Changes to Visit France website

[Marie]

Hi all,

I've copied a recent email I received from Visit France about their latest change to the website, and wondered how people felt about it?

Hello

We've made some changes to the content you can place in your VisitFrance ad,
and also altered the search results display order criteria in availability,
which is our most popular search.

The rank of ads corresponding with availability search criteria is now based on
how recently the CALENDAR was updated, and not the text content.

As I understand it, unless you update your calendar regularly, you risk ending up at the bottom of a search list. As someone who works full time, I don't have the luxury of being able to update the calendar every day, just so I can end up at the top of a search, and what do you do if you are already fully booked, but still want people to see your property for future interest?  By the same token, if the bookings are not coming in, and you therefore have no need to update the calendar, you will end up lower down than someone who is booked up, and has therefore updated the calendar to show that it isn't available! I've contacted VF to express my concerns, but they haven't replied yet!

Have I understood them correctly, and if so, is it just me who's concerned???

 

Marie

[Lizzie15]

Hi,I 'm not too sure about the Special offers section either cos it seems to imply that people expect these and thus if you are not offering them will your add be seen?mmm....food for thought

[lizzy h]

hi there, they havent also thought about people who have b and  bs cos we have multiple rooms and dont change the calander until they are all booked which is very rare so it looks like we have no bookings at all, all of the year!

liz x

[Clair]

why not update your calendar without making changes?

i.e. pick a fake arrival date, select the following day as departure date and update the period as available...

Your calendar is thus updated and still showing available dates.

[Alan]

This is the reply on there holiday business forum from site admin

 

''Not changing any content but clicking the calendar's UPDATE button will also change the last updated date, and be reflected in search results display order.''

[Alan]

Is anybody else having problems now with this site, the calendar in my instance has not up dated since the 3^rd Feb, I however update this daily.  I have emailed them about this and on their forum they have said that they are having problems. Not had any reply so far to my emails. Also to make matters worse last night I was lucky to receive 2 calls from people who could not post enquiries to me through there system. I was lucky as one turned into a 10 night booking for 3 rooms. However a lot of people will not bother to make the call to France. It could also make us look unprofessional  if the enquirer think the email has been sent and gets no response

[Quillan]

We have experienced the same sort of problems. I have contacted them about B&B's and the multi unit bit for rooms and they said that multi rooms are treated as gites so to add them you will have to pay.

We also have problems contacting French Connections, no reply to emails and there is a answer phone on all the time. We need to get our info updated so it's very disappointing.

[Lizzie15]

[quote]Is anybody else having problems now with this site, the calendar in my instance has not up dated since the 3 rd Feb, I however update this daily. I have emailed them about this and on their forum ...[/quote]

Hi Allan-yes, I've got just the same problem-it states that my calendar hasn't been updated when it has. I also can't upload any new photos.I have sent 4-emails and have not had a reply.Did you have that awful "Simiens Crew" stuff come up as well?

[Lizzie15]

  It's got worse! I've just discovered an enquiry on the enquiries page that they didn't send on to me and it is not possible to access it for details! How unprofessional. The details flashed through to me for a couple of seconds so I got the name and dates for the rental,I also THINK I memorised the e-mail address,then the details vanished .Aaagh! I have sent an e-mail to the address that may or may not be right!

[Quillan]

[quote]Hi Allan-yes, I've got just the same problem-it states that my calendar hasn't been updated when it has. I also can't upload any new photos.I have sent 4-emails and have not had a reply.Did you have t...[/quote]

Their site was hacked hence the Simeins Crew thing. I have had some emails through but it is a bit worrying. I get the impression from the only time I have spoken on the phone that they are a one or two man band.

[Marie]

 

Hi All,

I thought you might be interested to read the reply we finally got from VF in response to our concerns about the new changes, so I've pasted it below. What do you think? Does it alleviated any of your concerns, because I don't think it has reassured us at all!

 

There seems to be widespread misunderstanding on this subject.

 

In fact nothing has changed, other than:

 

- We have tried to encourage more advertisers to actively use the calendar

- The availability search results [eg NOT our main search results, just the results on a search 'by date'] are now ordered by how recently the calendar was updated.

 

As there are so many paths through the website, and many potential entry points - eg direct into various pages containing specific search queries from search engines - the ranking within our search results is certainly not the most important factor in determining response levels for an ad.

 

Our previous criteria for ordering availability search results made it possible for ads without recently updated calendar data to appear high in the list, hence giving prominence to potentially inaccurate information to site visitors. In providing availability search to the public, the underlying logic is that the information it holds is accurate. The changed sort order for availability gives priority to the most recently updated and hence accurate data, and will result in a higher ratio of bookings to enquiries, and more service offered to the public.

 

Our advertising is essentially a blank canvas which you may use as you choose. It is used by advertisers in many different ways. Those who make active use develop their own strategies and over time find out what works for them. Each individual enterprise has its own challenges, advantages and market.

 

The additional features [offers, calendar, prices by date] are included with every ad, and they are quick and easy to use. Any advertiser is free to not use them. Whilst we would recommend that they do, we would not presume to make it compulsory. There are disadvantages to not making use of these features: it's a competitive market out there! Those who try harder may well fare better.

