Short-Term Rentals See Last-Minute Bookings Rise But at Lower Rates Short-Term Rentals See Last-Minute Bookings Rise But at Lower Rates

25.08.2023 - 14:05 / skift.com / Srividya Kalyanaraman / William Parry

In the era of slow travel and quicker planning, those who wait until late might win. 

In 2022, the average daily rate in the U.S. was $25 higher for stays booked more than 14 days out than stays booked less than 14 days prior to arrival ($303 vs $277), according to Key Data, which provides short-term rental market data. In Europe, it was $5 higher ($157 vs $162). 

That should explain the rising number of players and partnerships in this space —  Among the latest is San Clemente-based last-minute online travel marketplace Getawaygogo, which charges a fee of $10 per discounted last-minute bookings paid by the property manager. The company announced a partnership with European vacation rental management company Happy Rentals, adding over 2500 properties across 11 countries to its platform. And in January this year, it was added to online channel management platform NextPax. 

“We have enough data to show that in a downturn, people tend to keep plans flexible and make bookings closer to the arrival dates,” said Bradley den Dulk, founder of Getawaygogo. “This trend is also seen in emerging markets, where people wait until the last minute to book stays.”

Dulk, who sold his previous company Beachside Rentals to Vacasa in 2018, is confident that the trend of last-minute bookings is here to stay. Getawaygogo reflects this attitude where users can book stays only 14 days in advance. “This model allows us to offer deep discounts — sometimes up to 80 percent — without hidden fees. We don’t want to lose that position in the marketplace,” he said. 

Getawaygogo is not alone in this game. Two-year-old San Francisco startup Whimstay claims to have doubled the number of property managers and tripled the number of properties listed on its site within a year.The company recently welcomed a new CEO and was added as a vacation rental partner to Google’s travel search, joining a host of other  global platforms including Uplisting, BookingPal, and Bluetent in the U.S. and many more in Europe. 

“Right now, we are more critical to our partners, facing a real pressure on occupancy and rising labor shortages and costs,” said Whimstay CEO David Weiss. “We have 15 times the number of bookings today compared to February last year.” Buoyed by this growth, Weiss said that his company plans to spend no money on paid marketing for the next 12 months.

This trend corroborates with property managers and owners. At London-based hospitality and property management company Altido, 30 percent of the bookings are made within a month of stay. While savings depend on the sort of inventory available, Altido CEO William Parry noted that it’s not unusual to see discounts of up to 60 percent on last-minute bookings. 

Typically these bookings tend to