by Chris Witmer
posted on November 16, 2017
Magic City hat-trick
While the greater Miami area tourism may have seen the slowest growth since the Great Recession this past year, our Miami community has been growing faster than ever before and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. The Magic City has now secured its spot as Turo’s third largest market after barely landing among the top ten last year. Like a cortadito, the market’s growth this year has been both strong and sweet — host earnings have already far more than doubled and so have the number of five-star trips. As we prepare to celebrate with our top local hosts at tonight’s community party, we took a look behind the scenes of our Magic City community’s hat-trick rise to the top.
I’m in Miami, beach
In true flamboyant Miami fashion, most travelers to the area search for a cool whip to cruise down Ocean Drive or down to the Keys. Cars in the Luxury and Upscale categories are accordingly the most searched for and viewed listings (almost half of total page views). Makes like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi are the most popular searches in a market where the car make is the second-most used filter (15% of all searches).
Juan’s Porsche 718 Boxster
However, priced about 25% higher than the marketplace average for these snazzier categories, the most commonly used filter is a sort by price. Daily pricing under $50 is most common when a max price filter is applied (the third most popular filter).
Karina’s Nissan Altima
Bringing the heat
Given the market’s price sensitivity, makes like Toyota, Ford, and Nissan commonly secure the most bookings overall. Most travelers are still looking for more than just something cheap though. Both the Midsize/Fullsize and SUV/Pickups category cars are booked more often than the typical Compact/Subcompact category. SUV listings, in particular, are viewed and searched for almost twice as often as both of the smaller car categories.
David’s Jeep Grand Cherokee
BMW still takes the cake (or key lime pie) as the most searched for, most viewed, and most booked make. While the daily driver types of cars garner more bookings overall, the most searched for makes like BMW ultimately earn just as much or more than the typical Toyota with just half the amount of rental days.
Jonathan’s BMW Z4
Trip types and seasonality
This past summer was certainly hot for Miami — the number of trips surged in the later months from July through September as they usually do. With the influx of snowbirds and Art Basel visitors in December, the market should see an equally high uptick similar to previous years.
Although Miami has a significantly higher amount of travelers from all over the US and beyond than other markets, local Miamians are still the most sizable population of renters. The average trip length of just over 4 days represents a balance of weekend getaways among locals and extended fun in the sun from out-of-towners alike.
Nathanael’s BMW i8
Top hosts
These top owners are seasoned pros that have been fueling adventures for the long haul and are still among the most active hosts in the area.
- Since joining the community just over a year ago, Karina has hosted a whopping 3,000+ trips with her diverse fleet of cars conveniently located near the Miami International Airport.
- Jonathan P. could have written this market guide himself with his collection of cars that are quintessential Miami and a five-star track record he’s maintained over the years.
- An EV evangelist with hundreds of trips under his seatbelt, Nathanael has even started coaching the newbie hosts in the community.
Up and comers
Hosting their first trip within the last year, these hosts are already hot like the Miami heat.
- Rigene is a car guy with more than 200 trips and counting since joining the community earlier this year.
- Listing his small fleet of daily drivers just outside of Miami just earlier this summer, Oscar is already way on his way to the top.
- Erik is just a few trips shy of hosting his hundredth trip, with a perfect five-star rating all the way
But wait there’s more!
We hope you’ll join us at tonight’s community party to meet our team and connect with other local hosts. If you haven’t had the chance to register yet, please do while there’s still space available!
Chris Witmer
Chris is the Community Manager at Turo. He’s a proud father to three rescue dogs and has become immune to jet lag in all his travels (or maybe it’s just the coffee).
