Airbnb says family travel will be at an all-time-high this summer, while demand for domestic travel remains strong. Rose Dykins reports
Airbnb has highlighted key summer 2022 travel trends based on a survey of its active guests across the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and South Korea – more than nine in ten of whom are considering travelling over the season.
According to Airbnb, solo travel is not front of mind for its customers, with the majority of respondents expecting to travel with family and to connect over new travel experiences this season. Family travel is Airbnb’s fastest-growing segment for summer stays booked during the first quarter of 2022 (compared with the same quarter in 2019).
Airbnb also found that domestic travel will remain strong this summer, representing more than half of all nights booked in the first quarter of 2022 for summer stays. This is despite the fact that the international travel has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and continues to rise, with an increase in international summer stays booked compared to the first quarter of 2021.
In terms of age demographic, adults aged 60-90 years-old are the fastest growing age group for Airbnb, when comparing nights booked in Q1 2022 for the summer compared with the same booking period in 2019.
And when asked why they might travel with Airbnb over the summer, most guests said they were seeking “adventure”.
In addition, new travel experiences are high on the agenda for customers, with travel to unique homes on the rise – in the first quarter of 2022, nights booked for these kinds of rentals over the summer increased by 120 per cent compared to 2019.
Airbnb says it has experience a surge in interest for distinctive accommodation such as “tiny houses” (up by 173 per cent) barns (up 160 per cent) domes (up by 134 per cent) and treehouses (up by 116 per cent). The company expects the countries that will have the most treehouse stays this summer to be the US, France, Canada, the UK and Costa Rica.
The survey from Airbnb also reveals a rise in summer stays further inland, rather than a mass exodus to beach destinations. While guests continue to seek coastal listings this summer – and half of nights booked for the season are within 5km of the coast – this summer season has seen a 40 per cent increase in bookings for inland listings situated more than 100 km from the coast (compared to 2019).
Finally, of the people surveyed, more than nine in ten said they were flexible about their travel dates this summer (at least occasionally). This is an interesting post-pandemic development, and suggests Airbnb customers have become more accustomed to a more flexible approach to where they live and work.