Money conscious holiday makers increasingly looking for rental property rather than hotels
01-06-2012
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It says that as global hotel rates rose by an average of 4% in 2011, some 36% of respondents to its latest survey said that they were considering alternative accommodation this year, with holiday rentals the top choice for more than 80%, followed by B&Bs and caravans.
Saving money is also one of the top reasons why one in six holiday makers will spend their main break at home this year. However, should the economy worsen, only 13% of holiday makers would give up on their holiday altogether and many more are happy to wait for a last minute deal (27%) or choose a cheaper accommodation option (25%) instead.
The popularity of the Adriatic nations could also be down to Brits looking save money by opting for better value destinations, with home owners reporting increasing demand.
Paul Clarke, owner of a two bedroom apartment in Kotor said that he hasn’t experienced any downturn due to the recession. ‘In fact last year the apartment was booked for 34 weeks of the year and this year is shaping up to be the same or even better,’ he said.
Montenegro was the top performing market in terms of inventory growth from January to the end of March. Now seen as a safe place to invest, it has not lost its value during the recession and experienced a healthy 87% year on year increase in the number of new properties added to the website.
Nicky Anson, owner of two properties in Istria, Croatia, said that 2012 is shaping up to be one of the best rental years yet, with high levels of booking enquiries from January onwards. ‘The end of April saw another flurry of bookings too as our last available high season weeks were snapped up,’ Anson added.
Croatia was the third best performing destination for supply in the first quarter of 2012, jumping one position from the fourth quarter of last year. With the country’s membership of the European Union looming, its property market continues to see a surge in demand by foreign buyers.
Demand from tourists is growing rapidly too, as also reported by Cosmos Holidays which recently announced sales have quadrupled since last year.
Overall Montenegro has seen an 87% increase in holiday rental supply in the first quarter of 2012 followed by Holland with growth of 45%, Croatia up 34%, the UK up 22% and Greece up 21%.
The report also says that Southern Asia has emerged as a popular holiday destination in 2012 as more holiday makers opted to travel to exotic locations like India, the Maldives or Sri Lanka.
Not only did India register a significant growth in tourist demand in the first quarter of the year, but the Maldives also emerged as a favourite holiday spot in 2012. The island was the third most popular destination in terms of growth in booking enquiries placed in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year.
Visit Maldives, the Official Travel Guide of the Maldives, also recently announced a 3.3% growth in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2012. Sri Lanka’s Tourist Board said that the country saw a 21% increase in the total number of tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
Nevertheless, Australia and Brazil continue to top the charts, following a strong increase in demand at the end of 2011, while Cape Verde retained its growing appeal too.
