Brian Chesky told the audience at the latest Skift's Global Forum, "travel as we know it is never coming back." and as a vacation rental company, we have insightful feedback to provide our owners.
"They are booking longer term stays"
It's a positive shift for the vacation rental industry, people have more flexibility with their home/work life and the inspiration to travel is everywhere. When guests book a stay, it's not for a night or two, they are booking longer term stays. Airbnb CEO dives into the reasoning, "You can live anywhere, you can work anywhere... so imagine hundreds of millions of people now all flexible."
"The popularity of domestic travel is only going to grow"
This past year in 2021, Finger Lakes Premier Properties had the most year-to-date bookings. We've witnessed an uptick in family road trips crossing state lines or a nearby getaway to just get out of the house. People want a new view of scenery after working and living in their home for the last 24 months. As Chesky put it, "The less people travel for business, the more, I think, they travel for leisure." Trends show that the popularity of domestic travel is only going to grow as long-distance travel is being replaced by simplified short-distance travel.
"We have an ability to point demand to where we have supply"
Chesky had a valid point when he said, "The whole paradigm has changed when it comes to travel since the pandemic." He went on to say, "they either don't have a destination in mind or they don't have a date range in mind." When we look at this as a company who only serves the Finger Lakes Region, we realized it still applies. We have guests who are now open to staying on any lake or in any home for a mid-week or two week stay. We know our guests stay with us because we specialize in lakefront vacation rentals, if your home is a lakefront home with valuable amenities that sells a local experience, it will be booked. At Finger Lakes Premier Properties, our team is able to do exactly what the Airbnb CEO is doing at his company, "What this means is that we have an ability to point demand to where we have supply." Our owner services team and online booking system excels when it comes to narrowing down preferences to get guests in the perfect vacation home they never knew existed.
"We specialize in lakefront homes"
“If you can get people talking about you, that’s the best marketing.” said Chesky and we couldn't agree more. How do our vacation rentals stand out next to our competitors? We specialize in lakefront homes, featuring top amenities, and have an active online presence. This gets people talking and wanting to know more so they can be a part of it.
Click below to continue reading the VRM Intel's article of Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky at Skift Global Forum: