Nothing ventured, nothing gained! By displaying the total price to pay for its 1400 holiday homes, Ardennes-Etape has become the first actor on the market who strives for 100% transparency. The results speak for themselves!

Since October 2014, already pushing towards its climax of the application of a new European directive, Ardennes-Etape has truly revolutionized the tourism industry.

The European directive is unambiguous: the price which is being displayed needs to be equal to the total price to pay by the consumer! In order to elaborate on that: The customer needs to be able to know the total cost of his/her purchase, in all publicity and announcements. This applies to all mandatory included costs, as well as additional costs that are required onsite.

By not making use of the exception by law, Ardennes-Etape has become the first actor on the market to suggest a truthful price, in which all costs for holiday home rental are being included (water, heating, electricity, cleaning, tourist taxes, handling charges…). This means that everything can be calculated in advance and is therefore included into the price being displayed.

Ardennes-Etape has proved once again to be a market leader: The company opens the market and innovates in benefit of the consumer, with results that are beyond positive!

“It is one of the best decisions we have ever made!», confirms a satisfied Valérie Geron, Communication & Marketing Manager at Ardennes-Etape.

And there sure is a lot to be satisfied with…

A plummeting cancellation percentage

The cancellation percentage of stays with Ardennes-Etape has dropped significantly by 30% in only 5 months! Whether if it is about a cancellation that takes place right after making the reservation, or a few days before arrival, the numbers are plunging.

 

« The impact was radical: a real ON/OFF. The holidaymaker knows what to expect, gives us his confidence and realises at the end of the booking process that the price has remained exactly the same. The promise has been kept, so he has no reason whatsoever to cancel his reservation”, Valérie Geron explains.

 

 

This transparency’s success is also being expressed in the 20% increase of Ardenne-Etape’s Net Promoter Score.

The Net Promoter Score: What is it?

The Net Promoter Score is a satisfaction indicator that helps to get to know to which extent a customer would recommend the company to its acquaintances. (More information can be found on: https://www.checkmarket.com/2011/06/net-promoter-score/)

Often, the score is negative. It’s usually the large multinationals who succeed in obtaining a better score.  With a score of 70 and a climbing graph, Ardennes-Etape is an exception not only in the tourism industry, but simply in all industries.

For comparison: TripAdvisor has a score of 46, Hotel.com one of 36, and Apple has one of 72.

« It’s simply historical! », says an elated Valérie Geron.

What about the bookings?

When Ardennes-Etape pranced in terms of customer fidelity and cancellation rates, we found the cause was due to a slight descent of the number of reservations at the launch of the new “all-in price” website, before it took its time to rise again steadily. The reason for this descent was that the rates seemed higher.

« At first sight, we seem more expensive than our competitors because we are the only one to display the total price to pay. When the consumer understands that the displayed price equals the total price, he realizes that we are not the most expensive one at all, far from it.”, Valérie Geron elaborated.

Anyhow, the positive results in terms of guest satisfaction are definitely there!

The Ardennes-Etape team hopes that they have launched a new trend in the holiday rental sector.

« The more time passes, the more people will get used to it and will reward transparency. Now it is important that the respect for the holiday maker becomes a standard, not only to the actors in the tourism industry, but on European level as well.», Valérie Geron concludes.

Do you wish to contact the Ardennes-Etape team? You can reach us at 0032 (0)80 29 24 00 or press@ardennes-etape.com