyle choices don't make good business sense or when business decisions incur cuts in quality of life.   My observations of those who manage the balancing act well is that something has to take priority - Is this primarily a business? Or is this a lifestyle-choice?   I can immediately think of two families I know: one for whom their gites are most certainly a business and the other for whom they are very much part of their (semi/early) retirement lifestyle. Both families are getting what they want/need out of their buy-2-lets. Holiday and Property Guide for Nice and the Cote d'Azur    Report

14/04/2008, 11:41 Sprogster Joined on 23/08/2004 Var & C.I. Posts 332 Re: Gite Bookings!! According to an article in the travel supplement of one the Sunday newspapers, the good news is that most people have already booked their travel arrangements for this years summer holidays and therefore any downturn in Brit visitors to the Eurozone should be limited. Although, Brits will be spending less and may cut down on short break visits. However, the bad news is that if the weakness of the £ persists together with a slow down in the economy generally, then an adverse impact will definitely be felt next year, as Brits stay at home or holiday in non Euro countries.    Report

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France Forum » Owning/Running ... » Gite Owners » Re: Gite Bookings!!

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