Serviced Apartment Demand Rises Despite Headwinds
Photo Credit: A BridgeStreet serviced apartment building in London. While the serviced apartment sector continues to grow, there are some danger signs ahead. Twitter / BridgeStreet
Skift Take
The serviced apartment sector appears to be thriving, although it faces a challenge from reduced growth among corporations. The bigger threat could be the mainstreaming of homesharing services like Airbnb at a time when serviced apartment providers are in the midst of a building boom.
Serviced apartments have traditionally faced an uphill battle when compared to more traditional forms of lodging for business travel. In recent years, however, the strong global economy and increased corporate lodging demand has led to a surge of growth for the sector.
Still, new evidence sheds some light on the challenges faced by the sector, particularly as growth among corporations is tailing off in the midst of a global expansion by corporate housing providers.
The latest annual report from The Apartment Service, a UK-based corporate housing booking agency, found that demand for serviced apartments is still growing overall. The company polled 6,000 corporations, 2,000 serviced apartment operators, and 1,800 agents for the report.
Corporations expressed reduced demand growth in the last year, though, although more than half already use serviced apartments for relocations and business trips.
The sector may have reached a "temporary c
