Vacation Rental Bookings Rise in January 2023

Data and insights platform Key Data revealed a significant rise in the number of vacation rental reservations made in January 2023.

As the data partner of the Vacation Rental Management Association, Key Data compared U.S. and U.K. reservations made on Airbnb and Vrbo during the first three weeks of January to the same period in 2022.

Data revealed that reservations made in the U.S. are up 27 percent, from 3,332,605 to 4,245,574 trips in total, and reservations in the U.K. are up 19 percent, from 877,169 to 1,039,495 trips in total.

However, despite the rising frequency of reservations, there was a slight decline in both countries in the number of nights booked overall. The drop in length of stay may be due to the impact of recession, with consumers still traveling but cutting trips short in order to meet their budget.

The value of reservations made during this period sharply increased compared to 2022. Reservations in the U.S. increased by 43 percent compared to 10.5 percent in the U.K. Hosts and property managers in both countries generated USD nearly $7 billion (GBP £5.6 billion) in revenue in the first three weeks of January.

2023 reservations peaked in the middle of the month in both countries, with travelers making the highest numbers of reservations on January 17 and 18. The U.K. also saw a peak on January 9 right after ‘Sunshine Saturday’, which typically sees a flurry of holiday bookings across the travel industry. Looking at both January 2022 and January 2023, travelers were more likely to book their vacation rental accommodation in the middle of the week, with the lowest number of reservations made on a Saturday and Sunday.

Melanie Brown, Executive Director of Data Insights at Key Data said “January reservations are an important measure of traveler confidence because it indicates that consumers are booking well in advance for spring and summer trips. This early data is very promising for what 2023 holds in store for the industry.”