Markets › Kawartha Lakes
Kawartha Lakes hosts run about C$355 a night at 46% occupancy across roughly 950 active listings. That is around C$9,500 per unit per year handed to the platforms. This page covers the licensing rules that apply here, the guest-capture setup that works with your existing router, and the three emails that bring Kawartha Lakes guests back direct.
The short answer
Capture every guest's email at the WiFi sign-in — not just the booker — tag them by property and season, and send a return offer timed to June to Labour Day, with strong ice-fishing and snowmobile demand that most hosts never market to. In Kawartha Lakes the guests worth emailing are GTA and Durham families, multi-generational groups of 8–12 — the single best case for capturing every guest, not just the booker.
Seed estimate — replace with AirDNA/municipal data before batch 2. Last reviewed 2026-09-09. Fee load assumes a blended 16% guest + host commission.
The City of Kawartha Lakes requires STR licensing with a responsible-person contact and parking/occupancy limits set per zone.
Licensing here is the reason a guest list matters: when a cap or an inspection takes a unit offline for a season, the hosts with an email list rebook the guests they already have. Everyone else restarts on the OTAs.
Season here: June to Labour Day, with strong ice-fishing and snowmobile demand that most hosts never market to.
Sent the moment they join the WiFi. Local picks for Bobcaygeon, Fenelon Falls, Buckhorn — specific enough to be useful, which is what earns the open on the next two.
One question, one tap. Catches the problem while you can still fix it, and lifts review scores before the review is written.
Kawartha Lakes demand is seasonal, so time this to the guest's own booking month and offer the same unit before they reopen the app.
Every adult in the party signs in to the WiFi, so the list includes the people who came but did not book — in group markets like this one, that is three to five times the contacts a booker-only list gives you.
The City of Kawartha Lakes requires STR licensing with a responsible-person contact and parking/occupancy limits set per zone. Rules change yearly — confirm with the municipality before you list, and re-check at renewal.
At C$355 average nightly rate and 46% occupancy, one unit grosses about C$59,600 and gives up roughly C$9,500 a year in blended guest and host platform fees. Every repeat guest who books direct is that fee back.
Hosts who capture guest emails and run a repeat-guest sequence typically move a meaningful share of returning stays direct within two seasons. Under 5% almost always means no capture is happening at all — the booker's email from the platform is not a marketing list.
Yes in most cases. UniFi, TP-Link Omada and OpenWrt routers work with software alone. Deco, eero, Google/Nest and ISP-supplied routers need a $79 plug-in gateway box that keeps the same network name and password.
Nearby markets: Haliburton Highlands · Muskoka · Prince Edward County · how we compare to StayFi
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