Europe leads US in holiday rentals market

‘The percentage of travellers who have rented a home, apartment, villa, or cottage rose significantly in 2014 in the UK and France … Europe presents a substantially larger opportunity’

THE private holiday accommodation market in Europe is significantly larger than in the US. According to a new report by travel industry research authority Phocuswright, more than twice as many British, French, and German holidaymakers – as a percentage of the respective populations – have stayed in private accommodation over the past year.

France, Germany, and the UK alone are home to some 33 million rental holidaymakers versus just 22 million in the US.

Europe's rental traveller population is growing, reports Phocuswright's Share This! Europe: Private Accommodation and the New Rental Traveler. The percentage of travellers who have rented a home, apartment, villa, or cottage rose significantly in 2014 in the UK and France, reflecting both an improving overall economic environment and demand for travel, as well as rising awareness and use of private accommodations. Only in Germany was there a slight downturn, likely reflecting the slowdown of the broader economy there.

‘Although the US is home to two of the largest innovators in private accommodation – Airbnb and HomeAway – Europe presents a substantially larger opportunity,’ says Phocuswright's vice president, research, Douglas Quinby. ‘The percentage of European travellers who rent is more than twice that of the US.’-

Phocuswright's report provides insight into European rental travellers – to assess who they are, how they travel, what they want, and how they shop and book. This study examines the potential overlap between the rental and hotel markets, including the extent to which renters consider and stay in hotels, as well as whether non-renters consider private accommodation. The analysis also looks at emerging trends among rental travellers in terms of demographics, travel behaviour and use of consumer technology.

Topics covered by the report include:

• The size of the private accommodation market 
• Analysis of traveller attitudes and intentions, frequency of leisure trips, and travel party composition by traveller type 
• Booking methods by renter type, country, and age 
• Insight into the drivers for choosing a rental over a hotel by renter type and country 

Go Holiday news : www.govillasandcottages.co.uk
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