The FINANCIAL — When it comes to family vacations, home really is where the heart is. Families are among the heaviest users of vacation home rentals this year, representing 56 percent of all vacation home rental lodgers. Families are also more likely to value the benefits of vacation homes than other overall travelers, according to new research released by luxury destination club Inspirato with American Express.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Inspirato.
93 percent of all those traveling with families cited “having privacy” as important or very important. Next on the list was “having space to spread out” with 83 percent of families citing it as important or very important. The third most important benefit was the “ability to stay with children and/or family and/or friends under one roof,” with 82 percent citing it as important or very important, according to the survey.
Several other benefits largely unique to vacation home rentals were all also cited as being important or very important to more than half of traveling families, including providing guests a more authentic destination experience, having common areas to accommodate groups of people and having a private kitchen to prepare meals.
The findings are no surprise to industry veteran Brian Corbett, Founder and Chief Experience Officer at Inspirato, a private club that provides its members, many of them families, access to a Signature Collection of vacation homes in the U.S., the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe.
“Inspirato was founded specifically with the unique needs of families in mind. Once you’ve vacationed in a vacation home, where you can comfortably accommodate the whole family, prepare big family meals in your own kitchen, gather together in a great room at the end of the day, and give everyone the space and privacy they need to be comfortable, it’s hard to imagine traveling any other way,” said Corbett.
The survey also looked at the top perceived obstacles around choosing a vacation home rental. Not having the services and amenities of a resort or hotel was the top obstacle cited to choosing a vacation home rental for those vacationing with families (cited by 18 percent of traveling families). Problems arising in the home during their stay, such as the refrigerator breaking or air conditioning malfunctioning, was the second most cited obstacle (cited by 15 percent of traveling families). Inconsistent and unreliable quality was the third most citied obstacle (cited by 13 percent of traveling families), according to Harris Interactive Inc.
“Anyone who has arrived at a vacation home rental only to discover it looks nothing like the pictures you saw online can relate to some of the challenges of renting online or directly from a homeowner. Fortunately, travelers now have options that have eliminated those obstacles. At Inspirato, we fully manage and control our hundreds of vacations homes, so we are able to ensure a consistently high level of quality that largely eliminates these concerns,” said Corbett.
“Almost two in five, or 38 percent of Americans, and nearly half – 48 percent – of this year’s family travelers said that they would be more likely to stay in a vacation home rental over other lodging options in the future,” said Regina Corso, Vice President, The Harris Poll. “This shows the trend of families choosing vacation home rentals for their lodging option is likely to continue to be a factor in travel,” Corso added.
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