Disruption in the Accommodation Market
An extended interview with Homestay.com CEO, Alan Clarke dscussing a recently commissioned Phocuswright report on the Shared Space /Homestay accomodation sector. The report covers an 8 country, 8,000 person survey in December 2014. The survey found that anywhere from 10% – 20% of travellers are choosing the shared space / homestay option of accommodation. Some of the key findings are below
– Nearly one in 10 travellers in the US and UK rented a shared space last year , this compares to one in 5 for whole home rentals
– Participation in shared spaces grows to almost one in 5 in countries like China, Brazil and Russia
– Shared space accommodation sector rose from 3% in 2012 to 9% in 2014 in the US
– Number of millennials (18-34) renting shared space accommodation is up to 15%
– 53% of shared space renters are aged 35+, with 55+ making up 22% of the market, demonstrating shared stays are not just popular with young travellers
– Nearly half of all shared space renters in the US and UK have an annual household income of more than £50k
We discuss in detail these findings, and trace the broader implications for the accommodation sector, and the challengs facing the shared space segment.
At the start of the show I am joined by phone by Brian Quinn on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way in Co. Mayo. Brian is from Fáilte Ireland who have just announced that it is borrowing Google’s hi-tech ‘Trekker’ to capture Street View images of some of the country’s remotest spots.
The Google Trekker is a wearable backpack, mounted with a spherical device containing over a dozen cameras that gather images as it goes.