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Global: Eighty-two per cent of travellers who stayed at a B&B, inn or small hotel would consider booking a short-term rental at the same or a slightly lower price, according to a traveller survey conducted by PriceLabs.
The revenue management software company surveyed 1,082 travellers across the US, UK, France, Spain and Portugal for its Who Do Independent Hotels Really Compete With? report.
Almost half of respondents said they would switch to a short-term rental at the same price, while 18 per cent would not consider switching.
The research indicates that independent accommodation businesses face greater competition from short-term rentals than large hotel chains. Thirty per cent of guests who booked a B&B, inn or small hotel also considered an STR for the same trip, compared with 16 per cent of large hotel guests.
The overlap was particularly visible for longer and blended stays. Travellers considered both accommodation types for 30 per cent of work-and-leisure trips and 25 per cent of stays lasting between one and two weeks.
Distribution channels also influenced comparisons. Among guests searching on Booking.com, which displays hotels and rentals together, 45 per cent compared both categories. The figure fell to 29 per cent among travellers booking directly with a property.
PriceLabs also compared daily median hotel and STR rates in Mallorca and Barcelona over 12 months. Rates recorded correlations of 94 per cent and 84 per cent respectively, indicating that pricing across the two accommodation types frequently moved in the same direction.
Anurag Verma, co-founder of PriceLabs, said: “For a long time, hotels and short-term rentals were treated as separate markets serving different groups of guests. Our research shows that many travellers stopped making that distinction some time ago.”
The survey was commissioned by PriceLabs and covered travellers in five markets, meaning its findings should not be treated as representative of all accommodation guests globally.
Highlights
Hotel and STR rates moved closely together in Mallorca and Barcelona.
PriceLabs surveyed 1,082 travellers across five countries.
Eighty-two per cent of small hotel guests would consider an STR at a similar price.
Forty-eight per cent would switch at exactly the same price.
Thirty per cent of independent hotel guests also considered an STR.
The equivalent figure among large hotel guests was 16 per cent.
Travellers were more likely to compare both categories on Booking.com.
