Tourism After Lockdown: A New Standard of Accommodation Preferences? – STR

Despite continued challenges due to the Delta variant, many countries around the world, thanks to successful vaccination programs, have started to relax travel restrictions and social distancing requirements.

As a result, more travelers can now explore beyond their locality. But, as restrictions have relaxed and different parts of the world have become more accessible, what changes can be seen in consumer accommodation preferences?

Same, same but slightly different

The most recent findings show a familiar picture compared with our previous research. Many accommodation types were still perceived more negatively compared with before the pandemic.

Smaller types of accommodation continue to attract more interest as consumers adapt to living in a COVID-19 world. In July 2021, traveler interest in short-term rentals was 15% above the pre-pandemic level of interest.

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Consistent with previous research, hotels with less than 50 rooms also recorded higher interest compared with before the pandemic. Indeed, the trend shows increasing interest in this form of accommodation which is likely due to improved confidence in hotels as many brands have implemented elevated cleaning and other COVID-safe protocols.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, hostels continue to suffer more than other types of accommodation. Some six in 10 travelers said that they were less interested in staying at a hostel now compared with before the pandemic. While this is a difficult reading for the sector, it was an improved result compared with previous findings which again suggests that there is growing confidence in the accommodation sector.

Luxury versus economy divide

Consumers were also asked for their views on different classes of hotel accommodation. Overall, travelers are still less interested in staying at hotels now than compared with before the pandemic. Interestingly, economy and budget hotels were perceived significantly more negatively than upscale and luxury hotels in the current environment. This is likely due to factors including perceptions of cleanliness and property size associations. It will be interesting to monitor how the recovery unfolds for these hotel classes as demand grows.

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Posted by Nevistas News on August 31, 2021.

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