Interhome releases holiday homes trends report

London: Holiday home provider Interhome has released its latest report, which highlights a trend in UK and Irish travellers booking higher quality resort properties.

The survey covers the 2018/19 winter season and forecasts this year’s summer season, based on its current pan-European sales data.

Interhome revealed sales from the winter season (1 November 2018 to 30 April 2019) from the UK and Ireland went up by 31 per cent.

Business development manager for UK & Ireland, Danny Waine, told Travel Daily News: “We benefitted from a move away from catered chalets towards self-catering properties across EU ski regions and snow conditions in the Swiss Alps were very good this winter. The late Easter also opened up destinations such as Italy, the UK and the Netherlands.”

The initial trends for the summer season 2019 show that Spain remains the most popular holiday destination for travellers.

Over the past financial year, the firm has grown the number of local service offices it manages across Europe. It now operates local offices in nine countries, including Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy and Portugal.

Interhome’s local service offices take charge of welcoming guests, handing over keys and ensuring the guests have the best possible stay, in addition to maintaining the apartments and holiday homes to a high standard.

Waine said: “As our guests seek more freedom and flexibility, the added value generated by these guests in the respective destinations is not insignificant, for example, many of the families and couples buy the food locally or eat in a local restaurant. This added value is also reciprocated by our local service offices, in the personal service they offer to our guests and partners; with their local expertise.

“In addition, the holiday homes need to be constantly maintained and cleaned again after each occupancy. That’s why we hire cleaning staff from the local region,” he added.

The UK & Ireland review for the winter 2018/2019 season revealed the following trends:

• A shift towards self-catering in EU ski resorts

France was the most popular winter destination for UK and Irish Interhome guests with 34 per cent share, with most spending their holidays there in the French Alps. The fastest growing ski destination for 2018/19 was Austria, with a growth in bookings of 63 per cent and a rise in sales of 46 per cent in Finland, as guests move towards self-catering accommodation from catered chalets across the EU.

• Growth in sales to Interhome exclusive product

Bookings to destinations where Interhome has local service offices and mostly exclusive product, from the UK and Ireland saw a 26 per cent increase year-on-year. Global sales to Interhome’s exclusive Swisspeak Resorts in Valais and Graubünden meanwhile also experienced significant growth.

• Holiday parks driving growth in the Netherlands

During the past winter season, the Netherlands saw an augmentation of 136 per cent from UK and Ireland, principally due to guests choosing to stay in holiday parks across the country. This may be down to the introduction of a more diverse product range by Interhome over the last year in the Netherlands, as well as the timing of the late Easter holidays in April 2019.

• Switzerland remains the top winter destination for international guests

For winter holidays, Switzerland is the top choice among Interhome’s international guests. Overall, 31 per cent of Interhome guests visited Switzerland in the winter season, with countries such as France, Austria, Spain and Germany following behind.

• Outlook UK and Ireland – Summer 2019

Spain remains the top choice this summer for travellers from the UK and Ireland. According to initial trends, around 30 per cent of these guests will spend their holidays in Spain during the summer months, particularly in popular tourist destinations such as the Costa Blanca and the Costa Del Sol.

• Staycations & ‘Destination UK’ on the rise

Interhome has seen an increase in stays in its UK product. With a 122 per cent increase in UK staycation guest numbers for 2019, they make up a share of 34 per cent of destination UK sales and now rank alongside Germany (35 per cent), as the most frequent bookers of Interhome properties in the UK.

• Higher quality standard

Average booking values for Interhome UK & Ireland’s top three summer destinations (Spain, France and Italy) have gone up by seven per cent and staycations have seen an increase in ABV of 23 per cent. This indicates guests are opting for more upmarket properties, both domestically and abroad. Furthermore, this is reflected in UK and Irish guests’ proportion of four and five-star stays at 29 per cent, above the Interhome global average of 23 per cent.

• Whilst France remains most popular in summer for international guests

For the summer months, France remains the top destination with a share of 21 per cent of all Interhome bookings (19 per cent last year) with Spain, Italy, Croatia and Switzerland making up the rest of the top five.

For more information on the report, visit the Interhome website here.