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    Sending Notifications to Your Guests

    Updated 5 August 2026

    In a nutshell

    You can send guests helpful, informational messages about their stay and your park.

    You cannot send marketing or promotional messages at the moment — things like offers, discounts, or “book your next stay” nudges. This isn’t a preference; it’s to keep the app within Apple’s and Google’s rules and within UK marketing law. The “Why marketing messages are off for now” section below explains why in plain terms.

    These rules are the same whether your guest is on an iPhone or an Android phone, so you don’t need to think about the technical side — this guide covers it all.

    What you can send

    Friendly, useful messages that inform or look after the guest during their journey with you. For example:

    • A welcome when they arrive on park — a warm greeting, plus a few pointers on facilities and what’s nearby.
    • General park information — opening hours, what’s on this week, facilities, and helpful on-site guidance.
    • Site and safety notices — pool closures, weather warnings, disruption, or maintenance the guest should know about.
    • A goodbye after their stay — thanking them and wishing them well on their way home.
    • Park updates and news that are genuinely relevant to guests currently staying with you.

    The common thread: the message is there to inform or look after the guest, not to sell to them.

    What you can’t send (for now)

    Anything where the main purpose is to promote or sell. For example:

    • Discounts, offers, sales, or promo codes
    • “Book your next stay” or “we miss you” messages
    • Promoting add-ons or extras to drive extra spend
    • Newsletters or general marketing campaigns
    • Promoting an event mainly to sell tickets or drive bookings

    Warning

    Watch the goodbye message especially. “We hope you enjoyed your stay” is perfectly fine — that’s goodwill. But the moment it becomes “…so book again and save 10%,” it has turned into marketing, and that must not be sent. That single line is the most common way a friendly message tips over into a promotional one.

    The quick test

    If you’re ever unsure which side a message falls on, ask yourself:

    Info

    Is this here to help the guest, or to sell to them?

    – To help them → informational → fine to send.
    – To sell to them, or to encourage them to spend or book → marketing → don’t send it for now.

    When in doubt, treat it as marketing and hold off — or check with the Holidaymaker team first.

    Why marketing messages are off for now

    It comes down to one thing: the app can’t yet tell a marketing message apart from an informational one.

    That matters because both the app stores and UK law treat marketing very differently from helpful information:

    • Apple and Google only allow apps to send marketing notifications if the guest has clearly agreed to receive them and has an easy way to turn them off. The app doesn’t yet capture that separate agreement.
    • UK marketing law (PECR / GDPR) requires a guest’s specific, clear permission before they can be sent marketing — and getting this wrong carries real fines. As an example, one well-known food company was fined £140,000 for sending marketing without proper consent.

    Because the app currently treats every notification the same way, we have no way to send marketing only to guests who’ve agreed to it, or to let them switch marketing off while keeping the useful stuff. Until that’s built, the safe and lawful approach is to keep to informational messages only.

    Release

    It will be possible to enable proper, permission-based marketing notifications in the future, but that needs development work first. The development teams are currently hard at work on this and you should look out for future communication when this feature is available.

    Good practice for the messages you do send

    A few simple habits keep guests happy and your notifications welcome:

    • Keep it relevant — send it because it genuinely helps the guest, not just to stay in view.
    • Mind the timing — a welcome on arrival, useful info during the stay, a warm goodbye afterwards.
    • Don’t overdo it — too many messages is the quickest way to have guests switch notifications off altogether.
    • Keep the tone friendly and about the guest — not about the sale.
    • Be accurate — if you say the pool’s shut or an event’s on, make sure it’s right.

    When in doubt

    If you’re not sure whether something is okay to send, err on the side of caution and check with the Holidaymaker team before sending. We’re happy to help you word it so it stays on the right side of the line.

    Sources

    This guidance reflects the current app store rules and UK marketing law: