Old favourite New York tops the nation’s favourite places to rent short-term accommodation in 2011
		Cape Town
		Roomorama property in Bali - one of the top 3 favourite short-term rental destinations in 2011

Roomorama announces the international rental hotspots in 2011 and predicts future trends

Old favourites New York and London top the nation’s favourite places to rent short-term accommodation in 2011, according to data released by Roomorama. The world’s fastest growing short-term rental accommodation provider looked back at the bookings made by Australians in 2011 and the five top places included: New York, London, Bali, Shanghai and Beijing, with rising favourite Cape Town also in the mix.

While Australians are known for their love of travel, Roomorama founders Jia En Teo and Federico Folcia also noticed that the nation has really embraced the relatively new peer-to-peer short term accommodation concept, claiming the spot as Roomorama’s second most frequent user base in 2011, just behind the U.S.

With its offering of over 30,000 properties in over 500 destinations, Roomorama offers travellers the opportunity to experience a home away from home on their trip, but at better value – something that is particularly attractive to Australians who cannot justify travelling to an international destination for only a few nights.

“New York and London have been the most visited cities by Australian Roomorama users this year – this makes sense as they are very expensive cities, so when Australians fly all the way there and want to stay a little longer than the 2-3 nights, they prefer to rent an apartment that offers more value, and of course, provides a much more unique and authentic experience than a cookie-cutter hotel,” says Jia En Teo, COO and co-founder of the accommodation rental platform.

Australians travelling to Bali, the third most popular destination for Australian users, have also found a great alternative in the short term accommodation rental concept. “Bali of course remains a hotspot due to its proximity and mix of culture, nature and activities,” says Federico Folcia, CEO of Roomorama.

“Renting out villas and private homes has become a very value-for-money alternative for groups small or large travelling to Bali, because typically you get facilities such as your own private pool and the privacy that a big resort cannot provide,” he adds.

Also worthy of note are recent favourites such as South Africa – especially after the attention the nation garnered during the World Cup. Jia En Teo points out that this has been an especially popular destination among honeymooners – “what many people don’t realise is that there are many amazing, luxurious properties, especially around Cape Town, that far outstrip what the hotels can offer,” she says.

As for most accommodation providers, Christmas and New Year is obviously the busiest time of the year for Roomorama. For this year’s holiday period, they have found an increase in bookings for destinations such as skiing favourites Niseko and Furano in Hokkaido, Japan. For lovers of beach destinations, Rio de Janeiro continues to be a favourite for New Year.

2012 will see an even larger increase in the popularity of Europe, with the London Olympics providing a base destination for Australians to explore popular cities such as Paris and Rome, Federico Folcia says. “Short term accommodation rentals are the most convenient for groups of friends or families travelling to London for the games, as these private properties allow visitors to truly live like a local while experiencing one of the worlds’ most famous events,” he adds.

The Roomorama concept is based on bringing home-owners and travellers together. The platform allows homeowners a safe and standardised system to rent out their own properties at a 100% profit when travelling overseas, while providing travellers – both business and leisure – the opportunity to stay in affordable accommodation in major centres around the world.