While there is a constant increase in renting apartments between individuals for medium- or short-term stays, MagicStay.com, a platform for renting alternative accommodation for business travelers, asked more than 600 European business travelers about their opinions on this new type of accommodation.
According to the study*, 20% of business travelers have already chosen alternative accommodation on one of their trips and 42% of respondents confirmed that they have considered it.
For the 44.8% who have never contemplated staying in an apartment on their trips, the most cited reason is simple: They hadn’t thought of it! While Brits are most likely to have already rented an apartment for a trip or have thought about doing so (23.9% and 49.3% respectively), Germans are the least enthusiastic: 47.5% had never thought of it.
Travelers are happy with this innovation: 98.3% of travelers who have already stayed in this type of accommodation stated that they were satisfied. They all agree on the quality of collaborative accommodation: 87.5% think that renting an apartment makes their stay more enjoyable and 89.8% say that it enables them to mix professional and personal travel.
Often presented as a solution that is economical above all else, collaborative accommodation has other benefits that should be explained to business travelers. The most popular reasons for choosing this type of rental are peacefulness and privacy (49.2%), comfort (45.7%), and price (44.4%).
The number one amenity for business travelers, Wi-Fi is considered essential by 83.4%, followed by television (60.6%), and a desk (59.9%). A fully equipped kitchen, an element that actually differentiates apartment rentals, came in fourth place with 45.4%.
When business travelers were asked who would find this type of accommodation most convenient, the top answer was “a solo traveler” (36.5%). 28.2% thought renting an apartment was most suitable for lodging a group of collaborators and 18.8% thought it was best for business travelers accompanied by their family.
MagicStay is an alternative accommodation booking site entirely dedicated to business travelers. It offers a selection of 50,000 places to stay in 70 business cities.
* Study conducted by MRC in June 2016 with a sample of 606 French, British, and German business travelers
