Introduction
Short-term rentals (STR) are temporary arrangements between a property owner (host) and a traveler (guest) who want to rent on a short-term basis – such as a single room or an entire property – in a specific location.
Short-term rentals give an opportunity for people to earn some more money to pay their bills by leasing out a room, or their own home while they are away. They help the US drive economic growth, employment, and additional income to a city through tax revenues and the benefits that bring to the community because guests will spend their money on other visitor-related amenities such as restaurants, bars, and museums.
The increase in the short-term rental industry has brought several challenges and left discovered gaps in the service provided. For years the short-term rental industry has focused on offering rentals to the vacationers market, which is great, but there’s a huge market that benefits from short-term rental options, but their needs are not the same as vacation travelers. This reality brings a huge challenge when trying to find available short-term rentals that cover their needs. We are referring to the traveling Healthcare professionals and Business travelers market.
The well-known online marketplace platforms are focused to offer amenities and features to vacationers, which leaves working professionals and corporate travelers at disadvantage for many reasons:
- Inexistent option to negotiate for longer stays at lower rates
- Unnecessary amenities and features, and not the features they would like to have
- Unrelated information about the location, no detailed distances information, or places they would be interested in
- No clear communication between both parties prior to booking
- High fees charged per booking or stay
- Money control by the online marketplace platform
- No freedom in deciding which person to host, and MANY MORE REASONS…
That is why Lodgyfix.com has developed a unique online marketplace platform focused on giving back control of the entire process of negotiation to property owners and travelers. We are going to serve the biggest workforce markets, Traveling Healthcare Professionals, and Business Travelers. We have made a deep research on the business model we wanted to engage and offer, to maximize the benefits of short-term rentals (STR) offered to these market segments, and reduce those challenges and gaps, in an appropriate way.
This paper is to explain how Lodgyfix.com works and how we brought a solution to cover the gaps left by online marketplace platforms in the short-term rental industry, specifically related to the biggest workforce markets.
We have created a product compliant with government standards and with maximized benefits to hosts and visitors. The idea behind Lodgyfix.com is very simple; Figure out a way for local property owners to generate some extra money leasing out their spare house or room to business and healthcare traveling professionals who travel to the area for work, business, or “bleisure”.
Some of our great features are that property owners who affiliate with our online marketplace platform get to advertise their property rentals to millions of business and healthcare travelers nationwide, with the ease that Lodgyfix.com will educate and provide resources to handle payments, background screening, and assistance when needed. And for travelers, Lodgyfix.com offers comfy, safe, and convenient units with the transparency of connecting directly with the host to negotiate prior to booking the place.
Product/Service/Methodology
In our research of how many short-term rentals online marketplace platforms target business travelers and healthcare traveling professionals, we determined that none are driven to this market. All top online marketplaces advertise short-term rentals exclusively to the vacationers’ markets. Data provided by PhocusWire shows that the most visited online platforms that search for short-term rentals are focused on vacationers. Among STR users who booked online, more than half did so via Airbnb (see figure below).
Unfortunately, the existing online marketplace platforms have left huge gaps in other markets as in the Travel Nurses and Corporate Travelers workforce.
Proudly, we have developed Lodgyfix.com to cover all gaps left in the short-term rentals industry to serve our biggest workforce markets. We don’t charge any percentage or fee per booking or stay. Instead, property owners will choose from 3 subscription packages, as well as optional services that you can opt to purchase. Our Travelers can create a free user account and navigate our platform. They can also opt to buy optional services.
One of the biggest workforce markets in the US is the Travel Nurses. Based on research made by Zippia, there are over 1,696,386 Traveling Nurses currently employed in the United States.
Travel nurses are registered nurses who work in short-term roles at hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities across the country. Travel nurses take assignments of usually 13 weeks in duration but could be as short as four weeks or as long as 26 weeks.
Here’s a stat that will benefit our female property owners that would prefer to host females, 84.1% of all Traveling Nurses are women, with an age average of 44 years old.
Data from Indeed shows that interest in travel nursing continues to climb, with job searches now at more than five times the levels of pre-pandemic searches.
The other market we are servicing is the Business travelers. The typical business traveler is likely to be male; work in a professional, managerial, or technical position; be 30 to 49 years old, and have an income well above the population average. Men account for more than three-fourths (77%) of business trips. According to the Global Business Travel Association, 1.3 million business trips are taken in the US every day. By 2022, there will be nearly 500 million business trips per year within the US.
Business travel growth can finally begin after a serious downturn in 2020 due to the pandemic (Reuters, 2021). And the industry is even expected to make a full recovery.
More corporate travelers are going rogue, i.e., not using employer-approved channels, during the booking process.
More business travelers opt to stay in home-like accommodations. Small boutique hotels and home rentals have the edge over traditional chain hotels.
Bleisure travelers go on trips at least every quarter. The rise of bleisure travel proves to be one of the most significant outcomes of the demographic shift in corporate travel. With the workforce becoming younger, more employees are looking to do more than work during their trips away from the office.
Although 92% of organizations suspended business travel during the early months of the pandemic, pre-pandemic figures suggest that 90% of millennial business travelers added components of leisure to their affairs (National Geographic, 2020).
An interesting fact is that these working professional travelers must go through a very tough hiring process, including background & criminal records screening, prior to being employed. Income is above the population average, and you won’t need to worry about getting your rent paid on time.
Key Findings
Existing online marketplace platforms in the short-term rental industry target only to vacationers’ market.
Travel nurses take assignments of usually 13 weeks in duration but could be as short as four weeks or as long as 26 weeks.
Work in a professional, managerial, or technical position; and have an income well above the population average.
Visual Data
Conclusion
Lodgyfix.com is not another online marketplace platform. We are the only Online Marketplace Platform for Business and Healthcare travelers. We are the solution to challenges and gaps left in the short-term industry by online marketplace platforms that are not focused to serve our Workforce Market travelers.
Property Owners are backed up with our tools and resources implementation, which educates them to get ready to host our Workforce and Business travelers. Our Travelers can feel confident to find available lodging at fair and competitive prices.
Key Takeaways
- Property rentals are booked for longer periods but under a short-term agreement.
- Avoid the hassle of paying for cleaning services, every 2-3 days, to receive new tenants.
- Your future tenant most likely has gone through a background screening process, and they can provide employment proof, references from previous hosts, credit, criminal, eviction reports, and any other information you would like to confirm.
- Property owners who affiliate with our online marketplace platform get to advertise their property rentals to our huge workforce market of Business and Healthcare travelers nationwide.
- Full transparency. Travelers can connect directly with the host to negotiate prior to booking the place.
- No fee or percentage is charged per booking or stay.
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