Revenue Management: 9 summer festivals hotels and short-term rentals should be monitoring in 2024
Once again some of the biggest cultural events and music festivals this peak season (and a little bit beyond) are boosting demand and bookings in a big way.
With winter behind us, festival season is in full swing.
Travelers, revelers and culture lovers are dusting off their beloved band t-shirts and scanning show schedules to find their favorite artists.
Accommodation providers can be similarly enthusiastic about the events highlighted in this blog post, as they are taking their local markets to huge points of revenue-generating potential.
Let’s explore where travelers are booking tickets in 2024 and how that’s impacting hotel and short-term rental prices.
Rockville, Daytona Beach
Date: May 9-12
Featuring a veritable Who’s Who of hard rock gods on this year’s lineup - including the Foo Fighters, Mötley Crüe, Limp Bizkit and Queens of the Stone Age - Rockville 2024 is shaping up to be an absolutely monster demand generator for the local hospitality market.
Standard hotel room rates have surged to $493 per night, a massive 185% increase over the next 150 days (which is the time period we will use to analyze data for these events). This is the most significant jump out of any of the events we are highlighting in this post.
With just a week to go, inventory is nearly sold out, with 96% of hotels in the market reporting as unavailable.
However, there is a gulf between hotels and short-term rentals, with the latter reaching an average peak pricing of $204, which is just 15% above the near-term average.
If you’re lucky enough to have a room to sell, then the sky's the limit, especially for short-term rental owners, who may be underpricing in this destination.
Electric Daisy Carnival, Las Vegas
Date: May 17 – 19
Electric Daisy Carnival, or EDC for short, has become an entrenched feature on the Las Vegas calendar. As of this writing, prices for the Saturday during the event have hit $496, which is 139% higher than average over the sample period.
Prices are expected to climb higher in the upcoming weeks. Currently, only about half of the hotels in Las Vegas are still available and the rates are similar to those in April during UFC 300. However, EDC is expected to attract much larger crowds, with attendance expected to reach up to 175,000.
Again, short-term rentals have yet to see a similar spike, with peak prices reaching $224, just 29% above the average. This discrepancy can be attributed to the unique dynamics of the Las Vegas market, where the short-term rental sector is significantly smaller than the large hotel market.
Additionally, the city center, which hosts EDC, has limited short-term rental inventory, making these accommodations less appealing for this particular event.
Montreal International Jazz Festival
Date: June 27 - July 6
As the world’s largest jazz festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival is set to boost the city’s hotel market, and 2024’s edition year could be special.
At the time of writing, the average rate for a standard hotel room is CAD1,116 which is the highest price seen in the market in the last five years and three times higher than the average price for the next 150 days.
Unlike other markets featured in this article, short-term rentals are posting similar gains, with peak prices reaching 147% above the average in the snapshot.
Following record high rates in 2022 and then 2023, it is highly likely that the peak prices for accommodation in the city will hit a new high in 2024, with forward-demand indicators exceptionally strong and 97% of hotels currently unavailable.
Comic Con San Diego 2024
Date: July 5 - July 28
America’s premier opportunity to geek out is set to be the best yet for local hoteliers, as average prices on the Saturday of the event are nearing $600 for a standard room - almost double the average in our sample.
Interestingly, there is very little lift in posted rates thus far for short-term rentals, with peak prices just 20% above the average.
There is also a significant disparity between occupancy rates for the two accommodation types, peak occupancy for hotels stands at 60%, compared to 41% for alternative accommodation options.
Likely this is the premium afforded to hotels, many of which are situated in downtown San Diego close to the convention center and are thus more attractive - especially if you’re wearing an elaborate cosplay outfit.
Glasgow Pride and TRNSMT Festival
Date: July 12 – 14
Glasgow is preparing for a big doubleheader this summer. The city will host Scotland's largest pride event just a week after the TRNSMT Festival. The latter is expected to attract 120,000 attendees, and the former was attended by 50,000 revelers in 2023.
Due to the high demand for accommodation during these events, hotel room rates are rising significantly, almost doubling their usual average. On Saturday, July 20th, during Glasgow's pride festival, hotels will charge up to £385 a night, and already 76% of rooms are booked for that night.
Despite elevated demand, short-term rental rates have only risen 40% above average, with more than half already sold out for the dates.
Tomorrowland, Antwerp
Date: July 19 – 29
We covered it in last year’s look-ahead to major festivals and it’s back again.
Tomorrowland, the massive electronic music festival returns this July, and will once again draw travelers from around the world to Belgium. With 400,000 tickets for the 70,000-capacity venue available over two weekends, there is an awful lot of demand generation potential, as the numbers show.
