Airbnbs benefit from rise in ‘bleisure’ travellers

Short-term rentals (STR) are seeing growth from an unlikely cohort.

An international industry report has noted an uptick in demand from people who remote work while travelling.

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

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

These changes include ‘bleisure’ travellers (leisure and business travel) who seek accommodation outside of large city centres.

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

She believes “‘bleisure’ could upend the traditional divide between leisure and business travel.”

She explains, “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, rather than hotels and apartments.

She stated, “we will see this trend become more common-place, as remote working becomes common among many more industries, and efficient systems are in place to work efficiently with remote staff or consultants.”