Short-term vacation rental platform Join a Join shows steady growth amid pandemic
Puerto Rican vacation home rental company Join a Join, established in 2015 by brothers Steve and Mike Leung, has achieved steady growth in the number of nights booked through its platform before and during the pandemic.
The platform in which users reserve their rentals ahead of time has tripled the number of visits, showing trends and profiles of their clients, said Steve Leung.
“We see that users make their reservations early. For example, 2019 closed with more than 2,500 nights booked on our platform. The year 2020 closed with more than 5,000 nights reserved, and this year that figure was already exceeded in the month of April,” said Mike Leung.
“Many users of the platform booked their Easter holidays in January and their summer holidays in February. The consumer is being demanding with their vacations and domestic tourism options and they have found in our platform an efficient service with a wide range of exclusive properties,” added Mike Leung.
Since its establishment, Join a Join has “tried to understand the taste of the local market in terms of vacation rentals. Our business highlights the experiences that the local consumer tends to seek. If you are interested in a country house with a pool and billiard table or a house that allows pets and has a jacuzzi, in Join a Join they can get them,” said Steve Leung, the older of the two brothers.
In 2019, Join a Join has a team of three, and this year, that number has doubled. The company is investing $100,000 in the platform to improve the experience of both the property renter and the property lister to increase the nights booked and attract new listings that meet the growing demand in the market with luxury properties to across the entire island, the brothers said.
Join a Join is constantly developing and increasing the list of rental residences whose average rate per night starts at $300. Average monthly new listings booked in 2019 were five properties per month, and this year it’s 12 properties per month.
The platform is used mostly by the local public, although there has been an increase in stateside users, the brothers said. Last year, reservations were 80% from Puerto Rico and 20% from the US mainland. Currently, the reservations are 70% Puerto Rico and 30% from the US.
Discover Puerto Rico estimates that Puerto Rico’s vacation rental market represents about $300 million in activity. Join a Join is competing head-on with stateside platform Airbnb.
