The world is in a different space from where it was a few years ago. Today we can work on the go, opening up a huge new Travel landscape, and more and more people are on the go all the time. A new era of travel is at hand, but the staid chain hotel experience hasn’t really updated to match. Luckily, there’s a new- and fast-growing- travel segment you can explore. A fusion of the AirBNB concept and the eclectic experience provided by boutique hotels, luxury short-term rentals have a lot to offer the discerning globetrotter. Let’s take a look.

The Growing Travel Boom

Before the global health crisis, a huge proportion of the travel market was the standard vacation traveler. They’d head to the same place, at the same times of years, and were willing to accept a cookie-cutter travel experience. Now, with work-from-home and hybrid working models becoming the norm, alongside the growth of interest in travel experiences instead of destinations, we have a new class of globetrotters emerging. 

Turning Travel into a Lifestyle

While we’ve never been limited in where we can travel, we’ve previously had a working environment where potential travelers were restricted by set dates and set lengths of time they could be away from their desks. People want to travel more often, even if for a shorter length of time, and they want to travel differently.

Previously, there’s been a very sanitized idea of what travel looks like. People went to new destinations, but the experience waiting for them was just like home. You stayed in a chain hotel that looked the same no matter where in the world you were. You never interacted with locals and kept only to high-traffic tourist areas. You ‘ticked the boxes’ on specific ‘must sees’, but never explored off the beaten track. And the closest you came to local cuisine was the nearest McDonalds’.

Today’s traveler is done with mass tourism. Not only is it damaging to local infrastructure and the environment, not to mention conservation efforts, it strips your travel experience of all meaning. You may as well have stayed home and explored your neighborhood, right?

Today, visitors to new global destinations want to experience the locale authentically. The emphasis is on embracing the whole experience of a new place and culture, and the memories you take home with you. You want to eat like locals, and get to know what makes them tick. You want to make new friends and drink in different vibes. You want to see different destinations, hidden sights, and an authentic flavor. Concerns like greener travel, eco-tourism, and supporting local development are at the forefront of people’s concerns.

The Changing Business Face of Travel

In addition to these shifts in how we conceptualize travel, there’s an interesting change in who is traveling. The traditional business traveler used to be the driver of most annual travel statistics. While they only comprised about 12% of the travel market, 75% of air travel profits came from them. Executives flew in, ignored their surroundings, dashed from meeting to meeting, and went home.

This model, however, is failing. More families and couples want to embrace everything travel can bring- and they want their share of the luxury pie, too. More non-executive workers are traveling while working, too, and the inside of a hotel room is not their idea of a travel milestone. People want to work around the travel experience and enjoy everything a destination has to offer.

Luxury, Budget, and the Short-Term Rental

One way to keep your travel budget tight and still experience all the luxury you crave is by looking outside the standard hotel net for boutique and luxury short-term rental stays. Not only are these typically in cultural hubs where larger chains cannot venture, but they’re also more likely to offer a wealth of curated experiences for you to enjoy. This personal touch is a big driver for people who use such facilities.

So if you’re dreaming of a view of the Eiffel tower, but don’t have millions to spend, this can be a great way to craft your holiday your way, with less pain on your budget. Additionally, with a more intimate setting and either less, or no, other guests in the facility at the time you stay there, you can ensure a more private, cozy stay. You also will not get hit by common issues like mandatory times for check-in, check-out, and returning to the facility at night.

With a seismic shift in how we travel, and what we expect to experience while at the destination, we can expect to see even more travel innovations in coming years. Are you keen to embrace the travel-and-work movement? Then a short-term luxury vacation rental may be just what you’re looking for.

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