How to fill your vacation rental in the shoulder season
When August ends, the first instinct for many hosts is to cut the price. The rate drops by twenty percent or so, the calendar stays empty, and the reason is usually the same: September is being sold as a cheaper version of August.
Interest in travel does not disappear after the peak season. What changes are the guests and their reasons for travelling. A guest arriving in September rarely wants the same thing as a family booking seven nights by the beach in August.
That leaves a lot of room to grow. According to Eurostat, 31.1 % of all EU overnight stays in 2025 happened in just two months, July and August. In Croatia that figure reaches 54.5 %, the highest concentration in the European Union. Most of the year stays underused.
Before you start building your shoulder season offer, three things are worth understanding.
- The off-peak guest is a different guest. According to Eurostat, people aged 65 and over spend only 29 % of their nights in July and August, while more than half of their travel happens outside the peak season. Their choice of dates does not depend on school holidays or summer crowds.
- Demand is already shifting to the edges of the season. In the first five months of 2026, Croatia recorded around 7 % more overnight stays than a year earlier, while interest in the peak of the season was weaker. Guests increasingly choose periods with milder temperatures, fewer crowds and better conditions.
- Selling the shoulder season starts in August. Not once the calendar is already empty, but while you still have time to adjust your listing, rates, stay conditions and the way you present your property.
This article takes you from "I have a free week in September" to "I have an offer for a specific guest".
1. Who travels after August, and why?
What is the shoulder season? The shoulder season is the period between the peak season and the off season, typically spring and early autumn. In Mediterranean destinations that means roughly May and June, then September and October. Demand is lower than in high summer, but travellers are often more flexible on dates and stay longer.
The shoulder season guest is not simply a family looking for a cheaper week. More often it is someone travelling precisely because the summer crowds are gone.
So do not try to speak to everyone. Pick one or two guest groups that genuinely match your property, location and amenities.
- Couples without children look for quiet, good restaurants, day trips and flexible dates. They often book three to five nights, and a weekend or long weekend is a perfectly normal format for them.
- Guests aged 55 or 65 and over value fewer crowds, a quiet location, parking, easy access to the property and clear information before arrival. Since they are not tied to school holidays, they can often stay longer than the average guest.
- Remote workers need reliable internet, a desk, a comfortable chair, quiet, a kitchen and a washing machine. Longer stays appeal to them, especially with a better rate for seven, fourteen or more nights.
- Active guests include cyclists, hikers, runners, sailors and people who travel for food and wine. You are not selling them accommodation alone, but routes, local events, activities and a safe place to store equipment.
- Guests from nearby markets are more likely to arrive by car, stay for shorter periods and book closer to the arrival date. For Croatia, that means guests from Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Czechia, Poland and Slovakia.
Your property does not have to suit every one of these groups. A third-floor apartment with no lift will not be the first choice for a guest who needs easy access. A city-centre property may not attract cyclists who want direct access to routes and space for their gear.
Instead of trying to please everyone, choose the guest for whom what you already have becomes a real advantage.
You are not targeting everyone. You are choosing the guest your property genuinely suits.
2. What does a guest want in September, beyond an available property?
A listing that performs well in July will not necessarily perform in October. At the peak of the season guests often choose based on availability, distance to the sea and price. After August, different criteria come first.
Compare two descriptions of the same property.
- Summer version: The apartment is 200 metres from the beach.
- Shoulder season version: Spend a quiet autumn week by the sea, with space to work, private parking and a good base for exploring the surrounding area.
The property is the same, but the offer is not. The second description answers the questions a guest asks in September and October, when the beach is no longer the only reason to come.
What you can change right now
- Replace some of the busy summer photos with images of the terrace, the view, the interior and the surroundings. Show what the property looks like when a guest spends more time in it, not only when returning from the beach.
- Highlight heating and air conditioning, because a comfortable indoor temperature genuinely matters in September and October.
- State your internet speed and photograph the desk. A guest planning to work remotely wants to know straight away whether a normal working day is possible from your property.
- Give parking its own line. Outside the peak season more guests arrive by car, so easy access and a secure parking space can matter more than distance to the beach.
- Write down which restaurants, shops, tours and other services stay open after summer. Knowing what exists nearby is not enough; guests want to know what will actually be open during their stay.
- Describe what there is to do when it is not swimming weather. That can be walks, cycling routes, day trips, local wineries, restaurants, museums or events nearby.
Finally, check that your listing clearly answers six important questions:
- Does the property have heating?
- How fast and reliable is the internet?
- What is open nearby?
- What can a guest do when it rains?
- Can they book seven or fourteen nights?
- Is arrival possible on any day of the week?
A listing that works in July does not have to work in October.
3. How do you build an offer instead of just cutting the price?
A discount is the simplest move, but often the most expensive way to fill a calendar. There is a real difference between "20 % off" and "seven nights at a better rate, with free parking and a late check-out".
The first message is only about price. The second gives the guest a concrete reason to book and increases the total value of the stay, without cutting the nightly rate to the same degree.
