More guests for bed & breakfasts worldwide

Bed & breakfasts worldwide experience strong growth. During the first half of 2015, the number of reservations at B&Bs was 39% higher than in the same period last year, and the number of accommodations increased by 18%. Especially couples without children choose bed & breakfast, statistics of Bedandbreakfast.eu, the world’s largest B&B website, show.

In the first seven months of 2015, 39% more reservations than in the same period last year were made on www.bedandbreakfast.eu. In the last six months, the number of rooms and apartments on the website increased with 18%. To learn more about B&Bs and their guests, in 2014 Bedandbreakfast.eu held a market research among 3,704 B&B owners, together with Stenden University. The main results:

• The room rate of European B&Bs amounts to an average € 76.46 including breakfast.
• The average annual turnover of European B&Bs is € 16,700.
• On average, European B&Bs have 5.2 guest rooms and 7.6 beds.
• 40% of European B&Bs started after 2011.
• Bed & breakfasts are mostly visited by couples without children, for 41% of B&Bs they form the main guest group.
• A quarter of the guests stay in a B&B for business purposes.

Popularity explained
The popularity of bed & breakfast can partly be explained by the favourable value for money. “B&Bs are cheaper than hotels, but offer the same comfort. Besides, a clear trend is that tourists are choosing a more social way of traveling. They want to spend the night at locals and truly get to know an area. A B&B offers the personal experience they are seeking”, says Hanny Arens, founder of Bedandbreakfast.eu.

The research results are elaborated in the report ‘Bed & Breakfast in Europe – Occupation, turnover and other key figures’, see www.bedandbreakfast.eu/survey_orderinfo.