 

We have advertisers in both serviced and self catering sections of the site making active ongoing use of the calendar, many of whom have used it consistently since its launch in the site, and have found it helps them generate enquiries about available dates, and receive fewer about booked dates. Our site isn't a booking system, and as such, responses need managing by advertisers to ensure the best enquire-to-book ratio.

 

Development of the website is ongoing. Through careful observation of market trends and user behaviour, we have built and refined VisitFrance into a medium generates tens of thousands of responses and bookings worth several million pounds per year.

 

This year we expect a minimum of a million of unique visitors which is a huge audience for a website in this type and an excellent opportunity for accommodation owners seeking targetted exposure at a sensible price. It works well, and we know of many owners who receive as much business as they need from an ad in VisitFrance, thereby avoiding the hassle and expense of running other ads.

 

To ensure that it continues this way, development will continue. I don't know precisely in which direction yet - what the public respond well to is what we will do more of, as this has proven to be the best way to build traffic [visitors] and response levels since we moved our publishing efforts from print to the web in 1997.

 

Regards

 

Ben Whitmore

http://www.visitfrance.co.uk

 

Let me know what you think!

 

Marie

[Quillan]

I managed to talk to Ben yesterday night and he said much the same. There have been new servers installed and there have been a few bugs to iron out but progress is happening.

I mentioned that one of the things B&B owners were concerned about was that the calender referred to the whole enterprise. It would seem that the way round this is to have multi units which cost an extra £25 per room (for a B&B or per property for Gite owners). I pointed out that this would mean a lot more admin on the owners part and explained that B&B owners never have the time. It's OK for Gites where you see people in and the out but with B&B's you are there all the time from six in the morning to midnight and that what with the cooking, cleaning etc there are just not enough hours in the day. I asked about just putting one date in the calender (say 1st Jan) so you get listed. The problem with this is that once a month (approx) a script runs that closes calenders that have not been updated.

The site was hacked but this happened before the security system was installed, it was just bad luck that the site was not covered for a few hours after upgrade and the little blighters got in.

I mentioned about people loosing emails (mine are OK, I checked my lists and did a dummy one, no probs) or just not getting them. He will look in to this but one solution might be to clear your email address or put a dummy in the save the settings then do it again putting your address back in, sort of re-initialises the system if you get the idea.

I also said to Ben that communication was the key, tell us what you are doing, we are the customers and need to know. When considering upgrades it might pay to canvas the users, both those that look at the website and those that advertise. I also suggested he read the comments here which he might find of interest.

He seems to put a lot of emphasis on people using the website and how they use it. I pointed out that without us and our paying for advertising there would be no website and he would not have a job. So it's us he should really listen to at the end of the day.

If he does visit us here perhaps he will post and answer directly the other points raised.

[Alan]

Quillan thanks for posting these comments, I did not know that there site had been hacked.

Lets hopes things get sorted soon, they do need to listen to us as you correctly say we are the customer after all, communication is what its all about

[Flora]

The SIMIENS CREW thing came back yesterday evening and this morning I still can't log in to update etc!

Last time I thought it was just me until I read that other people had been having problems too.

Hope they get it sorted quickly.

[Musicmonkey<ADDRESS><STRONG>Musicmonkey<STRONG><ADDRESS>]

I have tried to have VF upload pictures that I submitted about 3 weeks ago and I am still waiting for a response of any kind.  They also have the wrong map image coming up despite the map reference being correct.  They have not responded to my query about that either.  As it is the season to get the most bookings I am not at all happy.

In desperation I tried calling their tel. no. but there was no reply, not even an answer phone message.  It is looking suspicious especially in light of the Siemens blurb still not being sorted.

 

[Flora]

[quote]The SIMIENS CREW thing came back yesterday evening and this morning I still can't log in to update etc! Last time I thought it was just me until I read that other people had been having problems too....[/quote]

All working again now.

[Krill]

We went from having at least one enquiry a day in Jan to nothing in the last 3 weeks, has anyone else experienced similar

[Musicmonkey<ADDRESS><STRONG>Musicmonkey<STRONG><ADDRESS>]

If I don't start getting booking enquiries, and they do not respond to my account problems, I shall definitely not be renewing.

 

[Coco]

Oh dear this is all very worrying.  Don't know what on earth anyone's talking about re Simeons Crew?????  But I should say about 90% of my English-speaking bookings last year came from this site, so I really don't want to hear that they're having problems.  What is worrying is what Krill says about enquiries every day and now none.  I'm the same, I was getting at least two a day for about 2 weeks in January and now about one a week.  I presumed it was the after CHristmas rush to book a holiday - I still hope it is.  The last thing I want to hear is that this, what I have regarded til now as excellent website, is going down the pan

[Krill]

I dont think there is much to worry about with the web site, at least you can have some controll over how close you are to the top of the listings, I also use French Connections and after their re vamp people have to look at 23 pages before they get to mine, I have emailed them twice about this but have had no replys, has anyone else had experience of them?

[Marie]

Hi

We've just received our first enquiry through French Connections since their website upgrade!  I'm still not inclined to renew my advertisement with them, as the response has been much worse than VF. Having said that, there was a distinct downturn in the number of enquiries through VF after their new website was launched.  That seems to have picked up a little lately, although I'm still not very confident about either at the moment!  Let's hope it's just the lull between the January credit card bills and the start of spring and thoughts of summer!

 

Marie