If you’re a vacation rental owner along the Gulf Coast, securing new bookings may be a big concern - but you might also be concerned about your existing reservations. Many of your guests might be calling in the coming weeks with questions about the condition of the beaches, their upcoming stay, and your cancellation policies.

The key to handling these questions is to be reassuring and speak confidently. Make a plan for how to handle questions before you start receiving these types of phone calls. You don’t want to stammer and leave your guests questioning their decisions.

Here are some helpful tips for responding to questions about the oil spill:

• Be transparent. Your guests are likely to have a lot of questions about their upcoming stay, and understandably so. Being evasive will only make your guests unsure about their decision to rent. Instead, you’ll want to make yourself available, be patient and speak directly. Perhaps even beat your guests to it by calling them first with updates about the condition of the beaches and referring them to trusted sources. Many of the chambers of commerce along the Gulf Coast have posted information on their websites, so you can refer guests to those sites (and visit yourself for your own talking points).
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• Focus on the current state of the beaches. Much of the doom and gloom your renters may hear on the news is pure speculation. At the same time, though, you can’t guarantee that something won’t happen by the time their vacations roll around. So to start, you’ll want to remind them that the beaches are still open, reassure them about their current conditions, and perhaps even offer testimonials from guests who have stayed in your home over the last couple of weeks.
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• Don’t overpromise. No one knows what the outcome of the oil spill will be in the coming months, so you can’t guarantee that the beaches will be left unscathed. It’s perfectly fair to provide updates on the current state of your beaches, but it’s also okay to be truthful about your own concerns, too. Guests will appreciate your honesty.
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• Talk up your area. For renters who have doubts about going through with their vacation, try to offer suggestions for other area activities. Remind them that there are plenty of other goings-on to keep them entertained during their getaway.
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• Reconsider your cancellation policy. We’ve always been big proponents of the strict cancellation guidelines, but in light of this situation, you might consider being more flexible with your refund policy. When prospective renters are nervous about the oil spill, a stringent cancellation policy will only help to convince them not to book. While we don’t advise that you impose no penalties for cancellations, you can strike a balance that’s fair to both you and your renters. For example:

• Follow up with any cancelled guests. If you have already had some guests cancel their bookings for this summer, try checking back with them. Your guests might have assumed the worst when they cancelled and could now be regretting their decision if the oil hasn’t reached the shore. Give them a call or send them an email with any available dates you still have to see if they’d like to rebook.

• Claim your losses. Although we hope our advice will help keep your upcoming reservations on the books, you might still experience some cancellations. If you’re considering filing claims against your homeowners insurance or with BP directly, it’s important to exercise due diligence before rushing into a claim.

When disasters like this occur, there are no hard and fast rules to which we can all adhere. It’s important to put yourself in your renters’ shoes while creating a plan that works for everyone involved.

The information in the articles, blogs or other posts by Christine Karpinski are provided to assist vacation property owners or managers generally and are based on Ms. Karpinski’s personal experiences or the information she has been able to gather. This information is meant to help the owner community; however, please note that any particular situation of any owner or manager may differ and all owners and managers are encouraged to seek professional advice to determine what course(s) of action will be most beneficial for them. Neither HomeAway, Inc. nor Christine Karpinski can provide any guarantee or warrantee that this information is complete or accurate at any point in time or that any particular outcome will result if action is taken in response to this information.