Short-term Rental News Digest – June 2022

In the northern hemisphere, summer is in full swing. Not only are hosts benefiting from longer days, but also longer stays. This month, Airbnb released interesting data about the increase in long-term bookings. With increasingly more workers being given the opportunity to work remotely, travelers are booking more long-term stays. What’s more, many of these bookings are for one person. 

To find out more about the destinations that solo travelers prefer, the new product that Airbnb has designed specifically for this group, and other exciting new releases this past month, continue reading our monthly news digest below. 

Airbnb Launches New Safety Product

Airbnb has announced that it will be launching a new safety product aimed at solo travelers. This is in response to the “live anywhere” trend that’s been fueled by more people having the option to work remotely. In fact, according to their internal data, solo travelers booked almost a third of all booked nights in 2021. 

This new product, their specialized Solo Traveler in-app experience, will help create a safe and secure experience specifically for this group of travelers. After a solo traveler has booked a shared or private room, Airbnb will activate this in-app experience to share top safety tips and good questions to ask the host. Guests will also be able to share their reservation itinerary, including a listing address, check-in and check-out dates, and reservation code, with loved ones at the touch of a button. 

While this product is currently only available to shared or private room bookings, the platform plans to expand it to entire home bookings later this year. 

Airbnb Identifies Trending Destinations for Remote Workers

Airbnb has shared a list of the trending destinations among digital nomads booking long-term stays in 2022. Since 2019, the number of long-term stays (bookings that exceed 28 days) has increased by more than 30%. Online data suggests that this number is only expected to increase further moving forward. Five of the most trending cities are based in the United Kingdom, while destinations in South Korea, Portugal, and South Africa also made the list. 

Some of the most trending cities for longer Airbnb stays in 2022 include:

• Los Angeles, California, USA
• Cape Town, South Africa
• Dubai, UAE
• Liverpool, UK
• Bristol, UK

Internal data from Airbnb also revealed that the number of nights booked for long-term stays in cities across the Caribbean almost doubled in the past two years. Destinations in this region became especially popular among millennial travelers. 

Some of the most popular destinations for long-term bookings in the Caribbean include:

• Barbados
• Trinidad
• Belize
• Cayman Islands
• The British Virgin Islands

Vrbo Lists Top UK Holiday Homes

In last month’s digest, we shared that Vrbo revealed a list of the best vacation homes based in the United States. This month, they have revealed their first-ever list featuring the top holiday homes in the United Kingdom. Not only do the hosts of these properties boast great reviews and ratings, but the properties also offer various amenities that cater to different preferences and needs. 

Properties that have made this list include:

• Thursford Castle in North Norfolk, England
• Scotland End Barn in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire
• Manor House in Tenby, Wales
• Carnell in Kilmarnock, Scotland
• Cliff House in Newquay, Cornwall

Hopper and Vrbo Set to Launch a Partnership

Hopper, a Canadian travel agency helping travelers to save money, and Vrbo are collaborating on a global partnership. Skift has revealed that, with this partnership, Vrbo will offer Hopper access to vacation rentals. This is part of Hopper’s plan to grow a bigger presence in the short-term rental industry. 

Susan Ho, the head of Hopper Homes, explained that they sourced inventory from various sources that include third parties, like Vrbo, to ensure quality and help their customers get the best deal on their vacation rentals.  

A spokesperson at Expedia confirmed that as an Expedia Group Rapid API, the agency is in fact exploring Expedia’s inventory.

Earlier this year, Hopper also revealed that it is in the process of creating a cancel-for-any-reason feature in vacation rentals. This feature will allow guests to pay an additional fee in order to have the ability to cancel a booking and get up to 100% of their payment back. 

New Short-term Rental Platform Launched

Zumper, a privately-owned rental platform, has included short-term rentals in addition to its offering of long-term rentals. According to online data, their website attracts nearly 180 million visitors per year. 

Hosts will be able to list their properties for a lower cost compared to several of the other mainstream short-term rental sites, while guests won’t be charged any fees. It is currently in beta testing and the fully designed product which will, for example, include 3D tour integrations, is set to be launched in Q3 2022. 

NoiseAware Releases a Feature for Crowd Control

NoiseAware, one of the top noise monitoring platforms, has released a new feature – CrowdControl. With this new feature, users will be able to view the occupancy levels at their short-term rental property in addition to noise moving forward. 

It uses an adaptive algorithm to identify if there was an unusual increase in occupancy that could indicate that there is an unauthorized crowd at your property. Some of the other useful features that the software currently offers include privacy-safe noise monitoring technology and AutoResolve guest messaging.