Airbnb prices shyrocket as Australian hotels suffer without staff for Christmas holidays
Aussies face huge price spikes for home-stay places, while hotels are turning would-be guests away for Christmas. See what’s on offer.
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Covid-19 fears and a shortage of rooms at major hotels are helping stoke huge demand for stand-alone Christmas holiday accommodation, with some Airbnb providers charging as much as $24,000 for a week.
Accommodation Association President Leanne Harwood said hotels were being forced to keep rooms shuttered, or reduce services such as in-house restaurants, simply because they didn’t have enough staff.
Job vacancies in the sector could top 100,000, and providers in every state and territory who traditionally rely upon international students and working holiday visa holders were now locked in a “war for talent” with each other, she said.
“The demand is there. The challenge is that we just don’t have the talent to be able to resource and run the hotels at full capacity, which is quite devastating when you think about what our industry has been through over the past 18 months,” Ms Harwood said.
Meanwhile Airbnb hosts are asking prices that are just as jawdropping as the properties themselves.
For the Christmas/New Year period, a seven-bedroom home in the Noosa hinterland is available for $24,000, while a ranch stay for 16 guests in Bawley Point, north of Batemans Bay, will set you back a cool $19,000.
Asking prices in other states are not far behind. A four-bedroom home in Portsea, Victoria, can be snapped up for the week for $17,000, while a property for eight guests near Apollo Bay can be had for $10,000, and a four-bedroom farm in Mylor, in the Adelaide Hills, is yours for $18,000.
Even one-bedroom units don’t come cheap: one Byron Bay apartment has an $8400 asking price.
David Goldman, Joint Managing Director of Goldman Travel Corporation in Sydney’s east, said there had been an increase in Christmas holiday requests this year and many people had booked their accommodation a long way in advance.
“Demand is huge. Hotels are charging normal peak prices for this time of year however it’s
the homes we have curated with accommodation partners that has skyrocketed,” Mr Goldman said.
“We’ve never seen home stays so expensive and people are paying.”
With Queensland set to open its borders on December 17, the state’s Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said the surge in interest in Airbnb-style accommodation was apparent there too.
“It’s an example of a broader trend toward travelling in your own bubble, if you like,” Mr Gschwind said. “That’s why road trips have been so popular, campervan holidays, mobile home holidays … they’ve gone through the roof during Covid and that will continue for some time. It’s another example of how Covid has shifted the market in many ways that we are still coming to terms with.”
Apartments are considered safer than hotel rooms, medically, because travellers have their own facilities.
But it’s not clear how many people are avoiding larger hotels for fears of catching Covid-19.
Mr Gschwind said Cairns’s tourism sector could continue to struggle for some time but other “priority destinations” such as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast “may be pretty close to being booked out” over Christmas.
The Gold Coast was the most searched-for destination on Booking.com between November and January by Australian users, beating out Sydney in second spot and Perth in third.
The Christmas period will be critical for the tourism sectors in all states, but in Tasmania, there are concerns the season could be hampered by the scarce availability of hire cars.
Tasmanian Tourism Industry Council CEO Luke Martin said it was normal for hire cars to be more expensive on the island state in January as it was peak season and many travellers booked months in advance.
“Nevertheless, Covid is certainly exacerbating this problem, with many of the hire car companies having reduced their fleets over the past 18 months, while the supply chain for new vehicles into Australia is heavily disrupted,” Mr Martin said.
It was “frustrating” to hear anecdotal reports of would-be visitors deferring a trip because of the issue, he said.
He advised tourists to look at some of the smaller hire car companies, use ride-share apps or bring their own vehicle on the Spirit of Tasmania.
One region that has done spectacularly well tourism-wise during the pandemic is Byron Bay, which has seen some of the steepest asking prices for Airbnb accommodation.
British expat Alice Spraggon, 28, and her husband Warra, 31, said they would have liked to fly to Western Australia to be with his family, but border closures meant this was impossible.
“As we cannot see our family in WA, the safest option for a Christmas holiday was going to
be within the state due to uncertainties of border openings and a need to book sooner than
later at risk of missing out,” Ms Spraggon said.
Byron felt like a “safe bet,” she said – but the accommodation options were costly and limited.
“This is definitely one of the most expensive holidays we have taken, considering it’s seemingly close to where we live,” Ms Spraggon said. “Accommodation was expensive so we have opted for a smaller place that’s affordable to save money for activities and dinner.
“Christmas lunch will cost us $600 and had to be booked months in advance.”
Originally published as Airbnb prices shyrocket as Australian hotels suffer without staff for Christmas holidays
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