European travel returns to highest levels since beginning of the pandemic
AirDNA’s new European Market Review reports on a strong summer for short-term rentals, despite weakened supply
To complement their reputable U.S. Monthly Reviews, AirDNA has released their inaugural European Monthly Market Review giving the industry insiders a holistic view into the short-term rental market performance on the continent.
AirDNA tracked more than 42.3 million nights sold in Europe in August 2021, the highest figure since the start of the pandemic. This was still 21.0% lower than 2019 levels, but higher than August 2020.
“Holiday rentals in Europe represent a strong market share, so we want to report consistently on what’s happening as they cross firmly from recovery into expansion territory,” said AirDNA CEO, Scott Shatford.
Domestic travel driving recovery The countries which were able to stimulate significant domestic demand have performed best during the pandemic. Countries like France, the U.K. and Russia, had more than 50% of their STR demand generated by domestic travellers pre-pandemic, and have performed relatively well during the first half of 2021.
In contrast, cross-border traffic accounted for more than 90% of total demand in Portugal, Hungary, and the Czech Republic and those countries have struggled to generate anywhere close to the demand levels they saw in 2019.
A strong autumn despite weak supply? While the outlook shows demand as of September for the following months is around 19% lower than at the same point in 2019, it’s significantly better than in 2020, and trending in the right direction.
Weak demand over the last 18 months has also led to many listings leaving the short-term market: as of August, Europe has lost as much as 20% of its active listings compared to the same time in 2019. This supply/demand imbalance pushed occupancy higher on the remaining properties, however, reaching a record high of 73.6% in August 2021.
“With COVID-19 cases declining, vaccination rates high and relieved restrictions opening Europe up to international travel again, we’re projecting demand for both Germany and the UK to come in well above 2019 levels for the next few months, and other countries to begin to follow suit,” said AirDNA VP of Research, Jamie Lane.
