Information for renters

Classification of accommodations

Grab the stars!

The classification of holiday homes, holiday apartments and private rooms plays an increasingly important role in tourism.

"Quality is becoming increasingly important on the hotly contested holiday market"
"The stars make it easier for the guest to orientate"
a chance for landlords to stand out from the crowd "
" stars, a safe sign of quality "

Apartments, holiday homes and private rooms (up to 8 beds) are classified in Germany according to the regulations of the German Tourism Association (DTV). This classification system is revised every three years in a working group with examiners from the practical classification work and adapted to the expectations of the guests.

Stars show their guests the way to tested quality

For hosts with private holiday accommodations, stars are an ideal way to objectively prove the quality of their offer. Stars also represent a competitive advantage over other providers and provide an effective advertising argument.

 

The stars of the German Tourism Association (DTV):

  • Are a nationwide uniform sign
  • Signal "These quarters are officially checked and found in the respective category for good"
  • say more than a thousand words

Information and prices of the DTV classification

Holiday homes, apartments and private rooms are classified according to the guidelines of the German Tourism Association EV. The accommodations are personally visited by trained staff and assessed according to the classification criteria. The classifying staff must have dealt in detail with the classification procedure and the guidelines. Compulsory training is carried out regionally and ensure the uniform application of the classification throughout Germany.

Validity time of classification: 3 years

After the end of the validity period, the advertising must be set with the classification in all advertising materials (classification sign/certificate, GGV, house brochure, Internet, DTV label sticker, other star products) Investigative advertising: violation of the copyright and trademark law of the DTV, inadmissible advertising- inadmissible advertising justified the DTV's claim for injunctive relief and damages by the landlord.
In the case of advertisements from the landlord, landlord information should be proven based on the certificate.

Object -related presentation

The classification of the holiday accommodations is shown with 8-Zacken stars. In the case of holiday homes/apartments, an F and private rooms are preceded by a P. Position DTV stars only in connection with the actually classified objects. Significant delimitation between non -classified objects or non -evaluated parts of the company and star advertising for classified objects.

Important! Non -class objects may not be advertised with the stars of classified objects. The star advertising for the entire house (in the logo or next to the house name, e.g. Haus Regina ****) is only permitted if all classified objects of the house have been awarded the uniformly advertised star result (but not with different classification results).

DTV classification sign (external advertising on the object)

With different classification results in a company, the landlord has the choice between a sign with the number of stars, which was mostly reached or a combined shield (e.g. 3 and 4 stars). In the case of partially classified companies, advertising with a classification sign is permitted.

Classification certificate

A certificate is issued for each classified object.
In the document, the classified object is referred to, the maximum occupancy, the classification result and the duration of validity. The certificate is said to be in the classified object (info cap, on the wall).

Maximum occupancy

In the classification, the maximum occupancy of the classified object is determined. The landlord is bound to this definition and obliges the specified number of people consistently to maintain and communicate in all advertising materials. (Max. occupancy crucial for the star result, minimum criterion: combined living room/bedroom).

Price

The price for the DTV classification of a holiday accommodation by the Vorpommern Tourism Association is made up of a license fee of € 60 and a processing fee for the first object of € 60 and 55 € for each additional object (plus VAT; possibly travel expenses outside of Greifswald).

Criteria arches and other documents

Since January 1, 2016, new minimum standards and criteria arches have applied for the classification of holiday apartments, holiday homes and private rooms that can be viewed on this page. The current criteria catalog comprises around 190 criteria in 7 or 9 categories.

Here you will find the agreement (which is concluded between the landlord and the classifying torism organization) and the criteria for the classification of holiday homes/apartments or private rooms, you can view and, if necessary, print out.  

Certificates and classification signs with validity badge
after a personal inspection and evaluation of the holiday homes/apartments or private rooms, the landlord receives a certificate on which the accommodation address, the maximum occupancy and the validity duration are noted. We also offer a paid enamel sign with a validity badge.

Online booking system

Sales for holiday homes, apartments, hotels, for leisure activities & arrangements

You also benefit from the advantages of an online booking system. More and more guests are looking for bookable accommodations and arrangements on the Internet. About 80 % use an online booking system for booking. The booking system "IM-WEB" by the company "HRS Destination Solutions GmbH" is one of the most powerful technologies in Germany tourism and has been used by us for over 15 years.

Facts

  • The largest range of apartments and holiday homes in northern Germany
  • Market-leading system in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Tourismus
  • Numerous destinations across Germany
  • All offers bookable in real time - locally, throughout Germany and internationally
  • Accommodation ratings on average "good" to "very good"
  • Over 100,000 holiday accommodations - from the castle hotel to the campground
  • More than 200,000 visitors monthly
  • More than 258,000 bookings in 2013
  • More than 2 million page views monthly
  • More than 150 leading tourism portals
  • More than 10,000 users

Bookability

On websites of the Vorpommern Tourism Association EV: Western Pommern.de and Ostseeland.de

In addition, their accommodations can be booked via the website of the local tourism associations and via large booking portals such as Holiday Insider, Best FeWo, among other things.   

Advantages for the guest

  • Fast binding booking of accommodation with immediate display of a booking confirmation
  • A few steps until the final booking
  • Definitely free accommodation, clear information about the accommodations with pictures
  • Graphical information system (display of the booking location on a zoomable card, route planning)
  • Booking of additional services (breakfast, half board, pet, etc.), arrangements and services are possible

Advantages for the landlord

  • No costs if not booked
  • Fair 10% gross booking commission
  • One -off € 25.00 net setting fee
  • No further costs such as booking fee or system fee
  • Your holiday objects can be booked online around the clock
  • Immediate booking notification via fax or email (also possible both)!
  • Optimal representation of your holiday objects / offers using business cards
  • Your own holiday objects / your offer is possible at any time
  • Maintaining your occupancy calendar via protected access possible

Documents and contracts for the online booking system

What to do?

