Complex, fragmented, large and dynamic, Europe's vacation rental market is weathering the economic storm well. This lodging segment has strong awareness among European travelers, and a high purchase incidence across many countries. But the market is also dizzyingly complex, characterized by a convoluted landscape of disparate suppliers and intermediaries, with significant variations from one county to the next.
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Phocuswright's senior director, research, Douglas Quinby, on Europe's changing vacation rental landscape:
Phocuswright's European Vacation Rental Marketplace: 2011-2013 provides an in-depth look at the vacation rental market across seven key countries in Europe: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K. Drawing on a combination of multi-market consumer and homeowner surveys, in-depth interviews and a sweeping review of government and other third-party data, this report presents a comprehensive view of the current vacation rental landscape in Europe and identifies key trends that will continue to shape this dynamic category.
Phocuswright's European Vacation Rental Marketplace: 2011-2013 includes:
- Market sizing by vacation rental revenue and inventory supply for all of Europe, and rental revenue by country and property type
- Impact of the economic developments in Europe on the marketplace, with total European market and online market figures from 2008 and projections through 2013
- Market size and trends by booking channel (total market and online penetration) with projections through 2013
- Market share by country for vacation rental management companies (VRMCs) and rental by owner (RBO)
- Key operational metrics such as average daily rate, occupancy and length-of-stay
- Detailed analysis of vacation rental distribution, including:
- VRMCs
- RBO model and listing websites
- Traditional travel agencies, tour operators and the role of offline channels
- Consumer behavior: examination of European vacation rental guests (VRGs) by country, with a focus on preferred destinations, vacation styles, shopping and booking behavior, drivers and inhibitors to vacation rental consideration and booking, satisfaction levels and more
- Vacation rental homeowner profiles, including number and types of properties owned, and attitudes toward property marketing and competing management methods (VRMC vs. RBO)
- Discussion of significant and evolving trends that influence the European vacation rental marketplace – technology innovations, the emerging role of social media, the importance of online booking and other features
While vacation rentals in Europe are already a mainstream product category, the market continues to mature dramatically in terms of its distribution dynamics, online penetration and revenue generated. Phocuswright's European Vacation Rental Marketplace: 2011-2013 provides the information and analysis to understand this increasingly significant component of the European travel market.
Introduction
What is a Vacation Rental?
Convoluted Distribution
Fragmented, but Big
Key Findings
Methodology
Terms and Definitions
Size of the Market
Rental Revenue and Population
Property Types
Supply
Channel: VRMC, RBO and the Online Market
The European Vacation Rental Guest
Population Profile
Destinations and Vacation Style
Impediments to Vacation Rental Consideration and Booking
Drivers for Vacation Rental Booking
Guest Satisfaction and Loyalty
Distribution
Booking Method: VRMCs and RBO
Shopping and Booking Channels: Online and Offline
Online Influence and the Role of Social
Offline Distribution
Vacation Rental Homeowners
Homeowner Profile
Marketing: VRMC and RBO
LIST OF TABLES
Lodging and Vacation Rental Category Overlap: Included and Excluded Lodging Types
European Vacation Rental Distribution Chain
Vacation Rental Booking Incidence for French, German and U.K. Travelers, 2010-2011
European Travel Market by Segment, 2010
European Vacation Rental Revenue by Country, 2010
European Vacation Rental Guest Population by Country, 2010
Share of Vacation Rental Trips by Property Type for Six Demand Markets
Share of VR Trips and Spend by Property Type, Europe
Total, VRMC and Online Vacation Rental Revenue and Penetration, Europe, 2010
Total and Online Vacation Rental Revenue and Forecasts, Europe, 2008-2013
Destination of Last Vacation Rental Stay
Reasons Travelers Do Not Book Vacation Rentals
Reasons for Choosing Vacation Rentals over Hotels
Guest Satisfaction with Overall Experience of Last Vacation Rental Stay
Vacation Rental Trips and Spend by Booking Method, 2010
Share of Rental Revenue by Booking Method per Country, 2010
Types of European Vacation Rental Distributors
Vacation Rental Revenue, Online Revenue and Penetration by Country, 2010
Influential Online Features for Vacation Rental Property Selection
Airbnb's Social Connections
Method of Managing Property Marketing, by Country
Homeowner Reasons for Using a VRMC
Percentage of Rental Bookings to RBOs by Marketing Method
Vacation Rental Property Occupancy by Season and Management Method (RBO, VRMC)
Cost of Distribution: Hypothetical Average Comparison of Annual Homeowner Income via VRMC vs. Listing Sites
This study incorporated four major research components:
- Consumer survey: Phocuswright conducted a projectable online survey of 500 qualifying VRGs per country across Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K. This effort was fielded as a 35-question online survey to adults, aged 22+ who had taken at least one holiday in the past two years that included a vacation rental. Respondents had to have taken a holiday in paid accommodation at least 100 kilometers from home, be actively involved in holiday planning and have stayed in a vacation rental. The survey also presented an exit question to a sub-section of qualifying travelers who had not taken a vacation rental in the past two years. The objective of the exit question was to examine why these travelers had not stayed in a vacation rental. Respondents were sourced from independent panel firm Global Market Insite.
- Homeowner survey: Phocuswright conducted an online survey of homeowners – 200 per country in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K. This exercize consisted of a 32-question survey to adults who own at least one property that they rent out to people who are traveling for leisure. Respondents were sourced from the independent panel firm Global Market Insite as well as from study partners. Phocuswright weighted the partner results to reflect the total population of vacation rental homeowners by management type from the independent panel (whether the homeowner uses a vacation rental management company or self-manages the marketing and booking of their property).
- In-depth executive interviews: Phocuswright conducted more than 30 in-depth executive interviews with vacation rental management companies, listing sites, vacation rental portals, and distribution players including GDS (global distribution system) companies, online travel agencies and tour operators.
- Third-party data review: Phocuswright conducted an extensive review of relevant data including government statistics, company reports and third-party research.
Phocuswright developed market sizing (population, rental revenue, number of trips and guests) by building projections from consumer surveys against population data from Eurostat. For Internet penetration, Phocuswright has used Eurostat 2010 incidence of adults (aged 16-74) who used the Internet at least weekly during the last three months of 2010. Projections have been cross-checked against – and occasionally adjusted to reflect – results from the study homeowner survey, interview results, and (where available) third-party data sources. The surveys were conducted online. Because of lower Internet penetration among the adult populations in Spain and Italy, the results for those markets may be more reflective of a smaller group of online vacation rental guests and homeowners, and may not be as representative of the total vacation rental guest and homeowner populations.