When you have week days that don't book

[Laura2592]

We have weekENDS booked until December. But there are a number of weekdays hanging out on our calendar. We get a lot of inquiries about weekends disguised as weekday requests ("Can you let me know if X weekend cancels?") but I am not sure how to get our weekdays fully booked. 

I have an Instagram account and regularly make posts about available weekdays as writer's retreat time, advertise to photographers for session locations, etc. But they still sit. Any ideas of how to get more weekday bookings?

[Inna22]

@Laura2592 I am in the same boat with you. Are you on multiple platforms?

[Laura2592]

@Inna22 I had a listing on VRBO but could not get the calendars to sync so I took it down. Too much to try and manually update. So no. 

[Pat271]

One way I’ve seen guests deal with this is to have a 3 or 4 day minimum, if your market is strong and will support it. That will at least take care of a couple of the weekdays.

Another way is to cater to business travelers and/or remote workers. You can do this with marketing methods and amenities that include a dedicated space for a desk, ergonomic chair, great online connectivity, and good lighting.

[Laura2592]

@Pat271 we do have a dedicated workspace and lighting. Maybe a better chair would be a good idea. I would love to do a 3 day minimum. We have 2 now. I need to do a little research. 

[Pat271]

Great. You might also want to put a paragraph in your listing describing your superior suitability for business travelers and workers.

There also used to be a group of amenities and/or a “Work-Friendly” option a host could check and a guest could search for. Not sure if any of those options are still enabled.

[Laura2592]

@Pat271 yes I remember-- work friendly, family friendly etc. Where did those go LOL???

[Elaine701]

Maybe try sending a message out to previous guests that you have xxx and yyy available. And at a 17% discount 😊