The lack of rental property was the number one topic for everyone. The number of cities around the world where this seems to be the primary problem is growing. From what started as an issue in a few European cities—particularly Dublin, London, Amsterdam, and Berlin—has now grown to an ever-increasing list beyond just Europe, including cities in North America and Asia. Destination Service Providers (DSPs) are finding short-term fixes to tackle some of these issues, with apartment and house shares being one example, but the real concern is that there is no long-term solution in sight.

An additional concern raised at the conference was the shortage of temporary accommodation. Demand has increased significantly, and some providers have been a little less flexible given that it has become easier to fill their properties. Meeting client and customer expectations in terms of locations and types of property has been harder to achieve.

The challenge of recruiting new team members is one experienced by most companies and DSPs are not immune to this. Much of the discussion was around finding, hiring, and retaining staff, with some interesting takes on ways to approach this. What was surprising was just how many countries are being impacted by this squeeze on resources. Even a country such as India has real challenges in its largest cities, with competition for talent reaching such levels that DSPs struggle to find the right staff for their businesses. Staff shortages are also having knock-on effects elsewhere, creating delays in visa applications, local government registrations, and temporary accommodation bookings.