Sporting events, seasonal events, and holidays, such as Christmas markets, have been big drivers for travel demand and bookings and can be considered a good measure of the overall health and robustness of markets. Luckily, help is at hand to review this and more… OTA Insight and Transparent report on hotel and short-term rental performance ahead of Winter 2022. The report looks ahead at current performance for the Winter months and key events, through flight, hotel, and short-term rental data.
In this blog, we endeavour to give you a sneak peek into some of the insights and trends we’ve uncovered:
- World Cup spikes hotel and short-term rental ADR Qatar
- Higher advertised STR rates this winter versus 2019
- Christmas and New Year’s Eve advertised rates rise YoY
- Final thoughts on global hospitality winter insights
World Cup spikes hotel and short-term rental ADR Qatar
The 2022 World Cup, held in Doha, Qatar, has unsurprisingly garnered a spike in average daily rate (ADR) across hotels and short-term rentals during the event period. The five countries most searching for hotel stays, in other words, countries leading the demand, are the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Qatar, and India.
Contrasting December 2020 and 2022, hotels and short-term rentals have seen an enormous 416% average spike in ADRs in Doha and its Middle Eastern neighbors – Abu Dhabi, Manama, Dubai, and Muscat. Year to date has been average for Qatari tourism, with monthly international arrivals rarely going past 2019 levels, but the demand indicators show that’s all changed through the tournament period. Flight search has also increased significantly in this region versus 2019 levels, with Doha garnering the highest growth in search volume at 322%. Abu Dhabi follows with 166%, Manama at 118%, Dubai at 97%, and Muscat at 56%.
For context, you can take a look at our review of short-term rental demand ahead of the World Cup here.
In the chart below, we look at the growth in advertised rates for December this year over that of December 2020. A collective 416% spike in pricing across hotels and short-term rentals is indicated.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup has led hotel and short-term rental markets to flourish in pricing and occupancy, and property managers in the region to capitalize on the popular event.
Higher advertised STR rates this winter versus 2019
Right after the World Cup, winter follows swiftly. Short-term rental rates for this winter are currently being advertised as 42% higher than for the same period in 2019. Hotel rates are showing a more conservative 23% increase in advertised prices. In the chart below, we can clearly see the growth in advertised prices between December to February for this winter versus 2019 levels across ten key markets (Bangkok, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Maldives, Miami Beach, New York, Paris, and Sydney). Although short-term rental price increases are nearly twice as much as that of hotels since 2019, they are still more affordable across our indexed cities.
London and Sydney are the biggest winners with 41% and 40% increases in advertised rates. Meanwhile, Bangkok and LA are showing the least confidence with 6% and 17% rate growth.
Evidently, winter has seen property managers in these top markets advertise most of their prices at significantly higher levels than pre-pandemic levels, nourishing the sustenance of the travel industry through inflation.
Now let's think about some of the winter's most popular holidays: Christmas and New Year.
Christmas and NYE advertised rates rise YoY
The aforementioned ten key markets are seeing growth in advertised prices between December to February for this Christmas versus 2019 levels.
As for New Year's Eve, despite hotel levels up 28%, short-term rentals are seeing higher levels of occupancy OTB than hotels across ten key markets.
Despite hotel levels up 28%, short-term rentals are seeing higher levels of occupancy OTB than hotels across ten key markets.
Final thoughts on global hospitality winter insights
The world has witnessed a long road to recovery since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Still, uncertainty in many aspects remains and today's top-of-mind concern, according to a McKinsey Global Survey, is inflation.
Despite this fresh challenge, flight search volume has increased since 2020 and 2021, occupancy on the books remains high across the spectrum, and individuals see the experience of traveling as a priority. Furthermore, Winter brings with it a bumper of high-demand seasonal events, sporting events, and holidays to keep us feasting.
Read on for our more in-depth analysis of this winter's performance…
You can also learn more about Transparent’s short-term rental data solutions here, or visit OTA Insight to explore and action their hotel data provision.