UnderTheDoormat seizing new hospitality trends at the Short Stay Show

On March 12th, the UnderTheDoormat Team participated at the Short Stay Show 2020 at Excel London, one of the biggest events in the travel industry about the short stay sector. A week on and the industry is dealing with COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and all the implications of cancelled bookings. However, it’s important to reflect on the Short Stay Show and what a great event it was for the industry!

What is it all about?

The Short Stay Show is one of the main events about short stay rentals to hit the UK and focusses on the fast-moving trends of short stay hospitality and accommodation. It’s a ground-breaking event for an emergent industry that is disrupting the traditional models of travel and tourism and it brings new ideas and growth to complementary worlds of hospitality, property, tourism and future city planning.
The show is delivered in partnership with the Short-Term Accommodation Association (STAA), of which our Founder and CEO Merilee Karr is chairperson, which is committed to bringing the industry together to overcome industry challenges and seize opportunities of growth in a stable and supportive environment.

A Growing Industry

In London alone, City Hall acknowledged that the 2.2 million guests who stayed in short-term rentals in the year to July 2018 generated £1.3 billion for the local economy, but what does the short stay industry have in store next?
Industry giant, Booking.com, predicts that 2020 will be a year of travel exploration like never before fuelled by technology.
Of course, in these times where now travelling is getting more and more dangerous, we recommend following the advice given by the government before embarking on a holiday, and we know that many holidaymakers are asking whether it is safe to travel at all. You can find our top tips to stay safe here.

New Opportunities in the Market

The Short Stay Show has asked its partners to reveal the trends that they believe will take the industry from strength to strength in this new decade, and beyond.

• New tech scenarios

Smart, trusted tech-led recommendations will connect us to new experiences that might not otherwise have crossed our path, while also saving time and enabling us to take full advantage of every lifetime experience while on vacation.

• More business travellers onboard

Quality in Tourism, which works with hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses to provide expertise and advice, explains that the industry will need to adapt to accommodate the business traveller properly: many providers will have to prove much more robust process to engage with this audience and to satisfy companies due diligence and duty of care programmes, alongside the new wellbeing programmes that many are adopting.

• Rising of quick and immediate solutions

Gone are the days of long booking processes. In 2020, missed calls mean missed bookings and 69 per cent of enquirers will never leave a message. More and more bookers expect an immediate response to their queries from accommodation providers and will go elsewhere if they do not get it, particularly as the market becomes more competitive.

• More built-to-rent models

According to Savills, the build-to-rent sector is set to grow the most in value of the UK’s stock of residential operational real estate, rising from today’s £9.6 billion to a potential £543.6 billion, providing homes for more than 1.7 million households. If you’re in the BTR sector, you can partner with us – find out more (link to partner with us page).

For UnderTheDoormat, the day was a great success and we met with many partners and suppliers as well as speaking with other companies in the industry. The day was full of great talks about the future of the industry – from regulation and trends to technology developments and services to help provide more efficiency and better guest experience. And of course, we enjoyed the cold beers at the end of a long day!