Pandemic drives demand for cottage rentals

With travel restrictions expected to continue, local vacations are hot

Though it’s still months away, the possibility of another travel-restricted summer this year has already sent cottage rental bookings skyrocketing — and vacation property availability plummeting.

Josh Fulford, president of CottageRentals247.com, said the first month of this year has already seen a lot of bookings.

“It has been a very crazy January to be honest. It’s been the busiest January I’ve ever seen, which is really good,” said Fulford. “We’re running low on cottages which is good for the owners because they get rentals booked up.”

Cottage rental websites said that the record high number of early bookings were largely due to travellers avoiding the risk of international excursions by vacationing locally in cottage country.

“I think anybody who doesn’t want to be risky around travel during this transition to vaccination still sees local travel as their best opportunity,” said William Wallace of CottageVacations.com.

That’s in keeping with the trend last summer, which Wallace said was some kind of record.

“We’re 22 years in business, we have never seen that amount of inquiries — it was an avalanche of inquiries,” said Wallace. “Our industry was fully, fully booked.”

Though this year is shaping up to be similar, the added wrinkle is that cottage owners themselves may be already deciding to stay put instead of renting. Last year, COVID-19 hit in March, when booking season was well under way.

“There’s going to be certain people who choose, as owners, to keep their cottages for the whole summer and not travel,” Wallace said.

As more owners are staying put, cottage availability has also tightened.

“That would be the month they would make available to us for guests to be there,” Wallace said.

Fulford has also seen cottage owners decide to use their properties for the summer. In some circumstances, families of owners come up to visit, which also brings in less rental income.

Some owners have experienced a loss as a result of the closures last spring and, “some of them are still feeling it,” Fulford said.

“I think the trend is going to be full occupancy of what is available in the marketplace,” said Wallace. “Whether it’s resorts, hotels, private cottages, I think that there is a continuing trend to stay local for another year.”

While 2020 saw some cottage country mayors urging city residents to stay away from rural towns, rental companies believe this summer’s messaging may be different.

Wallace said mayors understand the industry supports local economies, but also want travellers to be careful.

“They understand it’s an economy driven by tourism so they’re just wanting people to be extra careful,” he said.

“I think last year the message was stronger because it was new information to everybody,” he added.

Before travelling, Fulford encourages renters to shop for groceries in their own cities, emulating the same advice that the Bancroft rental agency gave to cottagers last year.

This year, cottage rental websites say they will continue to screen for responsible guests and stick to mostly weekly bookings to ensure less turnover.

“I think that there is a continuing trend to stay local for another year.” WILLIAM WALLACE COTTAGEVACATIONS.COM