More and more travelers are tempted by vacation rentals whether they’re students, a family or alone but how can you adapt your business and attract new customers, faced with the diversity of the demand?

The sector is turning professional since a few years now, leading to new markets being created: it is your challenge to know to identify them and take advantage of those new tourism trends to make the difference and create customer loyalty.

We’ve selected six new growing vacation rental trends for you!

Ecotourism

Also called “sustainable” or “green” tourism. Respecting the environment is the greatest issue of the decades to come. More and more people are being concerned by the pollution and the challenges it offers, they wish to find some kind of “connection” to the nature and know that their travel will have the least impact on the planet.

♦ Planning a better energy management in the housing (water-saving technology, “green” electricity, etc.), waste sorting, having access to a local and organic market and sports activities that are closer to the nature, providing bikes…

Ideal for rural vacation rentals, it can also be adapted to urban areas by offering typical local activities, in immersion with the region’s culture and respecting the locals’ life habits and heritage.

Sports tourism

This tourism is developing especially during great sports events such as the Olympic Games or the Euro football championship.

♦ If you own sporting goods that are available in your rental (e.g musculation or cardio equipments), you could highlight them in your listing in order to target sporty travelers. You can also list all the sports that can be practiced and discovered in the region, print a planning of all the sports meetings, give away brochures for specialized museums or even stadiums that can be visited.

You can check our blog post from last summer, in which we had listed some advice for your travelers that would like to watch the Euro 2016 and that can suit any sports event.

Young travelers

Mostly students, with mostly limited financial resources! But don’t underestimate those travelers: fueled by the Erasmus program (European student exchanges), this sector is developing faster than any other. They’re more mobile and more open to new experiences than their predecessors. They want to discover new cultures and opportunities.

♦ Day and night, offer everything that can be new or uncommon (meeting the local population, extreme sports, theme parcs, escape rooms…), not to forget the night activities (bars, restaurants, clubs).

Wellness tourism

Whether it’s for medical reasons or a need for relaxation, wellness tourism is quite a wide sector that can fit costal, thermal or mountain regions.

♦ Set up a hot tub or sauna, list all the wellness centres of the region, negotiate partnerships with dedicated local businesses, offer some samples such as massage oils, essential oils, etc.

Unusual tourism

This trend aims to make us discover new sensations: the traveler wants to experience a completely new way of life, ideally on a rural or wild area.

♦ Tree cabin, yurt, “bubble” bedroom in the forest… Do some research on original activities that are available around your vacation: bungee jumping, rafting, canyoning, etc.

Other trends

The trends we just described are, of course, not the only ones to be emerging! New ones appear every day, allowing any traveler to find what they’re looking for: culinary tourism, women’s tourism, LGBTQ tourism…

There are so many opportunities for you to create your own identity!