Tourist rental is frozen: it represents 2.1% of homes owned

The rebound in tourism after the end of the restrictions due to the pandemic has not been enough to reactivate the vacation rental market. This type of accommodation represents 2.1% of the homes owned in Spain in 2021, which is the same figure as six months ago, according to the report The vacation home in 2021 by Fotocasa.

This indicates that there have been no transfers from vacation homes to long-term rentals that were seen during the first months of the pandemic, according to the latest data from Fotocasa Research. In reverse, Nor are the flats that switched to conventional rental during the peak of the pandemic, for now, returning to tourism..

“Covid-19 has slowed the upward growth trend in the percentage of tourist rental homes in Spain. For the moment, vacation rentals are stagnating, remaining stable and contained due to two fundamental factors: the uncertainty derived from the health crisis to be able to suppose rrestrictions on tourists and the regulatory measures adopted for each autonomous community, which according to the owners, as indicated in the report “Radiography of the landlord in Spain”, are restrictive and discourage the placement of homes in this holiday market “, explains María Matos, Director of Studies and spokesperson for Fotocasa.

This freeze in the supply of the vacation rental market collides with the preferences of consumers, who are gradually recovering their demand for these types of establishments.

The report explains that the percentage of respondents who have rented or plan to rent a tourist apartment during their holidays has increased by 12.8% in September 2020 to 15.3% today, progressively rising to 17.2% that existed in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, the demand by users of conventional hotel accommodation has also increased, which goes from 22.8% of the total respondents in 2020 to a 33.2% today, also approaching the 42.2% figure in September 2019.

On the contrary, the percentage of people who have enjoyed or plan to make use of their second residence is reduced (from 10.6% -both in 2019 and 2020- to 6% in 2021) or go to a second family residence or friends (from 23.3% in 2019 and 21.9% in 2020 to 14.4% in 2021).

Tourism grows

Spaniards are progressively recovering their general demand for tourism, both national and international, a habit that was greatly affected by the pandemic due to the restrictions imposed on leisure travel and the precautions of many users against the risks of contagion. Travel abroad, the most affected by the pandemic, has attracted 12.3% of those surveyed in 2021, while this percentage was only 7.1% in 2020 and rose to 28.8% in 2019 , in the prepandemic era.

National tourism, which better resisted the mobility restrictions imposed by Covid-19, has attracted in 2021 to 48.8% of respondents, surpassing the figure of a year ago, when this percentage stood at 44.7%. In the prepandemic phase (2019), those who carried out national tourism reached 55% of the population.

On the other hand, those surveyed who have not opted for national or international tourism stand at 42.8% in 2021, already below the 51.3% of 2020, but still well above the 28.4% of 2019.