About a third of the skiers coming down Mount Bachelor say they stayed in a vacation rental and not a hotel, according to an online questionnaire.

The survey of snow riders that started in December showed that 20 percent stayed in a traditional hotel room, said Drew Jackson, director of marketing and communications at Mt. Bachelor ski area.

Tourism officials point to this anecdotal survey to bolster what the data is showing for the month of December: A shift is occurring for winter visitors opting for vacation rentals over traditional hotel rooms. In December, revenue increased 35 percent for vacation rentals listed on Airbnb, compared to December 2016, and the number of vacation rentals grew by 39 percent, according to data provided by AirDNA.

Hotels, on the other hand, saw a 3.7 percent increase in supply, but a 5.5 percent decline in revenue, according to data provided by STR, a global hotel industry data firm.

“The data show a significant shift to vacation rentals,” said Kevney Dugan, executive director of Visit Bend, the city’s marketing arm. “This is only Airbnb and not other vacation rental companies.

“It will be interesting to see if it’s a big market shift with just one company or a move to vacation rentals.”

The lodging industry in Bend generated $92 million in revenue in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and $7.7 million in transient room tax for the city, according to Visit Bend.

In Bend, after years of no new hotel construction, the past few years have seen a flurry of activity with new hotel rooms coming on line last year, contributing to the 3.7 percent increase in supply. Two new hotels — Residence Inn near the Old Mill District and the Best Western at Mt. Washington and SW Century drives — will add another 200 rooms later this year. There are currently 3,221 hotel rooms in Bend.

Why the decline?

Jan Freitag, STR senior vice president, urged caution when looking at Bend’s hotel revenue numbers for the winter. In 2016, the winter tourism season saw tremendous growth in revenues, so comparing 2017 revenues to a peak year like 2016 gives a false sense of decline.

“You had a very strong 2016,” Freitag said. “Your revenues were up 25 percent over 2015 in the months October through December. It is hard to grow on top of growth like that.”

When comparing winter 2015 hotel data to last year, hotel revenue was strong, despite low occupancy, he said. In Bend, the average visitor stays 4.2 days during the summer and 3.8 days in winter. Nearly half of all visitors to Bend come from Oregon, Dugan said.

These are factors the new hotels will have to consider, Freitag said.

“It looks like a good season so far this year ,” he said. “In a market like Bend, it’s seasonal, so you can’t only look at the year-end numbers.”

The Mt. Bachelor survey asks snow riders how they found their accommodations and where they chose to stay.

“It’s not surprising,” he said. “We’re fortunate here in Central Oregon that guests have so many choices. In traditional ski towns, lodging is more focused on the slope side with condos and hotels. Here we don’t have the slope-side lodging.”

Mt. Bachelor is located deep inside the Deschutes National Forest and all building requires a special permit.

No one knows the exact occupancy figures for all vacation rental marketing platforms, like Homeaway and VRBO. An increase in occupancy for vacation rentals for one vacation rental company during the cold winter months is good news for the industry, Dugan said. In the winter months, Bend’s hotel and vacation rental occupancies typically hover around 50 percent, but in the summer months occupancy shoots up to about 90 percent for hotels and 74 percent for vacation rentals.

A multibillion-dollar business

Vacation rentals are a big business in the United States. Airbnb reported $4.6 billion in revenue in 2016 from whole home rentals — when owners leave their properties to their guests — up 78 percent from the previous year.

Over the years, hotels have recognized that vacation rentals are a force to be reckoned with, he said. With the high and low seasons of Bend — winter compared to summer — hotels have to look at the yearly average to determine if they can make their debt service, he said.

Jennifer Mucha, president of Arrived, a vacation rental business, said her homes tend to run at full occupancy especially on the weekends in the winter. With 280 homes listed on her website fanned out between Bend and Palm Springs, California, Mucha said she has experienced an increase in inquiries.

“The market has been increasing especially in vacation rentals,” Mucha said. “It’s phenomenal how many first-timers book a vacation rental. It’s a new industry.”

In Bend, vacation rentals are regulated by the city, which has issued 650 to 700 permits to property owners allowing them to operate vacation rentals, according to city data.

When hotels are running at full capacity during the summer, visitors have to have an option of where to stay, said Paige Robinson, owner of Bluebird Day Vacation Rentals in Bend. Robinson uses internet marketing platforms like Airbnb, Homeaway and VRBO to advertise her properties, but it’s the uniqueness that is Bend that makes the bookings.

“We’ve had remarkably solid occupancy this winter,” Robinson said.

“The market is such that you can rent a four-bedroom house with a fully equipped kitchen with bikes and places to store your gear for the same price as a nice hotel room. That’s a big factor.

“Vacation rentals allow us to market experiences, and that’s the best for Bend,” she said.

A vacation rental allows for conveniences of home: space; a washer and dryer, usually; and a chance for people to come together at meal times because they can cook food, said Robinson.

Sue Carrington, owner of Bend Dutch Vacation Rentals in Bend, a vacation rental business that rents up to 40 homes in Bend, said there’s a reason vacation rentals are popular.

“If people come to a place with more than two people, it pencils out,” Carrington said.

“It’s a per-head value compared to a hotel. Vacation rentals provide a common roof where they can socialize and make meals. There’s good economy in vacation rentals.”

— Reporter 541-633-2117 sroig@bendbulletin.com