Short-term Rental News Digest – April 2022

This month has been a rather quiet month for the short-term rental industry. Though, summer is around the corner and that means a busy season for hosts in the northern hemisphere. 

That being said, reports this past month revealed that the traditional off-peak season is becoming busier. Plus, with more travelers choosing to travel during the week, and remote work allowing people to “live anywhere”, hosts can’t necessarily expect a quiet pre-summer season anymore. To find out more about how new trends are impacting demand, continue reading our digest below.  

iGMS Announces Two New Integrations

Operto Teams (formerly called VRScheduler) and iGMS have integrated to offer an end-to-end solution for property managers and owners. Jill Mason, CEO of Operto Teams, shared that iGMS is a great tool for vacation rental managers and that they are excited to partner with iGMS. By taking advantage of this new integration, hosts can let iGMS manage their bookings and then connect Operto Teams for a complete solution. 

iGMS also announced a new exciting partnership with LODGEA recently. Thanks to this integration, hosts can easily connect to LODGEA´s Direct Booking and Marketing Engine to implement a high-performing direct booking solution on their vacation rental website. Likewise, OTAs using LODGEA will also get easy access to accommodations offered by iGMS customers.

Holiday Letting Outlook Report Revealed

Sykes Holiday Cottages, a holiday cottage rental agency, released their Holiday Letting Outlook Report for 2022, which takes a look at the best places in the United Kingdom to buy a holiday let. According to their revenue data, current house prices, and house price growth, Blaenau Gwent in South East Wales is the best place to invest, while Denbighshire and Rhondda Cynon Taf were a close second and third. Other profitable places in the UK that the report identified are:

• Tyne and Wear
• Lancashire
• Isle of Brute
• Fife
• Dumfriesshire
• Cumbria
• The Lake District
• Devon 
• Dorset

New Airbnb Guest Complaint Policy Introduced

Airbnb has announced that it will make changes to its policy for dealing with guest complaints and refunds. From April 29, guests will now have 72 hours (as opposed to just 24) upon discovering a travel-related problem to contact Airbnb for a full or partial refund. Examples of travel issues that could qualify for a refund include unsafe conditions and undisclosed pets. 

A spokesperson at Airbnb commented that this new change will offer guests more flexibility while it will give hosts more time to work out any possible issues before the platform gets involved. 

Living Anywhere Is Becoming More Popular

The increase in remote and hybrid work has had a positive effect on Airbnb bookings. According to data shared by the vacation rental platform, nearly 50% of the nights booked in Q4 of 2021 were for stays of seven days or longer. What’s more, 20% of gross nights booked in this period were for stays of at least one month. 

A recent Airbnb survey also revealed that in the United States, “living anywhere” is especially popular among Hispanic and Black travelers. More than half of Black and Hispanic professionals said that they are more likely to work and live in different cities in 2022. 

By the look of things, this trend is not going to change soon. Nearly 80% of all groups that participated in this survey shared that they are actively planning to leverage flexibility in terms of workplace location in the near future. 

Lift-Off for Off-peak Travel Bookings

Delta Air Lines has revealed that yields for off-peak travel are growing as travelers are no longer mainly traveling during popular times. As a matter of fact, demand is so strong that travel bookings for midweek days and weeks leading up to the summer are higher. For airlines specifically, this means that they can revert back to their traditional revenue management strategy where they keep a few seats to sell at a higher rate for last-minute bookings. 

Existing Airbnb Reservations in Russia and Belarus Canceled

In response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Airbnb has canceled all its existing bookings in Russia and Belarus that were set to start on or after 4 April. This applies to Airbnb Experiences too.

Not only will hosts in these two countries be impacted, but also guests. While Russian and Belarusian nationals who stay abroad in foreign countries will be allowed to continue using Airbnb, nationals who currently reside in these two countries won’t be able to make new bookings anywhere in the world. 

Airbnb has also revealed that many guests from all over the globe have booked stays in Ukraine online to support hosts from this country. While they won’t actually be staying at the booked listings in Ukraine, it is just one of the examples of how the travel community has come together to show their support for Ukraine. Vacation rental hosts and travelers are still able to assist refugees from Ukraine through Airbnb’s initiative. 

A non-profit webinar, Open Door, has also revealed that there is currently still a demand for accommodation. In addition to accommodation, there is also a real need for volunteers to help with programming and translation. 

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