Hotel rooms are being advertised at double their average, pushing up to €294 for the opening weekend and €330 for the final Saturday of the festival.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Date: August 2 – 26
Beyond a huge spike generated by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour (click here for more analysis on the Swift effect in Europe), Edinburgh’s travel market can also look forward to the annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Already, the majority of rooms across both hotels and short-term rentals are booked for the festival.
On-The-Books (OTB) occupancy in hotels is well over 50% throughout the entire period that the Fringe is held, with 64% of inventory already booked on the most popular weekends, while short-term rentals run about five percentage points behind.
This high demand is driving average rates for accommodation up by 40% at their peak and creating a sustained period of demand throughout August that has helped to lift rates for hotels by 22% compared to the near-term average and 26% for STRs.
While not the monstrous £752 per night average advertised rate for the Eras Tour, it is still a strong period where prices should be able to further appreciate due to the high OTB reservations in place.
Oktoberfest, Munich
Date: September 21 - October 6
Another large and sustained demand generator from a world-famous festival is Oktoberfest.
This year Munich hoteliers are feeling confident, more than doubling their rates at their highest point on Saturday, September 28th, compared to the 150-day average.
This rate increase is only slightly below the rates currently in the market for accommodation during the much-anticipated Euros football tournament, underlining how potent this annual extravaganza is for drawing in tourists. Generally staying within 10 percentage points during Oktoberfest, they are being much less aggressive.
The high point for short-term rental pricing in Munich is just €156, which represents 40% above the average across the period measured.
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Date: October 5 – 13
Rounding out our list of impactful events is the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This is the absolute pinnacle event for short-term rental accommodation providers, boosting demand far beyond the market norms, and with it, room prices.
According to an economic impact study by the event organizers, the 2022 edition brought in approximately 630,000 visitors from outside of New Mexico.
This massive influx of visitors has created one of the largest price increases compared to the short-term average of the events we are looking at in this post, as hotels are selling rooms for $360 on the peak weekend periods - a 157% rise over the average for the 150-day data period.
As we have seen in many of these cases, short-term rental owners are not as optimistic, likely lacking the forward-looking information that hoteliers have. Peak rates are 88% higher on the first weekend, but are much more conservatively priced on the second weekend, even though demand indicators are as strong. While peak rates for short-term rentals are $222 on the first weekend, they are $149 at the time of writing.
Are there small signs of weakness in demand for major music festivals?
While the interest in music festivals has been intense in the years following the pandemic, we might be seeing the first signs of that enthusiasm waning somewhat, even as many of the festivals mentioned above power ahead.
Take Coachella, for example. This festival has long been considered a staple of the music festival circuit, but this year's peak hotel pricing was lower than in previous years. Similarly, the Ultra Music Festival in Miami saw room rates fall just short of last year's highs.
Other major festivals, even those with large attendance numbers, like Sziget in Budapest, Montreux Jazz Festival near Geneva, Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Boston Calling, have not been able to move the market as they have done in previous years.
Despite this, established festivals like Glastonbury are still selling out in record time, proving that there is still a dedicated fanbase for these events.
What is clear, however, is the vital role that market intelligence plays in helping operators make informed decisions about their pricing strategies around events.
Final thoughts
By keeping a close eye on the market and analyzing real-time data, short-term rental owners and hoteliers can accurately assess demand, adjust their pricing strategies accordingly and ensure they are capturing revenue opportunities that they would otherwise miss.
Events in your market can be a goldmine, but only if you're prepared.
With real-time predictive demand insights from Market Insight, you can pinpoint peak moments of demand around local events, enact a pricing and promotional strategy that matches demand, and capture more bookings that maximize your room revenue.
Lighthouse is the go-to commercial platform for hoteliers looking to make the most of every opportunity in the market. With a comprehensive range of data solutions and easy-to-read dashboards, you'll always be best positioned to capitalize on events in your market and drive maximum revenue, no matter what the market conditions.
About Lighthouse
Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight) is the leading commercial platform for the travel & hospitality industry. We transform complexity into confidence by providing actionable market insights, business intelligence, and pricing tools that maximize revenue growth. We continually innovate to deliver the best platform for hospitality professionals to price more effectively, measure performance more efficiently, and understand the market in new ways. Trusted by over 70,000 hotels in 185 countries, Lighthouse is the only solution that provides real-time hotel and short-term rental data in a single platform. We strive to deliver the best possible experience with unmatched customer service. We consider our clients as true partners—their success is our success. For more information about Lighthouse, please visit: https://www.mylighthouse.com.
