Owner info - Advertising your French gite or b&b
Gitelink France - since 1999
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Propriétaires:
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France:consultez les informations annonceurs en français .
GITE ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET
Gitelink, Gites de France, Clévacances, Booking.com and the others
There are hundreds of ways to rent out a gite on the Internet in 2025, and none of them are perfect. In fact almost all of them - other than renting directly without any intermediary - come with a cost, sometimes a quite considerable cost. To quote a well-known phrase, there's no such thing as a free lunch. And let's be absolutely honest! If there is one reality that has to be accepted by owners, it is that unless you are charging way below other properties in your area, or are paying heavily for premium listings, no single type of Internet advertising will fill your property for the whole season. In today's world, the more you advertise, the more customers you will get. That's elementary marketing; the more complicated part is to chose the best and most cost-effective forms of marketing.
There are basically FOUR methods of gite advertising on the Internet. These are
- 1. Your
own website;
Put up your own site and take bookings directly.
Advantage: no commissions to pay. Cost: the cost of setting up your own website (minimal), of advertising it (people won't find it unless you make it visible, not just present, on the Internet), and the time you take doing this. Unless you advertise your website elsewhere, you are not going to get many visitors. But if done well, this is likely to be the most cost-effective solution . You fix your prices, and nobody else takes a commission on your sales, unless you use commission-based advertising too. Beware of supposedly "free" websites. Of course they're not reallly free. The classic trick is to catch users with a very basic free package, then charge over the odds for extras. Prefer the basic package offered by reputable web-hosting companies. - 2. Direct
link directory advertising:
Example: Gitelink
Direct links to your site are essential for owners who want to avoid the high listing fees and commissions charged by the big holiday rental sites. You'll of course need a website first for this.
Directories list websites for a small annual fee (from £35 for 2024 with Gitelink), and send visitors directly to your site through a link. "Links" from other sites are essential for establishing an internet presence – meaning a presence in Google search results, so there is a direct and indirect advantage in having direct links. You get people clicking through to your website, and a stronger Internet visibility of your site in direct search results. No commission. - 3. Online
holiday rental marketplaces which put up a page about your
property on their
website.
Examples: Gite.com , HomeAway, Owners Direct, Simply owners. What do these do? They put up a page about your property on their own website – which is necessary if you don't have your own website, but rather superfluous if you do have your own website.
These traditionally charge an annual fee, which can be big! For 2024 one rental marketplace was charging £289 a year (not to mention those extras that you may be invited to pay to get your property to show up higher in their listings). Others take a commission. Travel-nest charges owners 20% plus VAT... which may not sound too much but could actually eat up half of your profit margin! Remember that commissions are calculated on your rental fee ... not on what is left for you after your running costs have been deducted.) Some big rentals sites are now charging customers as well as owners, so effectively getting paid twice for stays booked through their services, and increasing the cost to guests. - 4. Using
an online reservations agency
Examples: Gites de France or Booking.com, AirBnB
These will generally increase the number of reservations, but at a cost. Commissions on bookings are typically in the range of 10% to 20% and may work out at up to 25% once all the bits and extras have been added in to the cost – which can work out at a lot of money in the course of a year. In addition, some of these big names have started charging a fee to the customer as well as the owner. They also have hundreds of thousands of properties, so unless you pay for priority exposure, or have a uniquely attractive property, these sites are unlikely to bring you in a full season of bookings, let alone a full year's bookings.
Of course, using an online Booking site like Booking.com is easy; owners just sit back and wait for the visitors to arrive... But at what cost? If a family makes a two-week booking at a medium rate of 700 € per week, commission due to the booking site (for just those two weeks) will be in the range of 210€.... or about the same as six years' commission-free listing with Gitelink.com
Gitelink quality criteria and values:
Gitelink is a selective directory:
We include only properties that come up to the Gitelink quality criteria and values. Our criteria are a bit more flexible in areas of France where there are not a lot of gites available. .
Most of the properties proposed to the directory meet these criteria, many far exceed the minima; but from time to time we have to refuse.
There is no quality chart to sign, no inspection; we presume that the information and photos on websites submitted are correct and that property owners do not deliberately mislead either us or their potential customers. In short, we trust our advertisers to be honest.
Values: Gitelink lists properties that respect their customers. Gitelink does not knowingly list gites that are well overpriced. A gite that has special qualities can charge above normal for their area – no problem with that; but we will not promote gites whose advertised rates are unjustifiably high for what they are offering. Other listings sites may have no qualms about doing this; we do.
The criteria:
Minimum surface area: A minimum of 30 m² for two people, or 36m² for three people, thereafter at least 12m² per person (advertised capacity). Most rural gites easily meet this standard. (Different criteria apply for B&Bs).
