It is not news to us that rural tourism grew significantly during the pandemic. With the outbreaks of COVID-19 in major centers, and to avoid crowds, tourists migrated to small towns and villages and started making Airbnb bookings in rural properties.
A new report published by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Airbnb, shows the positive impact of travel made on this platform in the European Union and the unique benefits generated for families and communities in rural regions. Between 2019 and 2020, the majority of Airbnb bookings in Portugal have shifted from urban to predominantly rural, confirming that the use of the platform is facilitating geographical dispersal within the country.
LovelyStay works with properties all over the country, precisely to promote rural tourism. Learn more about it at this link.
Airbnb has seen an increase in stays outside major cities four times greater than the travel industry in general. At the same time, according to Oxford Economics, the number of EU jobs supported by travel on the platform increased to 5.1 jobs per 1,000 guests in 2020, up from 4.7 per 1,000 guests in 2019, driven by increased guest spending and longer stays on Airbnb. In Portugal alone, 39,000 more jobs were created.
Data from the platform shows that long-term stays of 28 days or more are the fastest-growing category by trip length and accounted for 20% of gross nights booked in Q3 2021, up from 14% in Q3 2019.
“These are trends we’ve been talking about since the start of the pandemic and which we were able to prove with LovelyStay’s results. To compensate for the drop in the number of Airbnb bookings we had in the pandemic, we started accepting mid-stay stays, which brought the company and our partners expressive profits that helped to overcome this crisis in the best possible way,” comments Head of Business Development, Miguel Marinho Soares.
LovelyStay throughout the country
Moreover, since the beginning of 2020 LovelyStay has broadened its action spectrum and offers specialized management services throughout the country starting at 10% in commission. By making property management easier, we want to support entrepreneurs all over the country to get their businesses up and running again. Find out more information by emailing: sales@lovelystay.com.
Translated by Miguel Marinho Soares
