Airbnbs benefit from rise in ‘bleisure’ travellers

The report by Canadian-based AirDNA revealed a sudden quarterly demand growth for short-term rentals versus a below 5 per cent growth for hotels.

Seiko Ma, the managing director of Australian STR property management organisation, Alice’s Home, believes the report reflects “changing traveller preferences and the ability of short-term rental hosts to react swiftly to these changes”.

These changes include “bleisure” (business and leisure) travellers who seek accommodation outside of large city centres.

For bleisure travellers, STRs offer accommodation close to beaches and other scenic areas, while Ms Ma noted that hotels can fall short of these expectations.

She said “bleisure could upend the traditional divide between leisure and business travel”.

Ms Ma further noted: “Since COVID changed the business landscape in 2020, remote work has become not only tolerated, but accepted.

“Team members have not returned to the office in a full-time capacity, as was initially thought.

“Now remote workers are extending their work trips, or choosing to travel and work remotely. This trend is becoming a lot more common in 2024 and is resulting in increased demand on STR and Airbnb accommodation.”

Closer to home, Alice’s Home is reporting an uptick in demand from clients who intend to work as they travel.

“We will see this trend become more commonplace, as remote working becomes common among many more industries, and efficient systems are in place to work efficiently with remote staff or consultants” she added.