Build the offer around the guest you want to attract.
- A long-stay offer can include a better rate for seven nights, an added benefit for fourteen nights, or a monthly rate for remote workers.
- An offer for couples can cover three or four nights, a flexible arrival day, a late check-out and recommendations for restaurants, trips and activities nearby.
- A weekend offer can run from Friday to Sunday, with the option of a later arrival on Friday and a late check-out on Sunday.
- An offer for past guests can include a promo code available only to people who have already stayed with you. That encourages them to book directly again, without intermediary commission.
A good offer will not help if booking conditions block it. Rules that make sense in August often become an obstacle in September and October. If a guest wants to arrive on Thursday and leave on Sunday, but the property requires at least seven nights and only allows Saturday arrivals, that booking will probably not happen.
What you can change right now
- Lower the minimum stay for September and October, especially for gaps that are hard to combine with other bookings.
- Allow arrivals on different days of the week instead of restricting them to Saturday or the weekend.
- Offer a benefit for longer stays rather than making seven or more nights a requirement.
- Set different rules for weekends and weekdays. A short weekend stay and a longer midweek stay do not need the same rates or conditions.
- Adjust rules to the actual gaps in your calendar. A three-night gap calls for a different offer than two entirely empty weeks.
You do not have to publish a targeted offer across every sales channel. A promo code or special rate can live on your own channel only. That way the benefit goes to the guest instead of being spent on intermediary commission. We covered how to set this up in our guide to activating direct bookings.
In the shoulder season, flexibility is often worth more than a big discount.
4. How do you sell the destination, not just the property?
A guest in September rarely travels simply because a property was available. First they need a reason to choose the destination, and only then do they decide where to stay.
That is why hosts who do well in the shoulder season are the ones who show guests what their trip could look like, rather than offering accommodation and a lower price.
Prepare a few concrete suggestions: three nearby day trips, two walking or cycling routes, a list of restaurants and wineries open outside the peak season, local events in September and October, and an idea for a day when the weather is not ideal. Add quiet beaches, promenades or viewpoints a guest can visit without summer crowds.
Compare how this changes your communication.
Instead of: Book our apartment in Zadar.
Better: Spend four quiet days in Zadar, explore Nin and Pag, walk through the old town without the summer crowds, and come back to an apartment with private parking.
The second message does not sell a night. It gives the guest an idea of a trip and helps them picture what they will do after arriving.
So in your listing, on your website or on social media, show what two or three days of a stay could look like. Connect the property with trips, food, events and activities that suit the guest you want to attract.
That is the difference between an empty date in a calendar and a concrete reason to travel.
A guest is not only choosing a property. They are choosing a reason to come to the destination.
5. How do you bring back guests who have already stayed with you?
Past guests are one of the most valuable channels you have. They already know the property, they know what to expect, and they trust you more than someone seeing your listing for the first time. You do not need to convince them of the quality again. You need to give them a good reason and a specific date to return.
Send a short email to guests who stayed with you this season or last. Avoid a generic message like "book again", because on its own it gives no reason for a new booking.
What you can do right now
Remind them of the property and show what the destination looks like in September or October. Two or three photos of quieter beaches, promenades, restaurants or trips are enough.
Offer specific available dates instead of a general note that you have availability. "Free from 12 to 16 September" leads to a decision more easily than "get in touch about available dates".
Add a benefit or promo code that applies only to past guests. That can be a better rate, free parking, a late check-out or an extra night with a certain length of stay.
The link in your message should lead straight to a booking page with the dates and price already shown, not to a contact form or a homepage.
Set a clear deadline for the offer. Without one, guests will put the decision off more easily and the message will get lost among other commitments.
When a guest clicks that link, they should immediately see availability, price and the option to book. If sending an enquiry and waiting for a reply comes next, you are adding friction to one of the easiest bookings you can get.
A past guest already trusts you. All they need is a reason and a specific date.
6. How do you turn a post into a booking?
A social media post is not a sales channel on its own. It becomes one only when a guest can click through, check the price, see availability and complete a booking straight away.
You can publish your shoulder season offer on Facebook and Instagram, your Google Business Profile, your own website, in messages to past guests and on OTA channels. What differs is where you send the guest once they show interest, and how much each completed booking costs you.
Whatever the channel, the link should lead to specific dates, a clear price, real-time availability and a simple booking process. If a guest has to look for contact details, send an enquiry and wait for a reply, the chance that they book somewhere else in the meantime goes up.
We explained how to set up your own direct booking channel in our guide to direct bookings. You can activate a Booking Engine mid-season, without waiting for your existing channels to stop delivering bookings.
What you can do right now
- Check that every post leads to a page where a guest can book immediately, not only browse photos or send an enquiry.
- Add a booking link to your Google Business Profile so guests can move from search straight to available dates.
- Embed the promo code in the link itself. That way the guest sees the benefit right away, without typing a code or sending a message.
