Cottage Review Website Urges People To Become Consumer Champions
Added: (Fri Jan 16 2009)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
With an estimated eight million more Britons turning their backs on their regular trip abroad in order to holiday in the UK this year, a new review website offers to take the risk out of choosing the right UK holiday cottage.
Launched this month, MyCottageHoliday.co.uk, the UK’s only independent holiday cottage review website, encourages holidaymakers to post reviews about self-catering properties they have rented. MyCottageHoliday.co.uk offers an ideal opportunity for holidaymakers to exercise some consumer power.
“Until now, you’d have to read the visitors book to get an impartial view of a cottage”, says Andy Brown, the site’s editor. “By then it’s too late if the cottage isn’t quite what you wanted or expected. Holidays are too special to allow that to happen.”
But, with so many more people choosing to take their holiday in the UK because of the economic downturn and poor exchange rates, it’s essential for experienced self-catering holidaymakers to get behind the concept and leave reviews.
“Holidaymakers no longer have to rely solely on what the owner tells them. They can read what previous guests thought,” says Brown. “After all, if you were considering booking a holiday cottage, you’d want to know how other people like you rated it.”
One user, Richard Sullivan, explains why he added a review. " We were lucky enough to stay in a lovely cottage this Christmas. I'm sure people considering it for their holiday would want to know it is as good as the owner’s description. Adding the cottage and review was very easy. "
What about holiday cottage owners, how will they feel about this? “The good ones will love the idea,” says Brown. “They’ll want people to know about their properties and they will benefit from the testimonials. Even the owners of accommodation that receives less than glowing reviews will benefit because they’ll be getting invaluable feedback on areas where they can improve.”
Andrew McNaughton, a cottage owner, agrees. "We're happy to add our properties to MyCottageHoliday.co.uk and encourage our visitors to leave reviews. This is the kind of impartial testimonial that you can't get elsewhere.”
MyCottageHoliday.co.uk is not a cottage booking website but holiday cottage owners can choose to list their own property for no charge and can also respond online to any review.
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If you would like more information about MyCottageHoliday.co.uk please call Andy Brown on 01892 861865 or 07887 566691 or email andy at bbmp.biz
Notes for editors:
* Images available.
* Cottage reviewer and cottage owner available for interview.
* Research sources: Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey and the Visit Britain Tourism Industry Briefing Research Dec 2008. ONS stats state that Britons take 44 million holidays abroad. Visit Britain research indicates that 20% of people who normally holiday abroad intend to holiday in the UK this year. Sian Brenchley, the Corporate Communications Manager at Visit Britain, can supply more information on the Visit Britain research. The above data suggests that around 8 million holidaymakers that would have gone abroad in past years will be holidaying in the UK in 2009.