Busy season is coming, and boy does it look promising.
On the heels of the CEO of Airbnb (a Guesty partner and fellow Y Combinator alum) noting that the “company will need millions more hosts to meet surging demand,” we are seeing that surge in demand first-hand. This is in addition to Booking.com’s CEO asserting in the company’s Q1 2021 earnings call that people who tried “alternative accommodations during the pandemic, will forever have it in their consideration set”.
He’s right – alternative accommodation bookings are booming worldwide as private rentals are in a unique position to comfortably fulfill guest expectations that have emerged from COVID-19 – such as the desire for comfortable WFH setups and longer-stay amenities, like bigger closets, backyards and full kitchens.
In fact, reservations booked for this coming June through August, in many regions, is outperforming pre-pandemic volume. Also notable is that in many cases, stays will come at a higher price, on average, compared to pre-COVID rates due to pent up desire to travel. This will perhaps enable professional hosts and property management companies to recoup some of their 2020 losses. Lastly, length of stays are normalizing (shortening) – a sign that recovery is on the horizon.
Check out the below data in the US and across the pond in the UK.
USA
In the US, 2021 summer bookings are 400% higher compared to 2020 booking volume and 50% higher than pre-COVID volume.
Consumers are booking ahead of time for key summer holiday weekends meaning that last-minute, inexpensive deals likely won’t trend this summer stateside. Instead, travellers that book last-minute will be faced with less inventory to choose from and sky-high prices.
United Kingdom
Across the pond in the UK, summer reservation volume (June, July and August 2021) is 321% higher than 2020 and only 2% lower than 2019 (pre-COVID). This is a significant increase compared to a few weeks ago, in which summer bookings were 180% above last summer and 33% behind 2019 bookings.
