Self Catering Opportunities

After extensive industry consultation between October 2004 and May 2005, visitscotland relaunched its suite of products and services for the Self Catering Industry.

This involved a number of key strategies, including

• Remote Inventory Management – to enable providers to update availability via the Internet (this is known as IONA or Inventory OnLine Access)

• Flexible Pricing Solutions – Recognising growing demand for Short Breaks and the need to offer and display both weekly let and short break rates (within IONA this is known as Season Pricing)

An initial signup campaign saw approximately 14% of all Self Caterers in Scotland sign up to the service, this has since grown to over 20%.

Feedback from these early adopters was taken on board and subsequent developments are now available in the latest release of the IONA software.  These developments include

• Improved help files
• Clearer support signposting
• An “Availability Wizard” enabling rapid updates of extended periods of availability

In addition to these changes, we recognise that closer working with VisitScotland area offices is required in order to support Self Caterers locally.  Since late 2005, visitscotland.com has regularly briefed all area offices on upcoming developments before they are launched to wider industry.

Future developments for the Self Catering sector in 2006 include

• A new version of Find a Room on the www.visitscotland.com homepage to include the Self Catering sector
• A new version of Search Results to show Self Caterers who have updated their availability via IONA
• A new Dynamic Pricing Matrix showing the different rates for short breaks and full week lets.
• Investment in specialised Search Engine Optimisation to drive more qualified Self Catering Visitors from Search Engines to the Find a Room section of the homepage.

Beyond these developments, visitscotland.com is keen to explore the demand / potential for online bookings and welcomes input from industry on this area.  In the first instance please contact James Kennedy, Business Development Manager, tel : 01506-832-159

	How to sign up
	New route to market
	Business benefits
	Training guidelines
	Frequently asked questions