Future of Vacation Rentals in 2024: Predictions from our CEO

blog post podcast new years
By The Hospitable Team

It is time for our annual wrap-up blog… but what if our CEO and Founder Pierre-Camille Hamana took center stage of the Hospitable Hosts podcast to unwrap the year ahead instead? Well, that’s what he did! 

But first, a humble brag from the team as we all saw Hospitable reaching new heights this year. The numbers speak for themselves: over 12.8 million automated messages sent, a whopping 33% increase in subscribers since 2022, and $2.92 million worth of reservations for direct bookings. Our engineers also were the first in the industry to bring you all an integration with ChatGPT

With this in mind, gaze into our crystal ball — the special edition of the Hospitable Hosts podcastPress play now — aren’t you curious what questions we asked Pierre-Camille?!

Prefer to read the highlights? We’ve got a summary of the key takeaways below.  


The Hardest Challenges of 2023 

In 2023, Hospitable faced a vast challenge: supporting our ever-expanding user base. That is why what started as a team of 14 support representatives last January grew to a formidable customer support team of 25, now representing half the mighty Hospitable crew. 

The growing amount of integrations, new B2B partnerships, and investment in AI… all presented a lot of opportunities and, at the same time, put great pressure on the Hospitable team. In response, Pierre-Camille shares the hot insights: a revamped App Center is in the works and AI will be more than a support feature — it will be “representing our brand.”

“We’re really bringing all the issues to a resolution. We’ve taken a few lessons during the year and now we know what the problems are. So, we’ve been consistently pushing for solving those over time,” underlines Pierre-Camille.  

The Proudest Moments of 2023 

“Can you imagine that in January we didn’t have a Direct Booking solution?” 

Fast forward to today, and behold the astounding figure of $3 million worth of direct bookings! The journey was nothing short of “fantastic,” as Pierre-Camille puts it, but it was not a simple one. 

Delving into the intricacies of direct bookings, we knew that it’s not just about each host launching their own website. It’s about handling the guest experience from A to Z without third-party interference. Pierre-Camille emphasizes, “You own your relationship with the customer, but streamlining everything — that we always identified as a liability.” 

That is why the ease of use received an extra push. Payment experience, tax compliance, insurance, guest experience — you name it and our CEO will say, “We make sure that we’d be OK to host vacation rentals ourselves. And if something is happening, I want you to sleep easy.”

Build a direct booking business, without the hassle.

Keep control of your profits while we take care of the admin.

Vacation Rentals in 2024: Industry Expectations

Reality check: “What’s happening in the underlying market, which is real estate?” Owners capitulating, surrendering to the challenges of oversupply and hyperinflation. Some are even selling at a loss: “It has an impact on livelihoods and the entire economics of running short-term rentals,” cautions Pierre-Camille. 

A silver lining still emerges. The changing landscape may pose challenges, but every adversity can be turned into an opportunity. “What could become a bit of a complication, may become an opportunity for the established operators,” comments Pierre-Camille, hinting at the more seasoned hosts and industry experts, whose advice you can always receive in our Masterclasses

How Big Is Too Big [for Hospitable’s Growth]?

Hospitable is growing and 2024 will see even larger market expansions, more tools, and ever-stronger community efforts. This also means growth from the inside. 

Pierre-Camille highlights that there is still an ultimate limit: “I find it difficult to operate a company that has more than 100 people in the team.” Instead, Hospitable seeks balance — knowing everyone on the team and streamlining all the internal processes into super smooth flows. 

In one of the many surprise team appearances, Emily Tunggala, from our Product team, stirs up the conversation: “As Hospitable grows, do you ever imagine acquiring or merging with another company?” Quick answer from Pierre-Camille: “Yes, absolutely. It would be idiotic to say no!” 

More fun jump-ins from the team in the full episode

PC’s Personal Vacation Rental Paradise

“If you were to purchase a short-term rental anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

Pierre-Camille unveils his dream location, “Tenerife!” and he explains, “We’ve been going there with my family for a few years now. It’s a fantastic island. It’s really a corner of paradise,” 

Hungry for more fun facts about Hospitable and our CEO Pierre-Camille? 

Explore the full episode of our Hospitable Hosts podcast and hear the whole line-up of personal back-of-the-house questions from Miles, Emily, Sam, Andrew, and Kevin!  

The Hospitable Team expresses gratitude to all of you for being part of our Hospitable Hosts team in 2023 and we all are very excited about what’s coming for you and your guests in 2024. 

Thinking about hopping aboard in 2024? 

Hit this link and always have all our smart tools (with an amazing support team) by your side.