New research points the way to more effective short-term rental regulation

Dual research of STR operators and government support officials reveals opportunities to support local businesses and sustainable tourism management, among other community needs

FORT WORTH, TX / ACCESSWIRE / June 18, 2024 / Rent Responsibible today released the 2024 State of the Short-Term Rental (STR) Industry Report, the largest study of its kind examining the STR industry and the local STR regulatory landscape in the US.

Researchers surveyed more than 4,000 STR property owners and managers and more than 2,000 local government employees and elected officials to gain new insights that will help inform strategic decisions, from how to collaborate on effective community management programs to how to run more responsible private accommodations.

The combined studies provided more than 130,000 new pieces of data. The full report can be downloaded here.

Key takeaways:

• 94.6% of STR operators supported local businesses through purchases and referrals.
• The majority of STR operators (75%) primarily served families, followed by wellness travelers, public event attendees and business travelers.
• 83% of government respondents said their jurisdiction faces an affordable housing shortage, citing the three main factors that have the greatest negative impact on the affordable housing supply: the cost of building new housing, property values, and lack of space to build new housing. The solutions that were considered most effective in solving this problem focused on increasing the supply of new housing: opening up new space for the construction of new housing (55.3%), supplementing the costs of building new housing or otherwise encouraging its construction (50.5 %) and creating more favorable conditions for spatial development policy (45.9%).
• Most government officials consider tourism to be important to the local economy and visitor spending to be very important in their jurisdictions, second only to property values.

“More than one million STR owners and managers and more than 30,000 U.S. municipalities can benefit from the insights revealed in this study,” said David Krauss, co-founder and CEO of Rent Responsibly, a social and educational platform for STR operators. “This report shows that there are ample opportunities for short-term rental owners and policymakers to engage on priorities that support local businesses, boost tourism and respect community needs.”

Rent Responsibly partnered with the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis on this research.

“This study allowed us to explore a broad spectrum of local government communities and capture a diverse perspective of approaches,” said Brumby McLeod, associate professor and Riley Research Fellow at the College of Charleston. “What was particularly interesting to me was the staff’s views, their work in short-term rentals, and the perceived effectiveness of local ordinances. Rent Responsible continues to do this well by listening to all stakeholders.”

On Thursday, June 20, Rent Responsible will be hosting a webinar on top performance. Registration is free here.

Research support was provided by Vrbo, part of Expedia Group, as well as Hostaway, Superhog, Touch Stay, Avalara, Hostfully, Breezeway, NoiseAware, Proper Insurance, Dtravel, GovOS and Topkey.

Contact info

David Krauss
Co-founder and CEO
(email protected)
617-359-8598

SOURCE: Rent responsibly

View the original press release on newswire.com.