@Fred13 Spoken like someone with a strong following and a unique property. Oh wow, I was right, you have exactly that! 🙂
I have very little repeat business, no blog or other “internet influencer” cred, and a typical, traditional beach vacation rental in the typical, traditional, non-unique location where vacationers have regularly been visiting for decades. I was and continue to be booked solid. The difference is that this locale has a very high financial barrier to entry, and is legally capped in terms of # of short term rentals allowed.
I think the primary reason for low occupancy is influenced more by the market conditions of individual locales, i.e. supply/demand, saturation, etc. If a locale has either high saturation or is visited much less often than it was in the past, then I agree that it behooves one to do something to make onesself stand out to those who do happen to wander by. More intense marketing could be tried, or somehow converting the property into one with a more interesting theme, but it will still be difficult to be successful if there is something wrong with the primary supply/demand picture.
Not everyone has their own island. 🙂