Outdoor space: every property must have an outdoor area - garden, sunny courtyard or terrace or in certain cases a spacious balcony.
Furnishing: each property must be furnished attractively. This does not necessarily mean expensively, but it does exclude properties furnished with the cheapest furniture available.
Capacity: the announced sleeping capacity implies the capacity in beds, in bedrooms. Extra places on sofa-beds in the lounge can be mentioned.
Exceptions: Gitelink also accepts flats or apartments in exceptional locations, as long as other qualities compensate for any of the above criteria that may not be met. For example, we accept less spacious but attractive flats/ apartments in historic urban settings, or modern flats in high quality developments (with pool and grounds), notably in the Riviera / Côte d'Azur.
For Sale: Gites for sale in France, directly from the owners.
Terminology: Gite, cottage, villa, rental or what?
Site Search Search for holiday accommodation by keyword with the
Compared to other directories and online holiday rental booking sites .....
Visibility to visitors....
On its website, one of the major UK gites marketplaces claims a choice of "thousands" of gites listed, and "a million" visitors a year.
At Gitelink, we don't beleive in the old saying "big is beautiful".
Gitelink is a niche site, and we get a lot less overall visitors than the huge commercial directories - about 150,000 in 2019 and rising - but with only about 150 properties in the directory, each property listed on Gitelink is likely to get discovered by hundreds of potential visitors in the year, with the most popular properties generating over 500 visits in the year.
And to achieve this number of visitors from Gitelink, owners do not have to pay for high-cost extra premium listings. Gitelink believes in a level playing field for all, insofar as listings are concerned. After that, the number of visitors will depend on other factors - area, capacity, and what is on offer.
With most Gitelink visitors coming from targeted Google searches, there is a high proportion of potential customers for the properties listed. It's not the number of sites listed that makes an effective directory; it's the ratio between the number of visitors to the directory and the number of sites listed. And on that, Gitelink is probably unbeatable .....
Privacy :
A listing with Gitelink ensures full privacy for your personal data. Gitelink does not have any online database, and the directory pages contain no personal data, the only connection being a link to your own website or webpage. Unlike most other holiday rentals sites, Gitelink will send you customers via a direct link to your website, not through an online contact form, meaning that Gitelink cannot possibly acquire any details about your customers or those who make enquiries. The only information that will be known is the number, not the identity, of visitors who click through to each website.
A unique partnership
Gitelink is the unique and sole gites advertising partner of About-France.com, one of the major French tourism sites on the Internet. With up to 4 million visitors a year, About-France.com is a major source of visitors to Gitelink.
Advertising Prices...
Compared to the prices charged by the big brash holiday rentals sites, Gitelink prices are generally unbeatable
Gites with a capacity of up to 12 guests can be listed for 2025 for just £35 or €39 - which is at least six times less than some big vacation rental sites
Even our top rates, for large gites operations, are well below other sites' cheapest basic rates....
In fact, listings with Gitelink are pretty well risk-free.
For example, a website offering a single gite with weekly rental rates from £400 or 480 €uros would need to take only one single week's booking in fourteen years to make a Gitelink listing worthwhile!
As for B&B's, a single night's booking in the year, even at only 50 €uros, would be enough to pay back the cost of a listing.
For gites charging at least £500 a week, the likely return on investment of a Gitelink listing is even better.
► Return to Gites in France
About / Legal
Gitelink is based in France and operates under French microenterprise status. Consequently VAT is not charged.
Gitelink is a directory, not a booking agency. It does not operate as an intermediary between advertisers and customers. It does not take bookings. It does not maintain an online database. Its function is to publish and publicize details of accommodation and thereafter enable direct contact between gite advertisers and customers, cutting out commissions charged to owners by bookings sites, and booking fees charged to holidaymakers.
All information on gites and other accommodation provided on gitelink.com is done so under the entire responsibility of the property-owners or their webmasters. Gitelink cannot be held liable for any possible errors or misleading information in the descriptions of properties listed in the directory. Descriptions posted on Gitelink are a short summary of the indepth information provided on the external websites to which each description is linked.
Requests for further information on Gitelink.com should be addressed by email.
Property owners:
add your gite or holiday cottage to Gitelink France
add your gite or holiday cottage to Gitelink France
If
you already have your own
website, just read on and sign it up.
If you do not have
your own website, Gitelink can create and host a mini-site (four pages)
for you. Ask for details
Gitelink - which started life back in 1999 - is a directory that produces results. Which is why we are now in our twenty-fourth year. Results are certainly what you are looking for, if you are wanting effective advertising for your gite. Don't take it from us, take it from people who already advertise their gites or B&B on Gitelink France.
