School holidays: whose holidays fill your calendar?

Start from where your guests come from

Look at your past bookings and note where family guests came from. A city that receives many visitors from neighbouring countries will see family demand follow their holidays. Brussels, for instance, sits next to the Netherlands and has two school calendars of its own; Amsterdam receives Dutch families from three holiday regions with different summer dates. The city pages list the calendars we could verify, with their sources.

Layer the calendars

Put the two or three calendars that matter on one view, week by week. Weeks where several overlap are your strongest family weeks; weeks covered by only one are lighter and deserve a smaller increase. This is also where staggered regions help you: a long summer spread across several calendars is a reason to keep prices steady across the whole period rather than chasing one short peak.

Price for the right home

Family holidays raise demand most for homes that sleep a family: several bedrooms, a kitchen, sometimes outdoor space. A studio near the station sees much less effect. Adjust only the products that families actually book.

Watch the weekends at each end

The Saturday when a holiday starts and the one when it ends are typically the busiest changeover days. Longer stays that start or end on those days are often worth more to you than two short stays with a gap in between.

Check the source every year

School calendars are set by education authorities and can change from one year to the next, sometimes with a reform. Re-read the official page each school year instead of assuming last year's pattern.