© TravelNest 2020 All rights reserved
Last updated 22/01/21
As we move into 2021, the vacation rental industry continues to be affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. At TravelNest, our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of all our customers and their guests, as well as our team and their families. Our thoughts are with those who have been affected.
At the beginning of January, Governments in the UK, Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland and across Europe announced tough lockdown restrictions to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, and contain the transmission of the new variant. Please rest assured that TravelNest continues to closely monitor the situation in each country, and work with our channel partner to continually assess the impact for our owners and their guests.
We appreciate that our customers will be looking for information about new bookings, existing bookings, cancellations and payments at this time. We are receiving a high volume of calls and emails to our Customer Operations and Bookings Teams and are dealing with these as quickly as possible. Throughout the pandemic, we have provided regular email communications to update customers as the situation evolves, and to provide information about any actions we need to take on your behalf.
We have provided as much information as we are currently able to in our FAQs below. This is based on the latest available information from the Government(s) and our channel partners. As the advice and direction from Government(s) and our channel partners changes, we will continue to update this page with the latest information as necessary.
We appreciate your patience and are here to support you during this time.
The TravelNest Team
Get expert advice and tips from the TravelNest team to help you cope with the impact of Coronavirus on your vacation rental and plan for future success.
Yes, we are currently accepting bookings for all properties, with the following caveats:
England – 22nd Feb 2021
Scotland – 31st Jan 2021
Wales – 31st Jan 2021
Northern Ireland – 5th March 2021
England – 22nd Feb 2021
Scotland – 31st Jan 2021
Wales – 31st Jan 2021
Northern Ireland – 5th March 2021
We have implemented a calendar block for properties in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with the following end dates:
England – 22nd Feb 2021
Scotland – 31st Jan 2021
Wales – 31st Jan 2021
Northern Ireland – 5th March 2021
For new bookings and enquiries it is the guests’ responsibility to ensure they comply with local measures. That said, it is in all our interests not to accept bookings that obviously contravene the new measures. We will work in partnership with you, as best we can, to be vigilant and screen new bookings where there looks to be a very obvious breach of local measures. We kindly request your support with this. We will deal with these as they arise on a case by case basis. As the situation is very complex and ever-changing, we are unable to guarantee that we can successfully identify every non-compliant booking on your behalf. We strongly encourage you to also review all bookings and raise any concerns with us and / or the guest.
At the present time, we have implemented a calendar block for properties in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with the following end dates:
England – 22nd Feb 2021
Scotland – 31st Jan 2021
Wales – 31st Jan 2021
Northern Ireland – 5th March 2021
Your property will remain live on your chosen channels, and will be available for booking beyond the above dates. You can block any dates you do not wish to receive bookings for and this will be reflected on your chosen channels. Our help guide explains how to do this.
We are in regular contact with each of our channel partners and will implement further calendar blocks on our owners behalf if this is required.
We also recommend ensuring you have pricing in place for your property throughout 2021. Guests are booking ahead into 2021 (and 2022), so having your property priced beyond 2020 will increase your ability to attract future bookings.
To update your pricing please refer to our customer help guide.
Please be aware that we are currently experiencing exceptionally high volumes of calls and emails to our Customer Experience Team. At the present time, we are prioritising these by date of stay. Wherever possible, we ask that you refer to our customer help guides for more information. If your enquiry is specifically related to a booking, please contact bookings@travelnest.com.
If you need to contact us about something else, please email us at owners@travelnest.com and our team will get back to you as soon as we can.
There are a number of steps you can take now to protect the financial health of your vacation rental business.
1. Talk to your bank and request a mortgage payment holiday
If you own the vacation rental property, you may be eligible for a payment holiday that will give you some financial breathing space. This means you’ll pay nothing for a fixed period of time, however you would still accrue interest on the amount owed. Contact your mortgage supplier for more details.
2. Get in touch with your Insurance Company
Check with your Insurance Company if your company is protected for loss of earnings due to COVID-19 or Coronavirus. Read the policy carefully, to supplement the information from insurance companies.
3. Refer to the latest UK Government advice
The UK Government has created a range of support measures for businesses affected by COVID-19. You can read the latest information on business support here.
For owners with properties based in Scotland, the Scottish Government has announced support measures for businesses and the self-employed. More details can be found here.
Information from our partners regarding cancellations during the Coronavirus outbreak can be found in our customer help guide.
We recommend getting your listings in the best possible shape for when bookings start to pick up. We have developed a range of customer help guides to help you improve every aspect of your listings.
Airbnb has recently announced a support package to help hosts impacted by cancellations due to Coronavirus COVID-19. This will cover properties booked on or before 15th March 2020, with a check-in date between 15th March 2020 and 31st May 2020.
Airbnb will be paying 25% of what you would have received for a cancellation if the guest has now received a full refund as a result of the Coronavirus.
Please note that bookings with check-in dates after 31st May 2020 are not covered by this support scheme. If travel continues to be disrupted, Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances policy may cover June reservations that were booked before 15th March 2020.
We are currently in discussions with Airbnb to determine the specifics of how this will work, and expect to receive details about affected owners and bookings in the first week of May. Please be assured that we will pass back 100% of any funds we receive from Airbnb on your behalf to you as soon as possible. Once we have full details from Airbnb, we will contact affected owners to confirm how we will process any payouts due on your behalf.
If your vacation rental property is located in Ireland, Spain, France or Italy, we recommend that you refer to the latest Government guidelines:
© TravelNest 2020 All rights reserved
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