Leading European holiday rental website says Brits and French are late deal lovers as Yanks and Germans prepare to move in to London flats and homes

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - June 19th, 2012 - HouseTrip.com, one of Europe’s largest websites offering the ability to book over 100,000 holiday apartments and houses in over 8,000 global destinations, today reveals that Brits are leaving it to the last minute to book their London holidays during the Olympic period.

Comprehensive analysis of HouseTrip’s London bookings during the Olympic period show that reservations from UK domestic holidaymakers to the capital have dropped by almost 10% - with Americans and Germans rushing to fill their place – up 13% and 10% from 2010 figures over the same time period. Other nationalities waiting for Olympic period bargains to appear in London include the French and Irish – both nationalities experiencing an 8% and 6% drop in bookings respectively.

Savvy London property owners are cashing in on the American and German invasion, receiving £350 (on average) more than they would usually get over the course of the 16-day Olympic period – about £20-£30 more per night than standard.

Arnaud Bertrand, CEO of HouseTrip.com says: “Because of the cost and distance of travel, Americans need to plan ahead for the Olympics, so they’re booking now. They travel for longer periods and are willing to spend more on average per night. Germans, too, like to book ahead and have already secured their properties.

“Now is the time when overseas visitors are selecting their stays. So if want a single booking to cover your entire departure, then look to capitalize on the early bookers, such as Americans and Germans who plan ahead. But if you just want to go away for a day or two and make a bit of spare cash, then you’ll find last-minute bookings from domestic travellers offer the best opportunities.”

According to a recent travel report issued by Which?, hotels are charging over twice their normal rack rates with two-star properties going for well over £200 per night. While potential private rental hosts can expect above and beyond what they might normally get for a private property rental, HouseTrip believes that reports claiming you can get ten times your normal rent are inflating the truth – unless you’re living at the very high end of the scale.

Adds Bertrand: “Think about how much you want for your property, look at other homes that are already on HouseTrip.com at a similar standard to what you are offering and list accordingly. You’ll be more likely to get premium prices with advance bookers than last-minute bargain hunters so now is the time to set up your profile.”

Listing a property on HouseTrip is easy-to-do and free of charge. There are no hidden charges and hosts are guaranteed to get the exact amount of money they desire from any booking. The website is a one-stop solution for property owners to market their properties effectively. Listing accommodation on classified ads websites typically cost up to £200 per year. With HouseTrip, there is no need to pay a listing fee and the process can be completed in minutes.

Over 1,000 new properties are listed on HouseTrip every week. There are currently almost 1500 holiday rentals available in London – a figure that has more than doubled since HouseTrip’s UK launch in November 2011.

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Media Contact
Ryan Levitt
HouseTrip.com
E: rl@housetrip.com
T: 020 8166 7423 / 07779 124262

About Housetrip.com
HouseTrip is one of Europe's largest holiday apartment booking websites, offering holidaymakers and holiday apartment and homeowners a safe and easy-to-use platform to find, book and list holiday apartments, houses and villas securely online. There are currently over 85,000 properties to choose from in thousands of destinations worldwide, with over 1,000 new listings added each week.

Founded by CEO Arnaud Bertrand and CFO Junjun Chen, HouseTrip.com went live in January 2010 and has since seen over 500,000 nights booked. There are HouseTrip offices in the UK (London), Switzerland (Lausanne) and Portugal (Lisbon.) For more information, visit www.housetrip.com.

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