Holiday rental guests in Europe do not rate reviews from previous guests as having a big influence in their accommodation selection, unlike their hotel-dwelling fellow travellers.
A PhoCuswright study reveals only 34% of European guests cite guest reviews as important and only 13% say third party review sites influence their decision.
The discrepancy between the role of reviews in every day travel compared with holiday rental could be for a string of reasons including the lack of uniformity in the sector and lack of consistent content with some players using star ratings, others reviews and some nothing at all.
A number of factors will change this such as TripAdvisor's increasing footprint in the rental sector as well as the existing importance of offline word of mouth in holiday rentals.
Homeowners who market and rent properties direct to consumers say about 50% of inquiries and bookings come from personal marketing such as friends and family, repeat business and referrals.
According to the report, 48% say the ability to check availability and book online influences their property selection and online booking of holiday rentals in Europe is growing faster than the overall vacation rental market.
The total rental market was worth Euro 19.6 billion in Europe in 2010 and is expected to reach Euro 21.8 billion by 2013 while online booking accounted for 21% of trips and the internet is by far the preferred resource for researching holiday rentals.
Growth in online booking, which increased 24% in 2009 and 14% in 2010, is likely to be driven by initiatives from listing sites and new entrants enabling online transactions. By the end of 2013, online booking is expected to account for almost a quarter of the market and be worth Euro 5.6 billion.
Consumers are broadly satisfied with the experience they got from their last rental holiday but, less satisfied with the shopping and booking experience demonstrating that the technology has some catching up to do.
Of consumers who considered a rental holiday but did not take one, difficulty in planning and shopping was the second biggest obstacle. Finding and booking holiday rental accommodation, compared with the hotel shopping experience, was the most common issue.
Although almost three-quarters of German rental guests say the holiday exceeded expectations, this drops to 59% when it comes to shopping and booking experience.
Further findings of the study:
- holiday rental accounts for 21% of the total market
- of the Euro 19.6 billion, 61% is accounted for by vacation rental management companies and 39% by homeowner direct business
- the total rental guest population is 24 million with German, French and UK consumers making up three-quarters of the volume
- holiday rental segment is more mature that the US equivalent with one-in-four travellers across Europe having booked a rental trip in 2011 compared with one-in-1o
NB: Image via ShutterstockNB2: Disclosure - the author co-wrote the PCW European Vacation Rental Marketplace report.