Key Takeaways

  • The global vacation rental market is projected to reach $180.7 billion by 2035
  • Flexible, home-like travel demand is cited as the primary growth driver
  • The forecast offers no country-specific breakdown despite the long-range projection

The global vacation rental market is on pace to reach $180.7 billion by 2035, according to a new industry forecast, as travelers increasingly favor home-like stays over traditional hotel rooms. That kind of long-range growth curve is exactly what has drawn institutional money into short-term rental franchising well beyond the U.S. market.

The forecast points to flexible travel experiences as the primary driver, a trend that has already reshaped how platforms position their inventory.

Vrbo, for instance, has leaned into whole-home listings built around exactly this kind of extended, flexible stay, while Airbnb has spent much of the past year pushing into new markets to capture the same demand curve, according to an EIN Presswire release summarizing the report’s findings.

Coastal demand already tracks the forecast

The projection doesn’t break out country-by-country figures, but the direction lines up with what operators have been reporting on the ground.

Coastal and vacation-adjacent markets have already posted notable gains this year, and search demand for coastal properties climbed sharply through the first half of 2026.

Related: Vrbo deploys AI to send travelers toward specific vacation rental markets

Analysts tracking the space, including those at AirDNA, have pointed to similar tailwinds. Remote work flexibility, a growing preference for space and privacy, and traveler fatigue with standardized hotel product all show up in the data, though none of that is new.

A decade-long forecast simply puts a number on how far the industry expects that shift to run.

The report arrives as regulatory pressure builds in pockets of the U.S. market, from permit freezes in Georgia to new rules taking shape in California. Whether local restrictions slow the broader trajectory the forecast describes remains an open question as the market works toward 2035.

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