Why travellers choose holiday rentals

Our data shows that many travellers are open to flexing between hotels and holiday rentals when booking their accommodation. In fact, in 2022 more than 30% of all nights booked on Booking.com were at a holiday rental.

Price and location are unsurprisingly the most important factors, but what are the other top factors that make travellers most likely to decide on a holiday rental?

Each year we survey* thousands of travellers from across the globe, this year collecting responses from 42,513 people across 33 markets. Where these respondents had indicated that they were likely to stay in a holiday rental property for leisure in 2023, we posed a follow-up question: “What influences your decision?”

Here’s what they said.

Top five reasons for choosing holiday rentals

When considering the global responses, the top five reasons travellers gave for choosing a holiday rental – after price and location – were:

1. Privacy 
2. Length of stay 
3. Amenities 
4. Self-service facilities
5. The people they’re travelling with

The order was also the same for both domestic and international travellers, meaning you can appeal to both effectively using the same strategy. 

Offer privacy while continuing to be an exceptional host 

Privacy came top of the global list of reasons to choose holiday rentals, and is particularly important to guests from Latin America and Asia.

Offering people a home-away-from-home where they can fully relax is one of the appeals of a holiday rental, so lean into this in the way you talk about your property. Highlighting that guests won’t run into other people or that they have their own exclusive amenities and a secluded location, for instance, can really help your property appeal to this group.

Of course, respecting privacy doesn’t mean you can’t add little touches to stand out as a host, such as those highlighted in our article on what makes a great holiday rental host.

Attract long-stay travellers

Guests looking for longer stays are increasingly likely to move towards holiday rentals for a variety of practical reasons – such as the ease with which they can work remotely.

This in turn can present economies of scale for you, such as fewer check-ins to handle, less cleaning between stays and a reduced need to replace consumables.

By focusing your messaging and processes around a long-stay audience – and even offering additional incentives for longer stays – you may be able to boost revenue while also making your life simpler by getting the same number of room nights across fewer guests.

Provide the amenities that matter most

Third on the list were amenities. There are many amenities that holiday rentals can offer that are unique to that property type.

You can find out more about what you should be highlighting in our article on 8 holiday rental amenities you should be showcasing.

Highlight your self-service facilities

Closely related to amenities – but important enough to warrant its own entry at fourth position in the top five – are self-service facilities. This is important for many guests, but ranked as the most important factor for guests from Oceania.

Highlighting what self-service facilities you offer, such as easy-to-use cooking facilities and a wide range of kitchen appliances, is likely to generate interest. 

This is especially important for those longer-term travellers who may be more inclined to require things like laundry facilities, for instance.

Offer upfront information that appeals to different traveller types

Fifth on the list of reasons for considering a holiday rental is who the guest is travelling with.

With the ability to appeal to particularly lucrative segments – such as families or groups – this factor means you could not only get more bookings, but potentially more profitable bookings.

For instance, to attract families you might talk about care taken to child-proof the accommodation to help minimise risks, or highlight family-friendly activities on your doorstep, or that you’re pet-friendly.

For groups, it would be clearly communicating sleeping arrangements – such as the number of beds and other sleeping options – to help them plan before arrival. It might also be important to highlight the available parking for groups who aren’t arriving together.

*Research was commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of adults who had taken a trip in the last 12 months and planned to take a trip in 2023. The sample comprised 42,513 respondents across 33 markets. Respondents completed an online survey in January or February 2023.