Skift Take
Vacation rentals are grappling with how to meet and exceed guest expectations across a fragmented market. As the industry grows, this challenge only gets tougher. A new generation of fast-evolving technologies could be part of the solution.
Today we are launching the latest report for our Skift Research subscribers, Decoding the Modern Vacation Rental Technology Landscape.
In this report, we provide an overview of the vacation rental market and a deep dive into the different components of its technology stack. We also analyze the many stakeholders in this technology marketplace and how they vary from one another. We close with our outlook for the space.
The vacation rental market is one of the most exciting and dynamic parts of the travel landscape today. Growth is being driven by travelers who increasingly value experiences over hotel rooms and find that vacation rentals can better deliver unique activities. Additional reasons why guests prefer vacation rentals to hotels include cost, size, and location.
Consider that just yesterday Turnkey, a vacation rental startup, raised $31 million. The deal follows Wyndham’s February agreement to sell its European vacation rental division, which manages 110,000 properties, to a private equity firm for $1.3 billion. There are a slew of other deals to point to as well, all of which attest to the strong interest in the space.
Underpinning the whole ecosystem is a complex network of technologies, which we believe are essential for leaders in the space, regardless of role, to understand.
Those who are not paying attention to vacation rental technology will find the ground rapidly moving beneath their feet. On the front-end, a new era of software is driving vacation rental top lines. On the back end, applications are attempting to bring economies of scale to operations and maintenance, traditionally a difficult task as properties are so widely distributed. Meanwhile, the first wave of smart home and voice assistant technologies are hitting the market.
Additionally, we believe that a common mistake when analyzing the vacation rentals market is to assume that all operators, and by extension tech solutions, are monolithic. To better understand the market, we segment property managers into three broad categories, which each have their own goals and tech requirements.
At the end of the day, the name of the game is hospitality. Those vacation rental businesses that can provide an elevated guest experience will see the most success. Key to this vision will be developing seamless and scalable technology solutions.
What You’ll Learn From This Report
- An overview of vacation rental market dynamics and how we arrived at the tech that exists today
- A deep dive into each component of the vacation rental technology landscape
- How software can help vacation rental operators drive sales
- Which tech solutions are creating operational efficiencies
- Who the three major types of vacation rental managers are and why their needs differ
- Why we believe there could be a convergence between vacation rental and hotel technology
- Why some tech solutions could consolidate while others will remain independent
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This is the latest in a series of monthly reports, data sheets, and analyst calls aimed at analyzing the fault lines of disruption in travel. These reports are intended for the busy travel industry decision-maker. Tap into the opinions and insights of our seasoned network of staffers and contributors. Over 200 hours of desk research, data collection, and/or analysis goes into each report.
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