Turo

by Turo

posted on April 3, 2020

March marketplace insights

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to develop and impact the travel industry and the world at large, we wanted to share an update on the current state of the Turo marketplace to help keep hosts informed during this unprecedented behavioral shift. 

Demand has decreased, but local trips remain relevant

As you may have noticed, guest demand has taken a significant hit over the last month — international and interstate travel has all but disappeared, and very few trips last longer than a couple days. 

However, a significant subset of guests are turning to Turo regularly to book short-term, local trips. Check out the following three trends to learn how car sharing can help the community during these trying times, and what you and other other hosts can do to help.

1. Most trips are local

Over the past month, while long distance travel has declined, guests have continued to book local trips — the percentage of local trips increased from 48% to 68% of all trips completed.

While many cities are adopting shelter-in-place and other containment measures, many still need coveted access to mobility to get around town. As shared recently by All-Star Host Bill H., essential workers, like healthcare providers or first responders, rely on Turo to commute to work, while others have been booking cars to go to the grocery store and purchase other necessities.

2. Guests are booking last-minute trips

Guests going on supply runs tend to plan their trips the day-of — in the past week, 57% of all trips were booked with less than six hours’ lead time. In addition, some people make the late-game decision to stay with family or friends after a local shelter-in-place order is announced.

3. Guests want instant access

More guests are indicating that they want instant and easy access to cars when they need them. Over the past month, the percentage of trips with Book Instantly enabled has jumped from 80% to 85% — indicating that locking in access to a car instantly is a high priority for guests, versus waiting for hosts to approve their trip. When anxiety is running high, there’s solace in reliability.

How to help locals access your car when they need it

In light of these recent trends, here are a few ways to make your car easier to book for the time being:

  • Adjust your minimum trip length setting to accept trips shorter than two days, since local trips tend to be shorter.
  • Lower your advance notice setting to accept trips with shorter lead times.
  • Enable Book Instantly, and make sure your calendar is up to date so guests can get instant and reliable access to your car when they need it.

We’re in this together

We’ll keep you updated on emerging trends, recommendations, and tip as the situation continues to develop. As always, please prioritize your safety above all else, and let’s continue to do all we can to help our communities — hosts and guests alike — weather this storm together.

Previous post: Providing coveted car access in a COVID-crippled city
Next post: How to keep your car sanitized