- Prepare clear answers to the questions that come up most often in the shoulder season, such as whether the property has heating, what weather to expect and what is open nearby.
- Bring messages from different channels together so no enquiry goes unnoticed or unanswered.
Outside the peak season guests compare more options and ask more specific questions before booking. Response speed can matter as much as price.
If you are changing rates, rules and availability across several sales channels at once, a Channel Manager keeps calendars in sync and reduces the risk of double bookings.
A click on a post should lead to dates, a price and a booking, not to another enquiry.
7. How do you capture last minute guests in the shoulder season?
Outside the peak season the gap between searching and arriving is often shorter. A guest may decide to travel only a few days in advance, especially when driving in from a neighbouring country.
That is not a drawback, it is an opportunity. In 2026 the Croatian National Tourist Board launched a last minute campaign across seven European markets, which shows that competition for guests does not stop when the peak season ends. Your job is to have the offer ready by the time a guest starts looking.
What to do, and when
- Early August: choose the guest group you want to reach, adjust your photos and listing description, set rates for September and October, and remove restrictions that could block a booking.
- Mid August: send the offer to past guests, start publishing shoulder season content, and activate a promo code or special offer on your own channel.
- Late August: promote specific available dates, lower the minimum stay further, and highlight events, trips and activities available in September.
- Through September: track the gaps in your calendar, keep availability in sync across all channels and reply quickly. A last minute guest planning a trip for a few days' time will not wait long for an answer.
In a period like this it matters even more that rates, rules and availability are changed in one place. Updating them manually on every channel increases the chance of errors, mismatched prices and double bookings.
In the shoulder season, the offer that is ready before the guest decides where to go is the one that wins.
Check this today
Before August ends, check whether you can answer yes to each of these:
- Do you know which guest group you are selling September and October to?
- Does your listing answer questions about heating, internet, parking and things to do nearby?
- Do you have a concrete offer, not just a lower price?
- Has the minimum stay been lowered, and is arrival possible on different days?
- Has the offer been sent to guests who have already stayed with you?
- Does every post lead somewhere a guest can see the price and book immediately?
The shoulder season does not fill up with one big discount. It fills up through a series of smaller decisions that make it easier for a guest to choose your property.
Conclusion
In September and October a vacation rental does not sell to the same guest, with the same arguments, or under the same conditions as in August. So decide who you are speaking to first, adjust your listing and build an offer that fits that group. Show them what they concretely gain by coming after the peak season, from a quieter destination and a more flexible stay to what is available nearby.
Only then judge whether the price needs to come down at all. More flexible conditions, a better description and a clear offer will often do more than a general discount.
With Rentlio One you manage rates, availability and booking rules in one place, create promo codes and take direct bookings. Calendars across all connected channels stay in sync automatically, with no manual updates and no risk of double bookings.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Is September really weaker than August?
By volume of overnight stays, yes, but demand does not disappear. Across the EU, 31.1 % of all nights are spent in just two months, and in Croatia that reaches 54.5 %, which means a great deal of room to grow outside them. A guest travelling in September comes for different reasons, so the listing, offer and booking conditions need to match.
Do I have to lower my price to fill the shoulder season?
Not necessarily. Before cutting the rate, adjust your listing, lower the minimum stay, allow more flexible arrival days and build an offer that gives the guest a concrete reason to book. Change the price only once you see that the other adjustments are not working.
Which guests travel most outside the peak season?
Most often couples without children, guests aged 55 and over, remote workers and active guests such as cyclists and hikers. According to Eurostat, people aged 65 and over spend only 29 % of their nights in July and August, while more than half of their travel happens outside the peak season.
How do I set the minimum stay in September?
Rules that work well in August are often too strict for the shoulder season. Lower the minimum stay to two or three nights, allow arrivals on different days, and offer a better rate for longer bookings rather than requiring them. You can also set different rules for weekends and weekdays.
How do I reach last minute guests?
Prepare rates, availability and your offer for September while it is still August. Keep calendars in sync across all channels and reply to enquiries quickly. Outside the peak season the gap between searching and arriving is short, so guests will not wait long for an answer.
Is it worth sending an offer to guests who have already stayed with me?
Yes. Past guests already know the property and trust you more than someone seeing it for the first time. Send them specific available dates, a clear benefit and a link that leads straight to booking rather than to an enquiry form.
Should I list my property on every channel?
No. Managing the channels that actually bring you bookings well matters more than covering a large number of them superficially. Every channel should let a guest easily check price and availability, and your data should be consistent everywhere you sell.
How do I avoid double bookings when I change rates and conditions?
Change rates and availability in one place rather than manually on each channel. A channel manager updates connected channels automatically as soon as a new booking arrives or availability changes, which reduces the risk of mismatched calendars and double bookings.
Daniel Herman is a growth marketing enthusiast with 10 years of marketing experience who enjoys thinking strategically and seeing the bigger picture. He writes about everything related to developing marketing activities and KPIs, branding, and taking a long-term approach to success, always with the goal of sharing useful ideas and inspiring action.