If you choose the online booking system, you will find the survey sheets, the placement contract and the activation agreement for download and print out. Send the arches back to us. The contracts are signed to us in two copies. You will then receive your specimens immediately.

Alternatively, it is possible to fill out the online collecting sheet. To do this, please use the corresponding link. You will be linked to an external page on which you have to "start now successfully". You can then fill out the survey sheet online and will then be contacted by us.

Surveying sheet
Mediation Treaty
Treaty Control access access to
online elevation sheet

contact

Mr. Sven Köppert will be happy to answer your further questions and also advise you in a personal conversation.

Contact us Peremail at bookung@vorpommern.de

Or call us: 03834 8910

7 tips for renters

The Internet has changed the travel and booking behavior of the guests a lot. In the past, it was common for catalogs to be leafed down or went to the travel agency. Today the majority of the guests prefer to google for information.
It is therefore important for successful marketing to react to this changed usage behavior and to adapt the marketing process of holiday apartments accordingly.
With these 7 tips, your apartments and holiday homes can be rented even better in the future.

The fact is that vacation in holiday apartments is becoming increasingly popular. The main causes of this change are more space and more privacy than in hotels. But the increasing competition, in the form of private and commercial providers, also wants to benefit from it, so it is becoming increasingly important to stand out from it:

1. Tip - appealing and high -resolution images

As so often, the first impression is very decisive! Disely people interested in travel are primarily interested in the appearance, the condition and location of the holiday apartment. The photos displayed are the guarantee of success in the sales process. In order to arouse the desire to travel to the potential guest, you can only select meaningful, appealing and high -resolution images, regardless of the platform on which the apartment is advertised.
The preview image is very important, since the first click is triggered.

2. Tip - a convincing description text

If you have successfully implemented the first tip and the vacationer feels addressed by the pictures, he deals with the description text of the advertisement. This should be detailed and leave no central questions open. It is important that all relevant equipment features are mentioned, which exists in the area and possibly what special feature your apartment has to offer.
In order for the reader to feel welcome, it is helpful to give your text a personal tone instead of just listing factual information.
However, this should not be varied in a novel, but should still be as short as possible.

3. Tip - virtual tour of the holiday home

The development in holiday home marketing clearly goes to the virtual tour, for which there are good reasons. Due to the increased use of Photoshop by many landlords and hotel operators, many holidaymakers became suspicious in the past, since in the end it had little to do with the actual offer on site. It is important to him to get transparent and honest impressions. Through a virtual tour, it is possible for the viewer to take a look around the apartment, which makes it easier to decide whether the offer appeals to him. This increases trust and increases the booking rate, so that the investment quickly pays off in many cases.

4. Tip - Numbers, data, facts

It is important to be clean and comprehensible to offer facts in order to offer great transparency here too. Avoid too long price lists and a number of additional costs, as they quickly have a deterrent to the user. The potential guest wants to find out quickly and clearly how high the total amount is. It is at least as important to maintain the occupancy calendar continuously so that it is immediately recognizable whether the accommodation is available at the desired period.
It is very helpful to make it as easy for the user as possible and to answer the most important questions before contacting it for the first time. Every little barrier, as is the case, can result in the prospect decides for a different offer for convenience.

5. Tip - Fast and reliable communication

Since the internet is sometimes quite short -lived and most of them would like to have their information immediately, booking requests should be answered as quickly as possible. Because many users submit several inquiries to different landlords at the same time, the answer should not be waited for too long so that the vacationer does not book any other apartment in the meantime.

6. Tip - please for reviews

One of the central columns in the marketing process of holiday apartments is trust. Many travelers deal with the reviews of former guests before booking. This serves as a guide and creates orientation. It is therefore helpful to ask proactively for reviews so that potential guests benefit from the experiences of other guests. As long as no false expectations are aroused in advance, the risk of getting poor ratings can be kept low. It is therefore not necessary to fear the bad reviews. On the contrary, you can use every feedback to improve your own offer and make travelers even more pleasant to stay in the apartment.

7. Tip - they become visible

Even the most beautiful holiday home offer is only successful if it is easy to find for those interested. The following 3 options are available to you:

  • The apartment on booking portals : For many, the first contact points in travel planning are established booking portals such as Airbnb and Booking.com. There, the offers can not only be compared quickly and easily, the marketer also has a lot of work. Caution is still required here, since the service providers raise costs for this service. It is therefore advisable to thoroughly check the different conditions and then try out which portal offers the greatest success for your own offer.
  • A separate website : You should at least consider your own website that the apartment is offered. This has the advantage of being independent of booking portals and having full freedom of design. Through content management systems such as WordPress or Jimdo, creating a website is friendly. If you prefer to have more competent people support, there are alternatively many inexpensive providers who can help with website creation. It will be challenging when it comes to being found. There are many options for this with Google Ads, social media and search engine optimization, but this is generally associated with more effort than the advertisement of the apartment on a booking portal.
  • Marketing via social media : With social media, you have new opportunities to reach your guests. For example through targeted targeting with Facebook marketing or via Instagram. The advantage that results from this is the faster and simpler distribution, since the guests can particularly easily share the offer in social media and recommend friends and acquaintances.

Further training

The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Tourism Association regularly offers seminars for renters of holiday apartments. You can find these here .