Travel Trends for Europe’s Popular Vacation Rental Destinations
by Lodging Directory Rentalo.com

Vacation Rentals versus Hotels Comparison Shopping, Vacation Planning & Theme Trends for Leisure Travelers Visiting France, UK, Holland, and Spain

Miami, FL. February 26, 2010 – Rentalo.com, a leading lodging and vacation rental web site, recently conducted a trend analysis on its database of 23,747 opted-in travelers searching for vacation rentals in Europe’s popular destinations Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Barcelona from July 2008 to January 2010.  The lodging directory is sharing these insightful findings so that travel industry experts and analysts may better their understanding on consumer’s interests in comparison shopping, vacation planning dynamics, and vacation theme interests.  The study below demonstrates the demand for travel portals like Rentalo.com that facilitates comparison shopping and vacation planning for trip planners.   

Europe’s Top Leisure Vacation Destination: Paris, France

Sixty-one percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Paris vacation rentals, bed breakfasts, motels, and hotels.  61 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation houses, condos, guesthouses, inns, and hotels near Paris including Ile De France, Bagnolet, St Ouen, Montrouge, Pantin, Vanves, Vincennes, Clichy, Levallois Perret, Charenton Le Pont, Issy Les Moulineaux, Neuilly Sur Seine, Boulogne Billancourt, Boulogne, Asnieres, and Bobigny.

Thirty-six percent were early planners who started their Paris vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 31 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 33 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.

Paris’s most popular vacation theme is romance with 31 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for 2, 14 percent for groups of more than 4 adults, 21 percent for families with children, and 19 percent for people traveling alone.

Europe’s Top Cultural Vacation Destination: London, UK

Sixty-two percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among London vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, flats, and hotels.  71 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation cabins, cottages, guesthouses, motels, flats and hotels in London vicinity including Edgware, and Oxted.

Thirty-nine percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date, 36 percent were early planners who started their London vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, and 17 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance.

London’s most popular vacation theme is romance with 25 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for 2, 21 percent for families with children, 18 percent for groups of more than 4 adults, and 18 percent for people traveling alone.

Europe’s Most Fun Vacation Destination: Amsterdam, Holland

Seventy-eight percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Amsterdam vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, flats, and hotels. 55 percent were also interested in receiving offers from vacation homes, inns, resorts, and hotels in Amsterdam vicinity including Zaandam, Hoofddorp, Purmerend, Naarden, Bussum, Almere, Huizen, Hilversum, Loosdrecht, and Lisse.

Thirty-nine percent were early planners who started their vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 21 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 38 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to their arrival in Amsterdam.

Holland ’s capital most popular vacation theme is romance with 36 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for 2, 27 percent for groups of more than 4 adults, 17 percent for people traveling alone, and 7 percent for families with children.

Europe’s Top Family Vacation Destination: Barcelona, Spain  

Seventy-five percent of the vacation planners showed interest in comparison shopping among Barcelona vacation rentals, b&bs, inns, and small hostales.  40 percent were also interested in receiving offers from other accommodations such as vacation cabins, inns, and boutique hotels near Barcelona such as Cerdanyola Del Valles, L Hospitalet De Llobregat, and Calella.

Fifty-two percent were early planners who started their Florence vacation planning 2 or more months in advance from the travel date, 23 percent of the inquiries were sent 1 to 2 months in advance, and 24 percent were from last minute travelers inquiring within the last 30 days prior to the arrival date.

Barcelona’s most popular vacation theme is family with 28 percent of the traveler’s inquiries requesting accommodations for groups of more than 4 adults, 26 percent for couples, 25 percent for families with children, and 8 percent for people traveling alone.

“The study shows that travelers are highly interested in comparison shopping as well as in planning ahead their vacations.” says Frank Suarez, Customer Service Manager for Rentalo.com “www.Rentalo.com’s free inquiry service allows travelers to easily and quickly compare lodging options.”

The lodging directory has helped over 400,000 travelers find the best values in vacation rentals, hotels, and bed and breakfasts since July of 2008.  Additional trends and analysis data is available from Rentalo.com on its opted-in database of close to one million travelers and vacation rental listing owners in close to 15,000 vacation destinations worldwide.

About Rentalo.com
Rentalo.com is a leading online travel lodging and vacation rental website. Its broad inventory of vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts, and hotels is available online and via RSS feeds, affiliate distribution partners, as well as thousands of journalists and editors through e-mail, press releases, and travel publications. Through selected partnerships, Rentalo's inventory is available to an online audience of more than 100 million travelers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit http://rentalo.com or call 1(305) 558-5577.

Media Contact:
Carolina Plata
c.plata@rentalo.com
1-305-558-5577 ext 607

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