What will 2021 be like for the holiday rental market in Spain?
29/03/2021
2021-03-29 18:29This is a difficult question, because the times have come strange. Each country sets its own sanitary regime and adjusts it to the current pandemic situation. Not only that, in Spain, each of the municipalities – respecting the regulations of autonomous governments – sets its own rules, adjusting them to the situation in the municipality.
Vacation rental 2021 – coronavirus still deals the cards
All of them are ruled by omnipotent statistics, which in addition do not necessarily follow the same rules in all countries. This creates chaos, which in turn has a very bad effect on the condition and credibility of the airlines. Buying a ticket does not mean that you will go anywhere. Even if the flight takes place, it may happen that the country to which we are going has just introduced a quarantine or even closed its borders to foreigners. In such a chaos, it is difficult to find any reliable market forecasts.
Chaos in reservations and “no-cost cancellation” clause
Chaos also reigns in our booking calendars. As we advertise our properties for rent on various portals, potential clients can book available dates without our participation. And some, those more optimistic about life, book stays in our properties. However, they usually make sure that the clause that they can cancel the rental free of charge one month before arrival is valid. These clauses are the portals' response to the pandemic situation and uncertainty related to travel. Property owners or managers have nothing to say here, the clause appears automatically on the property page and must be respected.
Having such a safety buffer, tenants are willing to book 1 and 2-week stays in holiday homes and apartments. They also book longer stays, because new rental formulas created or popularized by CoVid are becoming more and more popular.
Do you know the terms "staycation" and "workation"? They are clusters of English words stay + vacation (i.e. stay + vacation) or work + vacation (i.e. work + vacation).
Staycation
Staycation is nothing more than a vacation in the country you are currently in. This can mean day trips where you discover attractions in the immediate area, or longer road trips to get to know more of the country you are in.
Spain is a fantastic place for staycation. You won't believe it, but having lived here for almost 14 years, I discovered it quite recently. I am lucky to live in one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, so maybe I shouldn't leave it every time I want to take a vacation?
Many people who do not live in Spain came to a similar conclusion. However, instead of coming on a week-long vacation, what they would normally do, they organize their lives so that they can come and rent a flat or a house for 2 – 3 or even 6 months. They often come by car – I have never seen so many German and Swedish cars on the streets of Marbella as in recent weeks. These people come to Spain for longer periods, rent a flat or house and use it as a base for exploring the area and the country. For today, it is true that we have to limit ourselves to the immediate vicinity, because the borders between the provinces are still closed, but the statistics mentioned in the introduction are so kind that we hope for a quick opening of the provincial borders and autonomous communities.
Workation
Workation, on the other hand, is a phenomenon that emerged before the pandemic. This is a lifestyle that people who could work remotely due to the specificity of their profession have dreamed of or have already practiced. It was also important to be able to convince superiors that working in this way they would be as effective as in the office. Not all supervisors agreed to it, and the employees often had to fight hard for such a possibility. And then the pandemic came and it turned out that suddenly almost all of us can (because we have to) work remotely. During the deep lockdown, most of us learned it, and a lot of us got to like it. These are the people who, as soon as it was possible to start traveling, collected their belongings and chose the country from which they would like to work. You will easily recognize a workation enthusiast: his basic condition when renting is a good internet connection.
So, what will 2021 be like for the holiday rental market in Spain?
Certainly chaotic. There will be a lot of bookings and cancellations, a lot of unused plane tickets and canceled flights, we will use millions of masks and we will do millions of tests. All this, however, will not stop us from traveling. It is clear that we are already very tired of the pandemic, restrictions and fear that the media have been feeding us for over a year. Many of us have realized that the time we are now slipping away is our life. And that it cannot be recovered. That is why many of you will decide to leave to breathe a different air. Without disregarding the dangers and following the rules of the country you are in. Then think of Andalusia. It is not often that so many different cultures meet and leave behind their rich heritage in one patch of land. If you add plenty of sunny days, the sea and the ocean, beautiful beaches, mountains, fantastic views and excellent wine, it is hard to imagine a better place to breathe and relax.