GuestReady expands European footprint in Spain
Spain: Real estate technology company GuestReady is seeking to revolutionise the management of short- and medium-stay holiday rental properties after expanding its operations in Spain.
The move comes at a time when the Spanish tourism sector is waiting to recover levels of activity and income comparable to those prior to the pandemic. In addition, the average expenditure per tourist is increasing significantly, according to data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics [INE], fuelling renewed optimism.
Already present in 50 cities in Europe and the Middle East, including world tourism capitals such as London, Paris, Lisbon and Dubai, GuestReady is launching its presence in Spain as the market for non-hotel accommodation – including home and apartment rentals – has tripled in turnover.
Sophie Piechocki, expansion manager in Spain for GuestReady, said: “Tourism is guest experience-driven. Tourists are no longer satisfied with the classic hotel model. They now want to move on their own schedule, enjoy additional spaces such as a kitchen and a living room, turn their accommodation as a true home away from home during their travels.”
GuestReady leverages its internal property management software RentalReady to streamline the intense operations inherent to managing holiday lets at scale, and enables the scale-up to focus their attention on the human aspect of property management: guests and owners. It offers property owners a range of management solutions adapted to their needs, including price optimisation, listing management, property photo-shooting, 24/7 multi-language guest support, payment management, cleaning, maintenance, and guest check-in and check-out, as well as handling the furnishing and styling of properties on behalf of owners.
Through the company’s mobile app, available for iOS and Android, owners can check in real-time their property’s performance: status and details of all existing bookings, calendar, occupancy rate, reviews, revenue, and much more.
Focusing on short- and medium-term rental management in Europe, GuestReady currently manages more than 3,200 properties and is present in over 50 cities, with an average of more than four nights per stay. In July so far, the company has managed more than 14,000 bookings globally.
The aforementioned data provided by the Spanish National Statistics Institute indicate that overnight stays in non-hotel tourist accommodation amounted to more than 9.3 million, corresponding to last April. It represented an increase of 238.7 per cent compared to the figures for 2021.
When looking at the figures for home or apartment rentals, however, the increase in bookings is even greater, soaring to 349 per cent. The average tourist staying in the accommodation category in Spain is mostly foreign, with the United Kingdom being the main country of origin with 34.5 per cent of overnight stays, followed by Germany.
In terms of the preferred destinations in April for travellers staying in holiday rentals, the Canary Islands are the top destination with more than 1.9 million overnight stays, although the Community of Madrid was the region with the highest occupancy rate.
Last year, GuestReady further increased its presence in Portugal by acquiring The Porto Concierge, the largest Airbnb management company in Portugal at the time.
