Chez Nous, the dedicated French holiday property advertising company, recently reported that business has been tough for French owners through the first few months of 2008. The good news is there are some encouraging indicators on the horizon.
An Advertiser Forum, made up of over 200 Chez Nous advertisers, has supplied four months of statistics which have been analysed and compared with the data supplied in the same months of last year.
The 2008 versus 2007 comparison shows quite clearly that the volume of rental enquiries from Chez Nous and other sources are lower than for the same period in 2007. But enquiries through Chez Nous have not dipped nearly as much as their competition.
It also appears that enquiries through Chez Nous converted at a better rate: one in three of the enquirers made a booking versus one in four from other sources. The survey also shows that enquirers, though fewer, are more serious this year, which means owners can gently coax them towards the booking.
Chez Nous, the Forum says, is the source of over half of all bookings taken throughout January, February, March and April. In February it represented nearly two thirds. It appears that enquiry levels were high in January, the month was almost as busy as January 2007, but there was a sharp drop in February. Since then, things have steadied and enquiries are still coming through.
The most popular French holiday regions
There are regional variations in enquiry levels too, which probably reflect British holidaymakers’ tastes. Advertisers with properties in the northern half of France, northwards from the Vendee in the west to Burgundy in the east inclusive, are reporting more enquiries than those from the south, apart from Cote d’Azur, where they are higher than in the rest of the south. Year on year, advertisers with Normandy properties report the greatest percentage increase in enquiries.
It’s worth remembering that the Chez Nous Advertisers Forum represents only 5% of advertisers and is, therefore, just a sample. Some advertisers will be enjoying more buoyant business and for others it will be slower than the Forum reports.
There are some encouraging indicators that Chez Nous is certainly performing well in a difficult market and with their range of additional services like property-specific advertising and free listing with Cottages Direct, they have the tools and the expertise to help turn these trading conditions into an advantage.
I have been a customer of ChezNous for over 5 years and they have always provided a regular feed of enquiries/bookings. Not so this year so far, enquiries are slow all round and Chez Nous seem to be no different. Perhaps i should move my gite to northern or southern france!!
Thank you independent owners for this information. it is good to know.
Jeanetter – I guess you’ve been a tad unlucky this year, or perhaps i’m just bucking the trend, my gite in the Dordogne, has had loads of enquires, although thats a bit of a shame as it’s been under renovation… oh well
My villa in Provence is fully booked this season as it was last year, however I did not have any bookings from Chez Nous this year! I used to advertise in their brochure but feel it is getting too large and only used their website this year. I have found that having my own website through Independent Owners has helped convince prospective tenants that my villa is what they are looking for.
http://www.villahirondelles-pontroyal-provence.com
We only advertise on the CHezNous website. 90% of enquiries has converted!! I work in the travel industry anyway and am finding that the trend experienced in my “professional” life is reflected in the “personal” life – later enquiries but more bookers and less timewasters.
ChezNous and Independent Owners have helped us to our second best year, though no bookings so far after September. There were, however, a large number of late enquiries from other sources who had not looked at our availability chart, which is encouraging.
Jeanetter,
If you would like to contact Chez Nous, we will see what we can do to help.
Peter Hunt
Chez Nous
I’ve found that since placing a link from my Chez Nous listing to my iOwners website that bookings have increased. I’m in the process now of doing them same with my other ads.
We have had no enquiries at all from ChezNous: we joined them last year as every told us they were the best: so far we haven’t even had any enquires let alone bookings; okay we don’t have a garden or a pool but our prices reflect this: what are we doing wrong?
Does anyone advertise with Chez Nous and Owners Direct and what is their response from both, i.e. do most people find it is enough to just advertise with Chez Nous who are dedicated to France or do they find Owners Direct just as good?
Any advice welcome………..