The only way is up

Living the holiday home dream in 2024 with a little help from the team at Cornish Cottage Holidays.

For many of us, owning our very own place in beautiful Cornwall is the ultimate goal. But the reality is, for many holiday home owners in the region, this property needs to be both a private bolthole as well as a great income source. At leading holiday letting specialists Cornish Cottage Holidays, the team are well aware of the current economic and political climate, and ensuring holiday homes are as profitable as possible for their owners is absolutely essential. 

With this in mind, Emily Mercer, South West Marketing Manager at the Redruth-based agency, has offered her take on the current holiday letting landscape, with tips on ensuring the 2024 holiday letting season is a success: “At Cornish Cottage Holidays we are pleased to use our booking data and statistics from the 2023 season, to help us understand what might lie ahead for owners. 

“Across the industry, 2023 was widely regarded as a ‘Covid-reset year’. Whilst we enjoyed sustained occupancy levels throughout the peak summer period of over 89% across our portfolio of 750+ cottages in Cornwall, overall, the booking numbers we saw were more in line with the fantastic pre-Covid occupancy rates of 2019. This natural reset was expected to occur at some point, as the world moves on from the ‘staycation boom’ and returns to a state of normality.”

So, how busy can we anticipate 2024 to be? “In November,” Emily continues, “we did a poll of 2,000 UK holidaymakers and results showed that 53% of participants expect to take more than one UK break in 2024. 23% said they are more likely to go on a UK holiday this year than last, with the top reasons being ease, and the fact that they’re watching their finances more carefully due to the cost-of-living crisis.”

In terms of the booking trends the team believes will be prevalent this year, the popularity of short breaks is sure to remain, which Emily kindly elaborates on: “20% of our bookings were for three, four or five-night breaks last year, and 31% of our bookings were for last minute getaways, a trend that we’ve seen steadily increasing for some time now. We’ve also seen a 60% increase in searches for pet-friendly holidays since 2019, as the pandemic accelerated dog ownership in the UK. And finally, the popularity of glamping accommodation continues to soar. Our customer survey revealed that 33% of Brits plan to ‘go back to basics’ with their trips in the coming year – including glamping – to save money. So, for owners that have unused land or are considering expanding their portfolio with a shepherd’s hut or similar, now is the time to do it!”

For those thinking of letting, the region remains exceptionally popular as a tourist destination and for properties willing to accept short breaks, last minute bookings and dogs, the income opportunities are huge.  

Cornish Cottage Holidays
01326 331173
pno@cornishcottageholidays.co.uk
www.cornishcottageholidays.co.uk