The Holiday Buddy
We have recently come across a very interesting concept for family friendly holiday properties that some of you may be interested in.
The product/service is known as The Holiday Buddy and takes the form of Oscar the Owl.
Oscar is a stuffed felt toy who lives in holiday properties, where he welcomes younger guests. He interacts virtually and by mail, with the families from two weeks before the holiday, building anticipation and ends with a postcard after they have left. He also sends a Christmas card, a useful nudge at that time of year when thoughts are turning to next year’s holidays.
We have negotiated a deal for our newsletter subscribers of £10 off the set up costs.
We think Oscar would be a very worthwhile addition to any holiday property, giving you the edge over other “family friendly” properties and proving that you really are thinking of ways to make your guest families as happy as possible. It can be used as a great marketing tool and will encourage guests to rebook.
Before a family’s arrival Oscar sends a couple of anticipatory emails, one including links to some free downloadable audio stories, especially written and narrated about his adventures. He also sends them a little something through the post. On arrival he is there to welcome them at the property with a personalised letter which details some of the family friendly things to do in the area. The children are encouraged to take him out and about with them and take photos which they can enter in to an annual competition. After the holiday is over he sends all the children a hand written personalized postcard straight away and a Christmas card too.
The owners who currently have this package have been very happy with how it is working, not least as it requires no input from them, other than forwarding on the guests’ email address to The Holiday Buddy and leaving out the welcome letter that is emailed to them.
He is, unsurprisingly, well received by the guests too.
A recent comment on Trip Adviser about Oscar in Rock Lobster holiday cottage:
Reviewed August 21, 2013
“We've just returned from a week away at Rock Lobster and had a great time. Our 5 year old was sent some goodies beforehand by 'Oscar the Owl' which built his excitement, and he was overjoyed to 'meet him' upon our arrival (Oscar ended up on every outing with us for the rest of the week!)………. Our son received a postcard from Oscar the day after we returned home thanking him for taking care of him which was a really sweet idea, and so he is already nagging us to return soon! Little touches such as this make it an ideal UK holiday for families.”
An email from a guest:
“Thank you so much for Oscar the Owl! My children embraced the whole experience from the very first email to the final postcard [they were so made up that Oscar was missing them!].
It is a fabulous idea and one that would most definitely influence
our choice of holiday again.”
(This person has in fact booked the same property again)
From Carol Brazel a holiday property owner on the South coast:
"Oscar has been having fun at my holiday properties, The Salty Dog at
Camber Sands and Sea Fizz in Brighton, since October 2012 and has this year taken up residence at my new cottage, Rock Lobster, also at Camber Sands.
The feed-back from guests has been very positive and the children have always been very excited to meet Oscar when they arrive on holiday. I have used similar buddy toys very successfully during my years working with pre-school children and have been pleased by the additional dimension Oscar has added to my holiday-let business. He has proved very popular and has undoubtedly helped to make sure that a stay at one of our holiday homes remains a fond and special memory for our smaller guests and their parents. Oscar even managed to stow away in one child’s bag and had to fly back from Scotland.
The scheme is easy for me to administer as a home owner, Jo does all the work!"
To find out more about the different packages offered and to listen to an example of one of Oscar’s stories go to The Holiday Buddy website.
You can purchase the package on the Shop page – choose The Complete Holiday Buddy Package and get a £10 discount off by entering the code HLS10 at the checkout. You will be emailed by The Holiday Buddy for further information in order to set up your package. If you have further queries about this package then please do contact jo@theholidaybuddy.co.uk.