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Same price, same destination, different approach! Your call.

...or Another! Cute House in France

The boost realized by the vacation rental industry is twofold. On the one side there is an increase in demand from travellers for vacation rentals, partly due to the reasons mentioned above, and on the other side impacted by the growing amount of homeowners who rent out their properties (or guestrooms) in order to generate additional income or simply to pay their mortgages. Indeed, according to PhoCusWright report ‘Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for change’, as much as 25% of developed countries’ second homeowners currently want to rent out their property; while 50% of those who look at buying a vacation home consider doing so in the near future. This development creates a significant opportunity for the online channel as 70% of these owners consider promoting their property on the internet.

Rent out Your Place Online!

The vacation rental market accounts for more than $24 billion in the United States alone. That represents more than 20% of all hotel room revenue and a staggering 8% of the total U.S. travel market. While data is mostly available for the US, it is important to note that the majority of holiday homes are located in Europe with about 8 to 10 million vacation homes (versus around 7 million for the US). Spain for example is a popular travel destination for European citizens with more than 33% of all Spanish properties being second homes.

Costa Brava in Spain. Very Popular!

Emerging Destinations

While Europe and the US have not yet reached maturity, other geographical areas gain in importance in the market such as the Asia-Pacific region, Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe. Those regions are expected to see higher than average growth rates in demand and supply, also linked to the fact that the travel industry in those countries will experience a faster rebound.

The Beauty of Eastern Europe, which many of us have yet to discover! (House of Parliament in Budapest)

Flexibility is Key

In addition, short-term breaks (<5 days) are nowadays more and more favoured compared to longer vacation periods, challenging vacation rental managers (VRMs) and owners to respond to this trend. Weekend trips have gained in importance due to an increasing offer from low cost carriers driving prices to a level where one can afford to fly away for the weekend. VRMs and owners alike should welcome this new clientele and prepare for more flexible bookings in order to cope with the current demand.

Indeed, in our view, the industry can include a lot of different lodging scenarios of which a few examples follow:

Home owners with a self-catering cottage next to their main residence

The student who makes his/her guest(s) sleep on his/her couch for a few days

Hosts who professionally run a bed & breakfast

Owners of a second home, who decide to rent it out when they leave it vacant

Hosts with a free bedroom which they decide to rent out

Considering the above, the main characteristics of this industry are the following:

• Peer-to-peer: in most cases, it is “real people” dealing with fellow “real people”
• Different levels of professionalism: spaces can be rented occasionally like they can be rented on a full-time basis by professional hosts
• Diversity: short-term rentals are always full of – good – surprises, not one rental experience resembles another
• They are everywhere: they are virtually at every inhabited place on the planet
• They are homes: it might sound like a platitude but, contrary to hotels, rentals where thought, designed and often are authentic homes with all their attributes
• They are social: whether it is because guests go there with their friends or family or because they are welcomed in a social environment, short-term rentals have strong social characteristics
• They are local: if you stay in a Paris flat located in a local neighborhood (say the Latin quarter) or New York at a New Yorker’s, you can really get a taste of the local culture; something you could never experience if you stay at a hotel
• Their prices vary: short-term rentals can cost as little as 15? a night if for instance you stay on a couch, to thousands of euros would you rent a flat in Monaco during the formula 1 race

The HouseTrip team knows this industry and our website is designed by taking all the above facets into account:

• We reduce the intermediaries and the steps between hosts and guests
• It is very simple to use, yet has numerous features, to please all hosts and guests’ levels of professionalism and dedication
• It will be the one place on the internet where rentals are described as extensively as possible, as to get a “taste” of the experience before actually staying there
• HouseTrip will be multilingual as to encompass the international dimension of rentals: we aim to have rentals virtually everywhere
• HouseTrip understands that each rental is also an unique home and tries to convey that through its website
• HouseTrip boasts plenty of social features that will help its users communicate around short-term rentals
• Our website understands this local dimension and will try to convey the local experience you will have during your stay
• HouseTrip will have a revenue management system included: hosts can choose to have their prices adapted to the demand during certain periods, creating a win-win situation where guests can find the best possible deals and hosts can determine which price their guests are ready to pay for the period

We can’t wait to introduce you our website – released in mid-summer – and until then please don’t hesitate to ask us all the questions you ask yourselves on the project. You can also register your email to be the first ones to know about the release!