House swaps and dog walks: Travelers find cheaper alternatives to
lodging
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[May 22, 2023] By
Doyinsola Oladipo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lillian Smith has spent about eight of the last 12
months traveling around the world, hitting France, Morocco, Japan and
South Korea. Her cost for lodgings in that time? About one night in a
hotel, along with the time she spent walking dogs, watering plants and
changing litter boxes.
"I have always dreamed of traveling to Japan but didn't have the budget
for hotels and Airbnbs," said the 30-year-old freelance designer from
Mississippi. Her solution was to agree to house-sit, walk dogs, and care
for plants for people around the globe.
Economic activity has slowed in recent months, but many still yearn to
quench the thirst for travel that grew out of sitting at home during the
coronavirus pandemic. Travel rates are rising, and are now higher than
before the pandemic, but travel-hungry consumers are finding creative
ways to save money and still vacation.
Some are taking road trips instead of flying or booking a budget hotel
room. Others are more innovative - spending $100 to $250 for annual
memberships to websites that connect them with people who need simple
chores done while their dwellings are vacant.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/22/images/ads/current/powell_sda_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
U.S. short-term rental and hotel average daily rates are about 37% and
19% higher than in April 2019, according to short-term rental and
hospitality analytics firms AirDNA and STR.
Consumers are trading down. Travelers in March booked 21 million
short-term rental nights, the highest number of future nights booked on
record, according to AirDNA. One-bedroom or studio in-home rentals in
2022 were 26% and 10% cheaper than hotels in large cities and coastal
resorts, according to AirDNA and STR.
In April, demand for budget and economy short-term rentals was up 18%
and 12%, respectively, compared with the year-ago period, ahead of a 10%
increase in demand for luxury rentals, AirDNA said.
As of March, U.S. consumer spending on hotels and motels was up about
7.2% from a year ago, but has dropped by about 4.6% from December 2022,
according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
VACATIONS WITH CHORES
Smith said she has house-sat in France, Morocco, Japan and South Korea
after spending $169 on the cost of an annual membership to
TrustedHousesitters, a platform that connects pet owners with in-home
sitters. She estimates she has saved over $11,000 in accommodations even
though she still must pay for plane tickets.
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![](../images/052223PIX/busine48.jpg)
A screen grab shows Lillian Smith, 30,
from Mississippi, U.S., during a city tour at Wat Arun temple in
Bangkok, Thailand May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/22/images/ads/current/peasley_lda_051513.png)
"I took care of three cats and 20-plus plants while I was in
Morocco, one dog in Tokyo, one dog in Kobe, and two cats in South
Korea," said Smith.
U.K.-based TrustedHousesitters said its membership figures increased
12% to 160,000 in the past quarter, led by growth in the United
States.
Paris-based Nomador, a housesitting platform, saw a 60% increase in
new sitters from the last quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of
2023, CEO Mathilde Ferrari said.
Some travelers are also turning to unlimited house-swapping. U.S.
company HomeExchange said membership levels in the first quarter
increased 77% year over year to 110,000 and exchanges increased 63%.
MORE TRAVELERS ON A BUDGET
U.S. travel companies have taken notice, beefing up economy-level
options to draw in growing numbers of cost-conscious travelers.
Hotel operator Hilton in January announced a new economy hotel
brand, Spark, aimed at budget travelers and told investors in April
it was working on a lower-end extended stay brand. The goal is to
attract the roughly 70 to 80 million people who travel in the
economy segment, half of whom are "younger people" who can only
afford lower priced hotels.
"We're not serving many of them," said Hilton CEO Christopher
Nassetta, on an investor call in April. "The opportunity is for us
to get them hooked on our system early by giving them the best
product that they can find in the economy space."
Travel strategist Toni McCord, 52, started housesitting on Nomador
in 2016 and now suggests the platform to her clients who are
self-employed or work remotely.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/May/22/images/ads/current/comfortinn_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
"People are feeling very limited in their abilities to travel
because we're in a recessive economy but when I bring up
housesitting, they're like 'Wait a minute, I didn't realize that I
could do something like that.'"
(Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by David
Gregorio)
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