A Changed Reality

Homesharing also opened the door to uncertainty, lack of regulations, and legal issues. Venture-backed tech platforms embraced this uncertainty and repackaged it as “experiential”. And to their credit, the new generation of homesharing sites (mostly) did a great job offering unique stays for travelers.

When the Coronavirus and subsequent lockdown occurred, all that changed. Today, many travelers would unlikely be willing to even enter – much less sleep- in a stranger’s home. Once the world begins to travel again, how long will those concerns permeate the hearts and minds of discerning travelers?

The future of travel will lean towards certainty, trust, and knowledge; many of us will want to know what processes are in place to ensure safety and cleanliness. Further, we’ll want to be able to trust that such policies will be vigorously implemented during each and every stay.

A Way Forward

 The main questions will be: what types of accommodations do we feel confident in? What types of vacations are conducive to social distancing: staying in an apartment in a busy city or staying in a branded suite with a pool adjacent to my room? Do we hop in the car and drive or is it safe to fly?

 Experiential travel stole the show in the last decade. Through homesharing sites like Airbnb, travelers could lay their heads anywhere and anytime for a great deal. As a result, the travel industry — and our access to it– bloomed exponentially.

Now it is trusted brands who can offer something unique. Household names like Hilton and Marriott have produced and executed highly detailed standard operating procedures for exactly how each hotel, resort lobby, and individual room will be sterilized between and during stays.

Safer, Smarter Travel

While Airbnb and other homesharing sites will certainly work to incentivize their hosts to improve best practices, it will be hard to determine what precautions are being taken. It will be harder for risk to be spun as experience and uncertainty to be spun as adventure in the wake of COVID-19. 

Timeshare rentals will have an advantage in the wake of this pandemic. They are the one type of accommodation that truly evades the binary typically associated with choosing a vacation rental. They offer the benefits of a fully furnished home, yet they provide the professional processes that only a trusted hotel brand can guarantee.

Does this mean “living like a local” is dead? Far from it: many travelers will continue to seek the kind of experience offered by sites like Airbnb. From our perspective however, the pendulum has swung back in the direction of safety, certainty, and trust.