Zoom towns are becoming a popular destination!

[Sebastian Giraldo]

The new normality is pushing more companies to rely on remote work as a measure to prevent COVID-19 spreading. The current circumstances created the perfect scenario for the boom of the so-called “Zoom towns”: rural and suburban getaways for travelers looking for a place to isolate themselves from crowded cities.

Remote work has been here for a while, but the need for social distancing while fully accomplishing your job was unheard of. Now, as the internet only improves with developments such as Starlink, where anyone with a laptop will be able to connect to the internet worldwide. This has been a key contributing factor in driving the Zoom-Town trend forward in travel and vacation rentals.

Zoom towns with a higher-paid occupancy rate

The last Key Data report shows how some leisure destinations had an increase in it’s paid occupancy rate during the Labor Day weekend, outperforming their last year indicators.

“Most markets we analyzed will see increases over last year and some markets will do exceptionally better. Big Sky, Montana; the Outer Banks of North Carolina; and Hilton Head Island saw a 39%, 27%, and 25% increase, respectively.”

As seen above, best-performing destinations are located in rural and suburban areas. They are drivable distances, yet far enough to avoid the hustle and bustle of metropolitan areas. Knowledge workers – Usually the millennials who kept their jobs despite the pandemic and are able to work from home – are the segment who mainly drives the increase in the “Zoom” destinations.

Steady recovery from pandemic for the hospitality industry

Some hospitality markets such as the Chinese, are now showing pre-pandemic behaviour with “seasonal fluctuations” in the occupancy rate, meaning that COVID is no longer determining changes in the industry and the restrictions that come with it.

On the other hand, the US has shown a steady increase in its absolute occupancy reaching an average of almost 50%, performing better than the European average.

Will this trend last when COVID ends?

It is uncertain when COVID will end, but what is true is that it will change the way we travel once and for all.

Cleanliness, social distancing, and cancellation policy will be the top features travelers will consider as essential when booking a Short Term Rental. Two factors that will directly benefit towns of the peripheries because of their unique characteristics.
I'm curious, what was your experience throughout this turbulent year, do you think Zoom towns will stay or will be another trend?

[Michael Rutkowski]

Medium sized town, far from anywhere, but with good connecting and direct flights. Major research University in town, beautiful scenery all around, easy to self-isolate and still get out, no crime, and I could go on and on, but I'll stop... Real estate is crazy here right now. Pushing over $600k for a SFH, with median wages around $23,500, and a family $46,500. I was a PM on a property which sold sight unseen, for $50k over asking ($650k), to people from California.

Anyway, when we got shut down, I lost all my STR bookings in two days. But then, the strangest thing happened. They all got filled right back up with longer stays (2+ weeks). So we thought, what would happen if we raised the price 20%? Well, we staggered bookings, and we are at like 95% with some odd days in there for maintenance. I'm pretty well booked like this until January, and taking reservations for summer and next fall. I have the opportunity to meet these people, as they stay longer now, and they are all people who "work from home", who either sold a house, or have a white collar job which has shut their office down. Many are also buyers.

It has been the craziest time I have ever seen in real estate, and this is my third rodeo. I thought 2008-210 was rough, but this started out worse, and ended up being a boom time. I have my theories on what is happening, but could not possibly sum it up in this thread.