The Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report (GSAIR), which has been released this week at the Business Travel Show in London, says the sector is going from strength to strength.
The report, conducted between September 2021 and May 2022, revealed that serviced apartment usage is on the rise. The results were taken from a survey of 6,000 corporates, 2,000 serviced apartment operators and 1,800 agents as well as more than 70 interviews with industry professionals.
Positive findings for the sector included figures which show that 23 per cent of businesses now have agreements with serviced accommodation brands, and 68 per cent of operators plan to open more apartments in existing locations.
This reflects the high demand on the sector during the pandemic as the report highlights, during Q4 2021 and Q1 2022, supply shortages drove prices up by 10 per cent for one-bed apartments, 30 per cent for two-bed apartments and 40 per cent for three-bed apartments against 2019 figures.
The report found that during 2021, 15 per cent of UK businesses increased their overall use of serviced apartments and 52 per cent of corporates and 60 per cent of TMCs say their use of serviced apartments for relocation purposes has increased since 2020.
The findings showed the main factors for choosing serviced apartments over hotels are traveller preference, total cost of stay and traveller wellbeing.
Other findings showed how important sustainability, ESG and personal safety were to travellers and their employers. These now are top priority when booking a trip.
In 2007, 77 per cent of global supply was in the US, today this stands at just 52 per cent proving the global reach of the serviced apartment sector continues to expand – a trend that is expected to continue.
