A single datapoint contained in a Phocuswright study has illustrated where the hotel industry can fight back against the apparent rise of Airbnb et al.
Obviously, the likes of Airbnb, HomeAway and countless other alternative accommodation providers have, in a relatively short space of time, managed to mount a serious challenge to the status quo.
Hotels are generally and inevitably reluctant to admit that they are finding their once powerful positions in the hospitality food-chain under threat from new forms of accommodation.
But given that the online travel agency giants such as Expedia and Booking.com are making a big deal of their ability to serve all types of accommodation to travellers, both consumers and hoteliers know that the hospitality marketplace has changed forever.
Some might like to push the idea that hotels are in some kind of freefall and can only evolve if they adopt Airbnb-esque behaviour and style.
The reality is obviously going to be very different from that simplistic theory, but perhaps in a way that the Airbnb fanboys might not have expected.
Phocuswright, in a study of Airbnb renters, found a significant difference in the number of users opting for short and long stays.
In particular, those who are repeat renters are more likely to opt for a longer stay, as opposed to first-timers who generally test the water with a 1-2 or 3-4 night stay.
The chart suggests that once a renter has got comfortable with the process of booking and staying at an Airbnb property there is a high chance they will, in the future, want to stay longer.
Good news for Airbnb and its hosts - more days, more rent, etc.
But what it also illustrates is how hotels can concentrate on the shorter-term stays, where perhaps the novel nature of a hotel and its services laid out over a smaller duration of days can appeal more to the traveller.
Hotels should perhaps go harder on the apparent uncertainty found in earlier studies that suggest prospective Airbnb renters are uneasy with private accommodation because they simply prefer hotel amenities and are unfamiliar with the booking and host liaison process associated with Airbnb.
NB:Marina Bay Sands image via Pixabay.