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quality assessments

Quality assessment schemes for holiday lets

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quality assessments

‘Quality’; it’s something we all strive to achieve and love to enjoy.  In no other area is this truer than in the tourism sector; an abundance of choice combined with online reviews from sites such as TripAdvisor mean that the discerning guest has never been as well informed or full of expectation. 

So how do we communicate ‘quality’ in the face of such fierce competition? Where do people now place their trust in light of so many quality and awards logos?

We take a look at some of the quality assessment schemes for holiday lets and available to holiday homeowners aiming to highlight the efforts they put in to ensuring no stone or bed sheet is left unturned.

Quality in Tourism

Quality in Tourism are a well know independent business offering a wide range of assessment schemes, one of which gauges whether holiday accommodation is ‘Safe, Clean and Legal’. 

Whilst guests may expect the properties they stay in to be safe, the emergence of second room renters or the ‘sharing economy’ has meant that this isn’t always the case; it may surprise you to know that Airbnb’s own terms and conditions state that “Airbnb has no control over and does not guarantee the existence, quality, safety suitability or legality of any listing”. 

When you take into account there’s an estimated 100,000 Airbnb listings across the UK it’s never been more important to highlight that you are safe and meeting all legal legislation for your guests.

For more information please visit:

THE AA | Visit England | Visit Wales | Visit Scotland | Discover NI

All of the national tourism bodies across the UK now access holiday accommodation to the same criteria, providing potential guests with a perfect and easy to understand and compare the quality of properties they’re considering.  Each property is awarded with a rating from one to five stars, with the number of stars reflecting the facilities and overall quality of experience provided to guests.

Just like Quality in Tourism, Visit England offer a scheme that provides guests with confirmation that your property is safe, clean and legally compliant – you can find more information on this entry level scheme here:

Entry-level Accommodation Accreditation

You can also undertake their full self-catering assessment scheme which looks not only at your compliance and safety, but also your facilities, guest experience and a whole host of other factors. You can find more information on the self-catering scheme and information on how to apply here:

Self-Catering

If your holiday cottage is in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, then you are able to apply and work through the similar assessment criteria via these links:

A trusted letting agent

Aside from the traditional quality assurance schemes, working with a trusted and experienced holiday letting agent in your area is another great way to communicate your quality self-catering accommodation.  More and more letting agents are beginning to conduct their own quality schemes and many are signing up to The Holiday Home Industry Code Of Practice, meaning they’ll only list your property once you meet all of their exacting standards. You’ll of course also benefit from their extra local knowledge and additional marketing reach too….

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. Need an insurance quote for your holiday let? Give us a call on 01237 429444 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.

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sharing economy

New report calls for greater regulations for the ‘sharing economy’ and online platforms such as AirBnB

sharing economyThe UK’s tourism sector has seen many changes over recent years, but perhaps none more significant than the emergence of the sharing economy.

Online platforms such as AirBnB, whilst originally positioned as helping homeowners make additional income by renting out a spare room in their home have now been used by an all-together different marketplace. Of the 64,000 properties listed on AirBnB in London, 50% of owners aren’t present at the home and 40% of those making listings are doing so for more than one property.

The suggestion is therefore that these are not homeowners and are instead tourism accommodation businesses. The issue with this? It is perceived by many that there is currently no level playing field when it comes to the regulations faced and taxation paid by those holiday letting via the sharing economy when compared to traditional holiday homeowners. In reality the reglations and tax regime applying to those offering furnished holiday accommodation is the same whichever route owners choose to market their holiday letting properties.

The report highlights concerns that “Rather, the problems derive from two main factors. First, sharing economy companies are very poor at providing information to potential hosts regarding their statutory responsibilities regarding the health and safety of their guests. Leading sharing economy platforms do not check if the hosts are compliant with regulations such as gas and fire safety before allowing them to post a property on their site. Of particular concern is that sharing economy companies place all responsibility for customer safety with the host.”

For example, the Airbnb terms and conditions state:
“Airbnb has no control over and does not guarantee the existence, quality, safety suitability or legality of any listing”

The report from the ‘All Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism’ has highlighted ‘the need to protect customer safety, maintain a level regulatory playing field across the tourism industry, take into account the needs of local communities, and ensure that all operators of tourism accommodation are paying the appropriate level of tax’. The report also highlights; “The need for comprehensive public liability insurance is becoming more acute as visitors, and the public as a whole, become more claims conscious.”

We recommend that anyone involved in the holiday letting industry reads the full report which can be downloaded as a PDF here – Inquiry into The Sharing Economy

The report recommends that the Culture Secretary launches a consultation on using his powers under the Development of Tourism Act 1969 to establish a low-cost statutory registration scheme for tourism businesses which would be devolved to local councils to enforce and administer.

This statement is certainly one that brings with it some encouragement, however it does cover a number of complex areas; from business rates to taxation and it will take time to achieve.  So what can you do to communicate the quality of your own holiday letting accommodation to potential guests?

Work with your great local holiday letting agencies

As a business we’re lucky to meet many holiday letting agencies across the country on a regular basis. They have years of experience in driving guests to your area so make the most of their knowledge and work with them in order to boost your occupancy rates. Holiday Home Letting Agents will also provide you with guidance on the laws and regulations applicable to you as a holiday homeowner.

Have your quality independently accessed and verified

We’ve already highlighted that there is a perception of lack of regulations when it comes to the sharing economy. Communicate just how far you go to ensure that every guest has a safe and enjoyable time at your holiday home. No matter if it’s entering local and regional awards or signing up to the AA or VisitEngland standards, guests often trust external verifications of your quality. So if you are five star, make sure that everyone that visits the website or your letting agent’s know that you are!

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.

 

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Love Cottages

Love Cottages – A brand new holiday cottage letting website

Love Cottages is the ‘new kid’ in holiday cottage rentals.

Love CottagesAs Holiday Home Insurance specialists we have long held the belief that for the majority of holiday cottage owners, the benefits of using a local holiday letting agent for letting their property has many benefits. The fact that many of these agents have now come together to support a brand new holiday cottage letting website (launched January 2016) is testament to that. Love Cottages mantra is; “With us, what you see is what you get: cottage holidays you can trust from search to stay”.

Their ambition is to ensure that those booking their next cottage holiday can do so safe in the knowledge that the property exists, has been visited and photographed by one of their agency partners, and the cottage is likely to have been rated according to self-catering industry standards.

Love Cottages may be the newbie, but behind the scenes they’ve got decades of holiday letting experience brought together under one virtual roof. Love Cottages is owned and run by holiday rental experts from some of the UK’s most respected self-catering agencies. Collectively they bring together the largest collection of inspected holiday homes in the UK.

“We only deal in great cottage holiday experiences”

All of their properties have been personally inspected by the managing agent, so they know they exist. Most of those properties also have a Visit England or Visit Wales rating. And in Scotland and Northern Ireland, they’re working with the agencies setting the industry standards. So guests can book quickly and easily, confident of quality.

If you’re a holiday home owner and want to see if your holiday lettings agency is listing with Love Cottages click here.

If you’re an independent holiday lettings agency and your holiday cottages meet the grade, you can find out more about listing your properties here.

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.

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