An automatic message is the first thing a guest hears from you after booking. Done well it removes most of the questions you would otherwise answer one at a time.
Include these
- A short welcome and confirmation of what they have booked and when.
- Arrival details. Check-in time, the address, and how to find you. Siargao addresses are often imprecise, so a landmark works better than a street name.
- Directions from where they will be arriving. Most guests come from Sayak Airport or the Dapa pier. A sentence about roughly how long it takes and what a fair tricycle or van fare looks like saves them being overcharged.
- What to bring or prepare. For a stay, that might be cash for the area. For a surf lesson, rash guard and sunscreen. For a rental, licence requirements.
- How to reach you, and a reminder to message through Koobo.
- One thing guests always ask. You will know what yours is after a handful of bookings. Put the answer in the message.
Keep it readable
This is being read on a phone, often at an airport. Short paragraphs, a few bullets, no long block of text. If it takes more than a minute to read, the important part will be missed.
Tone
Warm and practical. You are setting the tone for the whole stay, and a guest who feels looked after before they arrive is markedly easier to host.
What to leave out
- Long lists of rules. Put the essential ones in your listing and mention only what genuinely matters on arrival.
- Contact details intended to move the conversation off Koobo. Keep it on the platform.
- Anything that reads as a warning. There is a difference between "the road in is rough after rain, a scooter is fine but take it slowly" and a list of things that will go wrong.
Review it occasionally
If the same question keeps arriving despite your automatic message, the message is not answering it clearly enough. Update it.