Agoda study reveals non-hotel travel accommodation traveler trends

SINGAPORE - Agoda, one of the world's largest accommodation booking platforms, revealed the motivations and booking behaviors driving the rise in non-hotel accommodation (NHAs) - also known as homestays. agoda's inventory of over 1.5 million properties worldwide have included all sorts of homestays for years, providing a unique lens to the impact of NHAs over time.

(1) Travelers are more likely to stay in a home when close to home
Domestic travelers are more likely to book homestays. But they are also more likely to consider booking privately-owned homes/apartments when traveling to neighboring countries.

Travelers from Indonesia (79%), Singapore (71%), Philippines (82%) and Thailand (80%) will most likely consider booking homestays when traveling within Asia. Similarly, travelers from the UK (88%), US (84%) and Australia (75%) will most likely consider booking a privately-owned home within their home continent.

(2) Reasons for choosing a hotel alternative varies across countries
Indonesians (55%), Malaysians (54%) and Filipinos (53%) will book NHAs to accommodate families and large groups.

Meanwhile, Singaporeans (57%), Thais (54%) and Australians (46%) view NHAs as a less expensive option to a hotel room.

Adventurous Chinese travelers mostly consider NHAs to get a more local travel experience (55%).

(3) NHA types
Amongst non-hotel bookers, there is a clear trend in the most popular type of NHAs booked per market:

• B&Bs rank first for Filipino travelers, with 53% of those surveyed having booked one in the past year
• Private homes are among the favorites for travelers from Singapore (44%), Malaysia (40%) and Australia (38%)
• Villas and guest houses are well liked by Indonesian (37%, 36%) and Thai (31%, 32%) travelers

Connecting these travelers to homestay properties is agoda Homes, a portal for home owners to list their properties to millions of agoda users worldwide, at no cost.

"agoda has offered a variety of homes for many years now, and we will continue to build our inventory to offer travelers more choice -- from more conventional options like a private home or a villa to unique properties like a treehouse or even a yacht," said Andy Edwards, agoda's Global Director for Brand and Marketing Communication.

The agoda Travel & Tech Study is based on a survey of 16,000+ respondents aged 18-64 across 15 countries and covers the motivations and booking behavior of travelers in the age of tech innovation.

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