Travel media Trip101 reports record levels of vacation rental bookings as well as shorter booking lead times (time between booking and check-in) in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Remarkably, May saw a record number of bookings for Trip101, with a 300% YoY (year-on-year)growth. The initial growth could be due to people looking to self-isolate (like key workers and those at risk) and people who wanted to escape urban hotspots of the virus.
Trip101’s latest data also shows that the US is leading in the recovery for vacation rentals. Data over the last 12 months clearly shows when Covid-19 impacted the vacation rental market, hitting the lowest levels of bookings per week at the start of March 2020. Recovery began from mid-March, with April seeing a sharp growth in bookings, reaching pre-Covid levels by the end of the month. Moreover, between the start of the recovery and the end of May, there was a 700% increase in bookings per week.
Other countries are also following a similar trajectory. Canada leads the recovery with 880% more bookings by the end of May compared to the start of April, Australia with 550%, and Japan with 150%. These countries have not fully recovered to pre-Covid levels of bookings but the data indicates a promising recovery.
Trip101 also reports that booking time for vacation rentals around the world decreased substantially during the height of the pandemic. May 2020 saw the shortest booking time ever, with people booking an average of 29 days in advance–a stark difference from 2019’s average booking time of 50 days.
For vacation rentals in the US (see graph), findings show a 62% decrease in booking time, from 72 days at the beginning of the year, to 27 days in May. Trip101 also found a further 7% decrease in booking time from April to May.
The trends coincide with the announcement that states are starting to re-open for business. While people still have the desire to travel, continuing travel restrictions and uncertainty means that they can only plan their trips a few weeks in advance. This suggests that vacation rental owners can expect to see their summer calendars begin to fill up.
Launched in 2015, Trip101 is part of Venture Republic Group, which also owns LINE Travel jp, the largest travel metasearch and media in Japan, as well as Allstay, the leading mobile search app for accommodation in South Korea.
• Featured image credit: DmitriMaruta/Getty Images
