Promoting Local Events to Increase Midweek Bookings

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1 Jul 2026

Promoting Local Events to Increase Midweek Bookings

Why Midweek Is Worth Chasing

Weekends look after themselves. Friday and Saturday fill first, often months ahead, and it is easy to feel that the job is done. Then you look at the book and see the same gap every week: Sunday night half empty, Monday and Tuesday quiet, Wednesday a struggle unless you have a contractor staying. Those empty rooms still cost you heating, laundry and staff hours, and they are the difference between a comfortable year and a tight one.

Events are the simplest answer. People will travel on a Tuesday if there is a reason to, and most towns have far more going on than guest house owners realise. The trick is to spot those dates early, match them to the right past guests, and tell them about it before they book somewhere else.

Build a Twelve-Month Events Calendar

Start by writing down everything you already know, then fill in the gaps deliberately. A ring binder or a simple spreadsheet is plenty — the point is to have one place you can glance at when the bookings dip.

Your council and local tourist board what's-on pages, checked monthly rather than once a year
The local paper's listings section, which often carries smaller events the council misses
Theatres, arts centres and concert halls — touring productions, comedy nights, pantomime runs and amateur operatic societies all pull audiences from outside the area
Racecourses, agricultural shows, county shows, steam rallies and vintage transport weekends
Markets: weekly charter markets, monthly farmers' markets, antique and craft fairs
Midweek sporting fixtures, including evening football, cricket and rugby
Church and community events — flower festivals, choir concerts, bell-ringing weekends, heritage open days
Half-term and school holiday activity programmes, which often run on weekdays

Add a column for how many rooms each event actually produced. After a year or two you will know which dates are reliably worth an email and which are not.

Sort Your Past Guests Into Simple Groups

Not everyone wants the same message. Splitting your old guest list into four or five rough groups makes your emails feel personal rather than like a blanket advert.

Couples and pairs of friends — theatre trips, food and drink festivals, Christmas market openings, garden tours. They book two-night midweek breaks happily if the price is right.
Business guests — they are already with you midweek. Mention a quiet room, early breakfast and a weekday rate, and they may add a Sunday night either side.
Walkers, cyclists and birdwatchers — guided walks, trail events and nature reserve open days. Say plainly that you have a drying room and somewhere secure for bikes.
Families — half-term workshops, family theatre, seasonal trails and school holiday activities, usually Sunday to Thursday.
Group and coach organisers — heritage days, garden visits and craft fairs. Midweek is their natural slot, and one booking can fill several rooms at once.

Write the Email That Actually Fills Rooms

Short beats clever. Lead with the event, give the dates, give a price, and make the next step obvious.

A subject line that names the event and the month: "Two nights for the literary festival — 14 to 16 October"
One offer, clearly stated: two nights midweek from £X per room, breakfast included, Sunday to Thursday
A line on distance and travel: how far to the venue, whether parking is easy, whether a taxi is worth booking
A suggestion for the rest of the day — a walk, a pub, a museum — because guests are buying a short break, not just a bed
A single, plain booking instruction: reply to this email, or ring between these hours

Timing matters as much as wording. Send six to eight weeks ahead for planned events, when people are deciding, then a short reminder about ten days before, when diary clashes get sorted out. Anything earlier gets forgotten; anything later and they have already booked.

Make It a Habit, Not a One-Off

An events email works far better when it is backed up elsewhere in the house. A small noticeboard in the hall listing what is on this month gives guests something to talk about at breakfast. A page in the room folder does the same job more quietly. At checkout, ask whether they have seen what is coming up next month, and add a line to your booking confirmations for guests who are already due to arrive.

Local partnerships help too. The theatre box office, the market organisers and the nearby restaurant all have an interest in people staying overnight. Swap a stack of cards, offer to mention their event to your guests, and ask them to pass your name on. It costs nothing and quietly builds a reputation as the place that knows what is going on.

Keep Score and Refine

Note how many rooms each email produces, and be honest about the ones that never work. Over a season or two you will build a rhythm: the quiet weeks become something you plan for in advance rather than dread. Guest houses that fill midweek are rarely the ones with the biggest marketing budget — they are the ones that know their town's calendar better than anyone else, and remember to tell people about it.

Local Area

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

Jenny Watson

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