Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
6y
I thought these were good points:
Why Short-Term Rentals are More Immune to the Impacts of the Virus
In order to provide some context to
the data, here are some crucial ways in which short-term rentals are
more resistant to the impacts of the Coronavirus than hotels, cruises,
and airlines:
Vacation rentals are often in more remote locations with less direct exposure to other travelers
Vacation rental guests often visit destinations within driving distance which allows them to bypass the potential risks of airline travel
The article did say (and I agree) that more urban STR's will be more impacted.
Boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 89 posts · 42 votes
6y
Thanks for sharing that @Mike Dymski! Interesting and well researched read from a reliable source. I have four STRs in an urban area (Boston) and and definitely feeling the effects of cancellations. I do think the urban vs. leisure STR comparison is totally situational, though. If this were more of an economic vs. health crisis (think 2008 vs. now) then I think we'd see the inverse effect where less leisure bookings take place and urban STRs remain stable. Discretionary spending for exotic locations would be the first to be cut by consumers but travel for holidays, work, and family visits would likely be prioritized, making STRs in more accessible locations more likely to be booked. Definitely not the case with COVID, but I don't think an across-the-board assumption can be made, just my opinion.
What can't be ignored are the immense numbers of cancellations and lost revenue (those graphs are scary). I'm hoping the federal government treats all Airbnb hosts as essentially part of the hotel industry and allots bailout funds accordingly. Airbnb is already lobbying for this so hopefully some headway is made and hosts losing ten of thousands of dollars a month due to unfair cancellation policies (whole other argument) can recoup some losses and at least be able to pay their mortgages.