Remote workers and digital nomads help to drive occupancy, revenue, and longer stays during the slow season.
Let’s make it official – the office cubicle has been replaced by the cozy cottage, as now, more than ever, employees strive to become digital nomads and work remotely. For digital nomads, it’s not enough to escape the rush hour commute – they want to escape the city itself, as they seek flexible rentals in unique locations.
This isn’t a passing trend, either – 81% of people plan on working remotely at least part of the time, and a lot of these people want to travel while they work. For property managers, the question is: how do you tap into this lucrative new market?
How to price midterm to long term stays to attract digital nomads and remote workers
What Do Digital Nomads Want?
Your typical digital nomad isn’t coming just to relax – they’re coming to work, too. That means your property needs a reliable internet connection and a great working space. Look at your property and ask yourself – is this somewhere someone would want to work from for anywhere from two weeks to six months?
If you can imagine someone working at your property, then you can target the digital nomad market and boost your revenue.
Jetstream Example: Digital Nomads and the Seasonal Resort
One of our clients was struggling with a typical seasonal resort problem – they had no problem selling out for high rates during the peak season, but when the offseason arrived, occupancy plummeted – and so did their revenue. To boost occupancy, Jetstream launched a strategy using our proprietary marketing and revenue management technology to appeal to remote workers who wanted to escape the city and work somewhere fresh and exciting.
What We Did
Using a combination of our industry-leading revenue management software and our in-house expertise, we analyzed multiple data points, including projected occupancy, market RevPAR, and lead time. The owner was faced with limited demand, which meant they’d likely only see a few bookings for weekend getaways at lower shoulder season rates. Through our analysis, we determined that these weekend stays were booked at the last minute.
In this scenario, we implemented a “Digital Nomad” promotion for the slower months, targeting a price point that encouraged a 21 or 28-night stay to achieve greater returns compared to the projected revenue from last-minute getaways. In the event that we didn’t find a Digital Nomad for the property, we tapered availability using the minimum length of stay controls that correlated to the booking window. This allowed us to flex our offering to both stay types simultaneously, ensuring our owner didn’t miss out on any opportunities. As soon as bookings are received, the Jetstream platform automatically adjusts to open gaps between bookings with pricing that makes sense for both the guests and the owner.
The Result
We were able to acquire multiple 21 and 28 night stays on top of some last-minute weekend business that put our client ahead of the market in occupancy, gross revenue, and RevPAR. This approach isn’t limited to seasonal resorts, either; you can do this in steady urban markets that don’t see major occupancy fluctuations too.
How We Determined Our Digital Nomad Strategy
Jetstream’s revenue management team utilizes a unique software solution that’s capable of analyzing billions of points of data – and adjusting the nightly rate on a daily basis based on both predictive and reactive demand. To determine when to focus on the digital nomad market, our team looked at the market’s typical lead time, the average length of stay, market occupancy, and market RevPAR.
Thanks to our unique revenue management system, we were able to target digital nomads while maintaining the ability to focus on a short-term rental if the property was unable to find a nomad during the right booking window. We made it easy on the client, handling their OTA distribution including those that are seeing the biggest bookings (Airbnb & VRBO for example). Furthermore, we took care of all the 24/7 guest communications and used our content team to optimize each listing.
Is Your Property Right for Digital Nomads?
If you’re unsure of whether or not your property is right for digital nomads – or what you need to do to tap into this lucrative market – contact us for a free consultation with one of Jetstream’s experts. We’ll walk you through what we’re seeing in your market and help you decide if searching for digital nomads is right for you.