Feedback What our announcers say:
► I have sold my property....... and have sent on your offer to the new owners.
Thanks for all the support for the past 10 years
Steve - Southwest France, November 2024
► I have just been reviewing our marketing and carrying out an overview of our traffic, as we have had an exceptional year and have a high demand for holidays for next year. Gitelink is one of our top platforms, so we are happy to say we will be advertising with you again next year,
Tina - Northwest France, August 2022
► We have been letting for 23 years now and I think for most of that time we have been with Gitelink and we would like to say thank you for all the referrals you have sent to us. We are sure we would not have enjoyed the success we have without your help.
Grahame - Southwest France, November 2021
► I'd just like to say thank you for all the help you have given me over the years.
Ralph - Western France, October 2021
► 3 days on your site and I have my first booking! Not too shabby!
Carolyn - gites in the Midi, January 2019
► I have forwarded (your details) to the new owners as I sold the property last month. I would like to thank you for your excellent website which has driven a lot of traffic to both my rental and sale sites over the years
Julie - western France, November 2018
► .... We are very pleased to have regular traffic on our website through Gitelink
Anna - central France, November 2018
► .... I had at least two bookings this year because of Gitelink, which was very good
Sue - West France, October 2018
► .... Also, I received my first booking via a Gitelink referral yesterday - so thank you. (Just a few days after listing....)
Lorna - Brittany, May 2018
► We've just taken a four-week booking, the longest we've ever taken, and the guest has confirmed that he found our site on Gitelink. And it's not a peak season booking, but for weeks that are harder to let.
Ginny - Southern France, March 2018
► Your site has been an effective way for us to increase our website traffic over many years, and the only reason we don’t want to renew is that we’re quitting the business.
Patrick - northern France, December 2017
► Thanks.....I still get a huge amount of traffic through Gitelink. All the best
D.G. Brittany, December 2016
► I have sold my farm now so its bye bye and thank you for everything. You have always brought in business and that's the main thing.
S.P. Loire valley, November 2016
► Gitelink has been very good for us, and for that I thank you, it seems to have brought people from far and wide as well, Australia being the furthest to come via your site! Thank you for your service.
A.S., Normandy, November 2015
For the number of clicks I received, I think your service is really worth the money: they come from a site highly focused on the subject, unlike ..... where you can end up being displayed in the most irrelevant places
Ben, south of France, October 2015
► We are very pleased with the listing! We already had some great bookings last year and our first booking this year was all the way from Budapest in Hungary!
Adam, south of France, February 2015
► "This year was our 11th year of giting and every year seems to be different! Gitelink has been very good for us this past year, so thank you for all your efforts, much appreciated."
Alison, Northwest France, December 2014
► "We very much value Gitelink and get a lot of clicks to our site"
Tim, south of France, January 2014
► "I have been very pleased with the number of hits I receive via Gitelink, more than my listing on Holi****.co.uk"
Pat, southwest France, January 2014
► "We had a good year thank you and Gitelink ranked well in our analytics, top as far as internet referral was concerned. Despite the doom and gloom of other B&B's we were pretty busy all summer and turned away a lot of clients."
Jonathan, south of France,
► "Additionally I have a 2 week booking already for May/Jun 2013, from Australia! It came via Gitelink."
Patrick, southwest France, Dec 2012
► "I have sent the renewal form .... as always our link from Gitelink has provided us with a good proportion of the hits on our website.
Pat, northern France, Oct 2012
► " My google analytics show Gitelink sending high numbers to my website. Recently I discovered that a 3 week booking for Ocotber (fabulous!) which I thought had come through Facebook as this is how she first made contact, came originally through your site. "
Carolyn, south of France, Oct 2012
► "Thankyou for another fantastic year of advertising"
Catherine - Brittany - Nov. 2011
► "Bookings (from other sources) are slow this year and as Gitelink is so reasonably priced I decided it was worth the investment to have an extra listing. "
Helen - southwest France - June 2011
► "We definitely want to renew with Gitelink.... I have done my own analysis and know that we get results from you."
Michele, north-east France ,
► "I’d like to renew my listing for (my site)... Gitelink has of course been a fantastic source of referrals throughout the year, by the way.
TP, Burgundy,
► " This year to date we have received around 1500 referrals of which Gitelink account for 955 (64%)."
Pat, south-western France,
► " I have been extremely impressed with the amount of traffic that Gitelink has generated for my site this year, thank you very much."
Caroline, Brittany,
Best for quality
Unlike most gites directories, Gitelink sets quality standards (see right-hand column), and we refuse up to a quarter of all applications.
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