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Are you a vacation rental owner? Or plan to become one?
Then I have great news for you.
The vacation rental sector is going to experience yet another remarkable growth in the coming years. In 2021, the worldwide vacation rental market was valued at around $91 billion in 2021. But that is only the beginning: it is projected to reach $315 billion by 2031.
Of course, a huge part of the market is controlled by popular OTAs such as Airbnb, Booking.com, VRB, Expedia, etc. However, in recent years, many travelers prefer to book directly from the vacation rental owner.
Let’s dive into some important statistics and see the latest trends for OTA and direct booking on 2023.
Vacation Rentals Statistics for 2023
First, here are some numbers on the vacation rental industry provided by iPropertyManagement that once again prove that vacation rental booking is on the rise.
- There are around 1,985,280 vacation rental properties only in the USA, and this number is growing rapidly every single day.
- More than 450 million across the globe use vacation rentals.
- The market value of the vacation rental industry experienced a 22.76% increase from 2020 to 2021.
- According to market research, the vacation rental industry is expected to see a compound annual growth rate of 8.49% from 2022 to 2026.
Another important statistic is that around 70% of vacation rental companies are small businesses managing 1-19 units. However, some of them are still relying on OTAs that can take up to 20% of the booking price as a fee. Moreover, a lot of money is spent on digital management tools. On average, vacation rental management companies spend around $4,094 monthly on digital management tools.
Direct bookings Are Getting More Popular
In recent years, more and more travelers chose to make direct bookings instead of relying on Airbnb, Booking and other OTAs. One of the main reasons, obviously, is the lower cost of the accommodation. According to data from iPropertyManagement, the majority of travelers (67%) believe that booking accommodations through a brand's own website is more cost-effective than using third-party sites such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo.
At one point, OTAs seem to take over the booking industry. However, the pandemic shifted the situation. While online travel agencies started losing market share, direct booking started to regain its power.
The statistics also proved it. Direct bookings represented a 63% share of online gross bookings in 2021. In 2023, direct hotel bookings are expected to surpass OTA bookings.
There is even an online movement “The Book Direct Day” that focuses on educating short-term rental or hotel guests about the benefits of booking directly over using a third party provider. The initiative was created by VRM Intel in 2017 upon the introduction of traveler booking fees on major websites like VRBO, HomeAway and TripAdvisor. The annual event takes place on the first Wednesday in February. On this day, hotels and vacation rentals usually promote exclusive guest benefits under the #bookdirect hashtag.
Vacation rental Owners Use Booklee Instead of Creating a Website
The market is currently flooded with tools that are promising significant growth in direct bookings to vacation rentals and hotels. Most of them offer to build a website and then also charge a monthly admin fee.
Having your own vacation rental website can be a great solution if you’re ready to invest a lot of money in it. However, there’s a much more cost-effective and easily customizable solution.
Many vacation rental owners now prefer to use Booklee link in bio website builder. It’s a simple tool that allows everyone to create a page for their accommodation in literally 2 (!) minutes. You get your own customized page and link which you can put in the bio of your social media platforms.
The main advantage is obvious: this solution is very affordable yet it gives the potential guest a user-friendly page with all the necessary information and links on one page.
With link in bio website builder Booklee, the rental owners do the best thing they can do for their customers: giving them choice and simplifying the decision-making process.
- The users can choose both OTA and direct booking options.
- The rental owners can update the information and design in literally seconds, both from mobile and desktop.
- They can read reviews, swipe the photos, read everything they need to know about the rental.
- The information can be presented in multiple languages.
Join now vacation rentals and hotels that already choose bookl.ee!