San Antonio Vacation Rentals On The Rise, Report Says

The boost is even greater than in Dallas (82%), Austin (71%) and Houston (45%). San Antonio also ranked fourth for the increase in summer bookings in major US cities, preceded by Philadelphia, Chicago and Phoenix, respectively, said Guesty.

Nationwide, bookings are 80% higher than what was seen before the pandemic in 2019, the company found.

“It’s a growing pain like you can’t imagine,” said David Birdy, director of vacation management for Birdy Properties, a property management company in San Antonio. “Last month we broke all records.

On ExpressNews.com: Visiting San Antonio courts convention organizers in hopes of reviving industry

Immediately after Governor Greg Abbot declared the coronavirus a statewide public health disaster, bookings plummeted through Birdy Properties. It didn’t resume until two months later, when bookings nearly quadrupled.

“It was as if the floodgates had been lifted,” Birdy said.

Rental property owners around Texas feared for the future when the pandemic first took hold. Abbott lifted the restrictions in March and since then many properties have seen their businesses bounce back faster than hotels.

Birdy Properties now averages around 150 bookings per month, up from just 50 before the pandemic.

Grand View Research recently estimated that the global rental market size is expected to reach $ 113.9 billion by 2027.

In March, Jeff Hurst, president of Vrbo, which was founded in 1995 as Vacation Rentals by Owner, told CNN Business that the company had the best start to the year in the United States for 25 years.

But with the increase in demand comes the increase in costs.

Guesty estimates that San Antonio has seen the cost of rental bookings rise 30% from last year and 28% more from 2019.

AirDNA, a Denver-based analytics company that collects data on short-term rentals, puts the average daily rate for a vacation rental Monday in San Antonio at $ 136.

The industry has previously touted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says staying in a vacation rental with members of your household is safer than going to a hotel (although the agency still lists it as “less safe” than staying at home). AirBnb also has a policy in place that bans parties and limits gatherings within their properties to 16 people. Customers who break the rules have their account suspended.

What about hotels?

San Antonio hotels have also started to fill rooms again in recent months. But convention activity remains in tatters and many hotels are struggling to hold it back, the Express-News reported in June.

Visit San Antonio, the region’s public-private tourism marketing organization, reported a 274% increase in room revenue (to $ 98 million) in May, part of a 96.1% increase in occupancy rate (at 60.8%).

From January to May 2021, compared to the same period last year, room revenue increased by 26.3%, occupancy rate increased by 24.2%, room rate decreased by 2 , 9% and the demand for rooms increased by 30.0%.

But hotels still haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.

From January to May, hotel occupancy rates hit 54.5% this year, down 18.2% from 2019, according to Visit San Antonio.

In May, San Antonio hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 60.8%. This is down 5.5% from two years ago. The average daily rate also declined during this period. The daily rate is now $ 94.85, up from 114.68 in 2019.

What are people doing here?

San Antonio has always benefited from a large number of families visiting here. About 70 percent of visitors come from elsewhere in the state, and many of them visit some of the region’s top tourist destinations.

Last year was the worst year in Phillips Entertainment Inc.’s 20-year history.