How to Attract International Guests to Your Holiday Rental
May 2026
Many landlords start by promoting their holiday rental to visitors from the same country. That’s fine, but if you limit yourself in this way, you may be missing out on lucrative international markets. Here are some of the best ways to attract customers from other countries to your property.
How to rent out your house to tourists from other countries
The first thing to consider is an obvious one: not everyone speaks English. Successful holiday rentals for foreigners must overcome the language barrier. Luckily, these days, you have the world’s most powerful translation tool right in your pocket. Online translators can really help when it comes to taking care of international guests. On the one hand, they’re not perfect, and they do make some mistakes. On the other, people are usually forgiving of these minor issues, and guests will often be happy to see you making an effort to communicate in their language.
It can feel awkward sometimes to hold your phone in your hand, speaking through Google Translate with your guests. However, it’s often the best way to communicate, and keeping a smile and a positive attitude throughout will go a long way. You probably don’t want to rely on Google Translate for your holiday rental website, though. This is one of your key marketing tools, and a clunky translation may put guests off. It’s better to hire a freelance translator to do a more polished job.
Advertise your holiday home to foreign visitors
To encourage international tourism, you may need to experiment with different holiday rental portals. Some platforms are particularly useful if you’re looking at certain sectors of the market:
- Agoda is one of the biggest and most popular travel platforms in Asia. It has listings that cover the entire world, but its most loyal customers are from East and Southeast Asia, making it a good choice if you want to tap into this particular market.
- Holidu is popular in mainland Europe, especially among German-speaking countries. Advertise on this platform to attract German, Austrian and Swiss tourists.
- You might think of TripAdvisor as a review platform, but it also offers holiday rental listings. This site is hugely popular around the world. It automatically translates content into 28 languages, making it a go-to site for people from every corner of the globe.
You may also find that one group of visitors from a particular country can lead to more from the same country. For example, if a German guest puts up a review online in his own language, that will encourage more Germans to stay in your rental. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising, no matter what language it’s in.
Decide on your strategy
First of all, how do you intend to embrace international tourism? Will you target one particular group —Spanish-speaking tourists, for example — or will you just try to rent out your holiday home to visitors from anywhere in the world?
There are advantages to both approaches. Of course, the latter can give you broader market appeal, but the former —if you do it properly— could cement your rental as the best choice for a specific niche. Let’s say you’re going to try to attract Spanish guests, for example. Here’s how you might go about that:
- Advertise online in Spanish. Look for Facebook groups that are popular in Spain or Latin America, and perhaps reach out to a Spanish influencer for a collaboration.
- Look for a local Spanish-speaking tour guide and build a partnership. You can cross-sell special tours for groups of guests who want to communicate in their own language.
- Familiarise yourself with Spanish customs. For example, you may want to greet your guests by kissing them on the cheek, which will make them feel more at home.
- In your welcome book, list any local restaurants that serve Spanish food. Yes, your guests may want to try the cuisine of your area, but they might also appreciate a taste of home.
- Fit your property with the kind of amenities that Spanish visitors expect. For example, blinds that offer complete darkness are common in Spain but are not a standard fitting in the UK.
- Stock the kitchen with foods that will be familiar to your guests. That doesn’t mean putting out a selection of tapas, but it might mean offering artisan bread for breakfast rather than cereal.
All this will help you establish a particular niche in the market. It’s easier to choose a target audience if you already speak the language or if you have a friend or family member who does. The downside of targeting one group of tourists in this way is clear: what will you do if tourism from that country dries up?
You’ll need to weigh up the pros and cons carefully. For example, a Japanese-speaking landlord in Edinburgh will have instant appeal to Japanese visitors and may be able to charge a premium rate. That’s great, but do enough Japanese tourists visit Edinburgh to make it worthwhile?
Making a business out of international holiday rental
You should also think about the services that you offer. If you rent out a holiday flat in the UK to mostly British guests, you can probably leave them to their own devices. They already know what they want to do. However, holiday rental for tourists from other countries is a little different.
Foreign visitors often want to explore the local culture. That’s great for your business, as it offers you the chance to do some upselling and cross-selling. Here are some things you might be able to promote:
- Local cookery classes,
- Craft workshops, making something traditional from the area.
- Traditional dance workshops,
- A foodie tour that covers all the most typical dishes.
Foreign guests will be particularly appreciative of the following in your holiday rental:
- A multilingual welcome book containing information about local customs, traditions, festivals and sites of cultural interest
- Décor from the local area. Can you decorate your holiday home in a way that reflects the traditions of your region?
- Trinkets that reflect the local culture. If you’re running a family-friendly holiday rental, you could even consider a dressing-up box for kids. For example, in London, it may contain things like a guardsman’s hat. This can also inspire guests to buy their own souvenirs.
Remember, you may be jaded by the city you live in, but foreign guests will see it with fresh eyes. Encourage their excitement, and they’ll have a great time in your holiday rental.