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The New Reality Of Travel: More Guest Spontaneity & Hosts Diversifying Marketing Channels

Booking patterns and traveller habits are continuing to adapt to suit the world’s new reality. In the last couple of weeks since sharing our latest data [infographic], we have seen a few notable trends.

1. Less Holiday Cheer (For Now) & More Spontaneity

Holiday reservation volume in the US for Thanksgiving shows the same number of bookings we saw last year at this time. However, a month ago we saw a 40% increase in global holiday reservations around Christmas and New Years compared to that same time last year, but today we are seeing a 15-20% decrease in reservations for that time period. 

Why? This is likely a result of the second wave which has resulted in fear to travel and individuals waiting to make last-minute reservations. No surprise – as mentioned here, we are seeing the majority of reservations being made 7 days prior to the trip itself across all booking channels, including Airbnb and Booking.com.

Planning in pandemic times appears to be so yesterday.

2. Longer Stays

When it comes to global bookings in August, we are seeing the global average daily rate (ADR) higher for the weekdays rather than the weekends. This suggests travelers intend to put  to use unused vacation days for a longer, end of summer trip rather than a shorter weekend stay.

And with millennials’ commitment-phobia, it’s no surprise that Guesty users – short-term rental hosts worldwide – are telling us that they continue to see this persona booking extended stays and asking more frequently about connectivity and strong Wifi. Check out how to make your property millennial-friendly here, and also how to elevate the guest experience during this unique period by providing online experiences as part of their stay.

3. More Direct Bookings

We have seen more than a 150% uptick in the use of our Direct Booking Website Tool from January until today. What this highlights: to navigate the pandemic, hosts worldwide relied on their own direct booking channels (rather than only third-party online booking channels) more than usual. This is likely to diversify their marketing channels.

In order to achieve maximum distribution and visibility with potential guests, it’s ideal for property management companies and hosts to list properties on both booking channels as well as their own SEO-optimized booking websites. Direct sites are great tools for brand-building and can be a nice suggestion of where to book for return visitors that are familiar with the host/property management company. 

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