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Mazzard Farm holiday cottages www.mazzardfarm.com

Mazzard Farm holiday cottages

Attracting customers from abroad

Busting some Myths

http://www.mazzardfarm.com


A Little GameCan you tell from which countries these cars originate?



Mazzard Farm – who we are

• Small holiday cottage complex with 6 cottages, sleeping between 2 and 10

• Opened in 2008• Just outside Ottery St Mary in Devon, 5 miles inland from

Jurassic Coast• Strong focus on (young) families• Multiple Tourism Award Winner• 15% of our guests travel to us from outside the UK



Attracting Customers from AbroadA few myths

• It is hard to reach out to people outside the UK

• They only come in the main summer months, when we’re full anyway

• It is rare to see them become repeat customers

• The expensive pound is putting them off



Attracting Customers from AbroadIt is hard to reach out to people outside the UK

• Certainly harder, but a few quick tips may help1. Get reviewed on review sites popular abroad. For Netherlands and

Belgium, have a look at www.zoover.co.uk2. Having just your landing page translated in your target languages will

not only make you look more welcoming to visitors from abroad, it also vastly improves SEO (many tourists abroad do their searches in their own languages!)

3. Remember a lot of people in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium come to holiday in the South West and are trying to find you online. So make it easy!

• For the record, we don’t advertise outside the UK at all, yet 15% of our bookings are from the Continent (responsible for 20% of turnover!)


http://www.zoover.co.uk


Attracting Customers from AbroadThey only come in the main summer months, when we’re full anyway• Not true! Here at Mazzard Farm, we get guests from abroad

all year round• Because Spring, Summer and Autumn school holidays in

different countries often fall in different weeks, focusing on groups outside England (this can also include Ireland and Scotland!) will fill up weeks with otherwise possibly low occupancy. Please note that Dutch, Irish and Scottish Summer holidays start 1st week July

• For example, at Mazzard Farm we always have a full 1st week of May, simply thanks to holidays in Netherlands, likewise first half of July



Attracting Customers from AbroadIt is rare to see them become repeat customers

• At Mazzard Farm, approx. 25% of our guests become repeat guests

• In addition to this percentage, many recommend us to friends and family

• These percentages are roughly similar for our guests from abroad!



Attracting Customers from AbroadThe expensive pound is putting them off

• The number of visitors from outside the UK has not changed significantly over the past few years

• What we do see to a small degree is that they are more likely to book our cheaper cottages

• That, again, is great for us, as our UK audience tends to favourthe more expensive ones over the cheaper ones!



What can you do today?• Get the www.Zoover.co.uk listing up• Invite recent foreign guests to write a review on the site (in their own

language)• Add French, German and Dutch keywords to the ‘backbone’ of your

website. Probably best on home page

What you may wish to consider?• Add a one-pager in your key target language(s) to your website. Make

sure you include keywords in page’s backbone• Have relevant translated terminology in the URL• Have these translated professionally (don’t think you can get away with

Google Translate! It will look unprofessional, and won’t help you); Bureaus usually charge per word, so doesn’t need to be costly

• Add relevant little flags to your home page


http://www.Zoover.co.uk


Screen Shot to explain

Flags to easily identify relevant pages

URL in relevant language helps SEO



And Finally....

• You are likely to find that holidaymakers on the Continent haven’t (yet) been affected by the late booking bug in the same way as UK audiences have

• Meaning they tend to book earlier, which is of course good on so many levels.....

• Oh, and they’re quite likely to book two, or even three weeks; much longer than your average UK booking!

Thank You!



Mazzard Farm – contact details

For more information, please contact:

Ruud Jansen VenneboerJacqueline ParkerOwnersMazzard Farm holiday cottages01404 – 815 [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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