The Vacation Rental Industry Continues to Grow
The vacation rental industry as a whole is swiftly moving towards a value of $200B worldwide and it only continues to go up. This isn’t just a question of more and more people deciding to open up their own homes to vacation rental, but of serious individual investors and institutions getting into vacation rentals as a business, seeing the trends and following the growth. What’s perhaps most exciting of all is that all of the excitement in the marketplace doesn’t come from one source, but many.
Why is Vacation Rental Growing so Rapidly?
There are many factors leading to the growth of vacation rental, but we will focus on four big ones:
- Airbnb. While VRBO, not Airbnb, was the first vacation rental marketplace, it was Airbnb that became a part of the language, much like “xeroxing” something meant to make a photocopy, it is now standard to say that you “got an airbnb” for a vacation, even if you made the booking on a platform other than airbnb. Indeed, VRBO was one of the companies acquired by Homeaway in its race to keep up with the global inventory being gobbled up by Airbnb, and Homeaway was acquired in its turn by Expedia. Airbnb has mainstreamed the concept of sharing your home with visitors and travelers, and while its road has not always been smooth (there have been fights with cities and challenges with law enforcement) both hosts and guests enjoy using the service and the company is due to IPO soon.
- Technology. Part of Airbnb’s growth has been due to better internet access, better software, and more widespread use of smartphones and the apps that are installed on them. More than ever people are using their phones not just for messaging and games and videos, but to book travel, including vacation rentals. Technology covers every part of vacation rental, from an ad from an internet search that might lead you to an OTA (online travel agency, like Expedia) to the reviews about a room you are interested in booking, to the bluetooth-operated smart lock you may use to get into your rental. Technology has smoothed the friction which used to be part of so many points in the travel process.
- Market Adaptation. For a while the hotel and tourism industry sneered at the growth of vacation rentals, seeing them as a niche market rather than the game changer they are. But they didn’t stay dumb for too long. Marriott recently announced they would be getting into the vacation rental market themselves through managing properties that look a lot like standard vacation rentals. Marriott is hoping that their lure of earning points will attract people away from the unique and interesting stays they can find on Airbnb and other vacation rental platforms. But it’s clear that the big players in tourism no longer are skeptics when it comes to vacation rental.
- Experiences. There has been a concerted movement in Western societies away from purchasing objects and towards having experiences. Unique experiences often come with different accommodations, and vacation rentals are perfect for that need. As this market sector grows (which Airbnb has also entered with its Airbnb Experiences brand) vacation rentals will only have more demand for the unique experience they provide.
Why Does This Matter?
If you’re reading this, you’re not just academically interested in this once-in-a-generation type growth that vacation rental is experiencing. You want to be part of it, to ride the growth to more time and profits for yourself. That’s what makes MaidThis such a special opportunity. As a cleaning business it already provides a necessary service that so many recognize the value of and continue to adopt every day. As part of the vacation rental business it is absolutely indispensable: without clean rooms there are no vacation rentals. The reality is that most hosts want to be in the hosting business, not the cleaning business, and they are happy to allocate a portion of their ever growing profits in vacation rentals towards someone who is in the cleaning business, not the hosting business. Thankfully, MaidThis has been perfecting our processes for almost a decade now, using the technology and tools available to other cleaning companies but rarely used by them, to give you an opportunity to build an establish a business that will grow side-by-side with vacation rental for years to come.