Houserentalsitesseemassivetrafficgrowth,drivenbysocialmedia

Whoever said social media is a low-level contributor to a travel brand’s online traffic? Not execs at alternative accommodation websites, it appears.

Hitwise examined the online behaviour of three million consumers in the UK and found that rental sites generally have seen a massive 112% increase in traffic over the course of the past three years.

The analysis also found that a high proportion of visits to rental sites originated from social media channels – a marked difference from those of hotel websites who get the majority of their traffic from search engines.

Hitwise managing director, Nigel Wilson, says the shift in behaviour towards accommodation rentals illustrates the trend that “younger generations are embracing technologies to drive what they want – when where and how they want it”.