Holidays and closing days in your online calendar: how to block appointments

Why holidays so often go wrong in your calendar

It starts innocently. You have known for months that you are away in the middle of August. But that information lives in your head, on a note by the till or in a reminder on your phone. Your calendar knows nothing about it.

Then a client books a Tuesday while you are on the beach. You only see it on Friday, when you check your schedule. Now you have to call, apologise and find another date. That takes time, and your client is left with a slot that no longer exists.

The same thing happens with public holidays and bridge days. They fall on different dates every year, and every year some clients simply do not think of them.

The cause is always the same. Your holiday is written down in one place, and your clients book in another. As long as those two never meet, you get double bookings and phone calls at moments you would rather not be disturbed.

How to block appointments in your calendar, even without booking software

Whether you use a paper diary, Google Calendar or an app, the approach is the same. You make your holiday visible everywhere a client can reach you.

1. 1Decide the first and the last day. Write down the date you are back and ready to see clients again.
2. 2Block those days in your own calendar as one long event called Closed. In a paper diary, cross out the whole period.
3. 3Check whether any appointments already sit in that period. This part takes the most time, so it has its own section below.
4. 4Put your holiday on every place where clients find you: your website, your Google Business Profile, Instagram, WhatsApp and your voicemail.
5. 5On the day you leave, switch on an automatic reply that says when you are back.

That last step is quick. WhatsApp Business has an away message, and every email program has an automatic reply. Both take a minute to switch on. Your Google Business Profile lets you enter special opening hours for certain days, so anyone who looks you up sees at once that you are closed.

What to do with appointments already in your calendar

This is the tricky part. A client picked a time and is counting on it. You do not simply delete that slot and say nothing.

Start with an overview. Open your calendar and look at every appointment between your first and your last day off. Write down each client's name, the day and the treatment.

Contact every client personally

Do not send one general email to everyone. A message with your client's name and the date of their appointment gets read. A general email gets pushed to later.

Always offer an alternative

Do not only write that the appointment cannot go ahead. Suggest two or three new times, shortly before or after your holiday. Then your client only has to reply with one word, and you do not end up swapping three messages.

Think about the deposit

If your client paid a deposit, they have two choices: move the appointment and leave the deposit in place, or get the money back. Say so in your message. That way nobody has questions afterwards.

Hi [name], we are closed from [date] until [date]. That means your appointment on [day] at [time] cannot go ahead. Would [new time 1] or [new time 2] work for you? Just let us know and we will put it in the calendar straight away. If you paid a deposit, it stays valid for your new appointment. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Half days, training and short absences

Not every absence is a holiday. You have a course on Thursday afternoon, a dentist appointment or a child who needs picking up early.

The principle stays the same: block the hours you are not available, and do it straight away. If you wait until the day itself, someone will have booked exactly that hour. In Bookable your clients only see the times when you are really available, so whatever you block disappears from what they can choose.

If you work with a team, every team member has their own calendar and their own hours. That is part of the Praktijk plan. A colleague who takes a day off does not mean the whole business has to close.

Public holidays and bridge days: one list per year

Belgium has ten public holidays. Three of them move every year: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whit Monday. A bridge day is the working day between a public holiday and the weekend. You do not have to close, but many businesses do.

Go through the list every December for the year ahead. These are the public holidays of 2027:

A few of them fall on a weekend. If you are open on Saturday or Sunday, close those days too. Enter the other holidays in your calendar as closing days. Think about bridge days as well. In 2027, Friday 7 May is one, the day after Ascension Day. Decide in December whether you are open, and tell your clients early.

Telling your clients in time

The earlier you say it, the better. But six months ahead is too early, because it is forgotten by summer. This schedule works well.

Always say three things in your message: when you are closed, when you are back and how a client can still book. Many businesses forget the last one. It is the only thing your client wants to know.

Dear clients, we are closed from [date] until [date]. We are back on [date]. Would you like an appointment just before or just after our holiday? Book now, because those places go quickly.

Checklist before you leave

• Your holiday days are in your calendar and block new bookings.
• You have gone through every existing appointment in that period.
• Every client with an appointment got a personal message with an alternative.
• Your website, Google Business Profile and social media show your holiday dates.
• Your automatic reply is ready for the day you leave.
• You know which clients paid a deposit and what happens to it.
• Your return date appears everywhere you mention your holiday.

How Bookable does this

In Bookable your holiday lives in the same place as your bookings. That means a client can no longer book on a day you are closed. You set it up like this:

1. 1Go to Holidays.
2. 2Choose the first and the last day.
3. 3Save. On those days nobody can book through your booking link any more.

If appointments already sit on those days, you see them straight away. So you know exactly which clients to contact, and you do it in your own words with a suggestion for a new time. The steps are also in the help centre, on the page Opening hours, breaks and holidays.

Closing just one day, such as Ascension Day? Pick that day as both the first and the last day. You enter your opening hours and breaks once too. After that your calendar knows when you are there.

Do you run a bed and breakfast or a holiday home? You enter your closing days and your own stays once, and nobody can book those nights. Read more about Bookable for guest rooms. If you work in a hair salon or a physiotherapy practice, it works the same way.

Every client gets a reminder by WhatsApp and email the day before. An appointment just before you leave is not forgotten either. Bookable costs €29 a month when you pay yearly, and you try it free for 14 days with no card.

Frequently asked questions