I want to start by sharing a few recent insights from Skift and AirDNA, which reflect a shifting travel landscape. International travel into the U.S. has moderated slightly year over year, particularly from markets like Canada and parts of Europe, while domestic demand has remained steady with modest growth. With global events like the upcoming World Cup on the horizon, there is continued opportunity for incremental demand, even as broader macroeconomic conditions evolve.
Encouragingly, we’re seeing a recent uptick in booking activity as we move into the core booking window for summer travel. With strong alignment across our sales, revenue, and marketing teams, we are well positioned to build on this momentum, strengthen July pacing, and capture additional demand in the weeks ahead.
You’ll read more below about how we’re leveraging platform-native discounting tools across Airbnb and Vrbo, paired with strategic base rate adjustments, to increase visibility and conversion while protecting your overall revenue. At the same time, our revenue management strategy continues to adapt to evolving booking behaviors differentiated by destination: in Hawai‘i, we’re seeing strong early booking activity, particularly for direct bookings and through VRBO, with longer lead times reinforcing confidence in forward demand for high-value stays; meanwhile, our drive-to markets like California and Washington are exhibiting shorter, more compressed booking windows, requiring a more dynamic, real-time pricing approach to capture demand closer to arrival. This balance between early occupancy and in-window optimization remains central to how we maximize performance across every market.
Alongside all of this, we’re also thinking about where travel is headed. The way people search and plan trips is changing quickly, and guests are looking for more than just a place to stay. They want something that feels real and connected to the destination.
So we’re working closely with our local team to uncover hidden gems and their favorite experiences. The kind of insights you only get from actually living there. We’re bringing that into our website and how we show up across newer AI-driven search tools.
The goal is simple. Make sure your homes are easy to find today, and even easier to find as the way people plan travel continues to evolve.
Thank you, as always, for your continued trust and partnership, and please read on for some great insights from our team!
Andreea
CEO, Gather Vacations
We’re excited to share additional features you are now benefitting from when we optimize your property’s performance across booking platforms.
This past month, we have deployed new built-in discount tools on both Airbnb and Vrbo which are additional levers we can use to increase visibility, attract more bookings, and stay competitive in an increasingly dynamic market. To ensure your bottom line remains strong, we’ve strategically adjusted base rates upward. This allows us to apply platform discounts while still protecting your overall revenue and unlock the powerful “strike-through” pricing that a segment of today’s travelers are drawn to.
On Vrbo, we’re actively using a combination of Early Bird, Last-Minute, and Mobile discounts. Additionally, guests with Expedia loyalty accounts may qualify for Blue, Silver, or Gold tier discounts, further expanding your reach to high-intent travelers.
On Airbnb, we’re similarly taking advantage of Early Bird and Last-Minute discounts to capture bookings across both long-lead planners and spontaneous travelers.
This approach keeps your listings competitive, increases click-through rates, and drives higher occupancy without sacrificing your revenue goals. As always, we’ll continue to monitor performance and fine-tune strategies to deliver the best possible results for your property.
April Lead Time Trends | By Market & Booking Channel
As we review April booking behavior across the Hawaii markets, lead time trends continue to reflect the nature of fly-to travel, with guests generally planning their stays well in advance. Across all islands, we are seeing consistently longer booking windows, particularly for direct bookings and through Vrbo, which continue to capture the earliest planners. Direct bookings, in particular, are driving the longest lead times, while Airbnb continues to bring in a steady mix of mid- to shorter-window demand.
Oahu and the Big Island are currently showing the longest overall lead times, with direct bookings 133 days out for Oahu and 135 days for the Big Island. This indicates a higher level of advanced planning and strong forward demand for these markets.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kauai is showing the shortest overall lead times, with more bookings occurring closer to arrival, particularly through Airbnb, which averages around 60 days. This suggests a slightly greater reliance on mid-to-shorter booking windows compared to the other islands.
Maui falls between these two trends, with a healthy mix of advanced booking behavior and mid-window demand.
Overall, the Hawaii markets are showing a balanced demand pattern, anchored by strong early booking activity, particularly for higher-value stays, festive and summer travel, while still benefiting from a steady flow of bookings closer to arrival. This dynamic allows us to secure forward occupancy with healthy ADRs while maintaining flexibility to optimize rates and capture incremental demand.
Both California and Washington continue to reflect strong drive-to market dynamics, with relatively shorter lead times, though each shows slightly different booking behaviors.
In California, lead times are more varied, with a clear split between early planners and shorter-window demand. Direct bookings stand out significantly, with much longer lead times driven by repeat guests securing stays well in advance. Vrbo also captures earlier bookings, while Airbnb and other channels trend shorter, contributing to a mix of both forward-looking and near-term demand. This creates a dual pacing pattern, where part of the calendar is established early, with additional bookings filling occupancy closer to arrival.
Washington, by comparison, shows a more compressed and consistent booking window across all channels. Lead times are shorter overall with less variation between direct bookings, Vrbo, Airbnb and other sources. This reflects a more flexible, spontaneous booking behavior, where guests are typically making decisions closer to their stay dates, reflective of a true drive-to market.
A Shared Commitment to Five-Star Stays
As expectations for high-touch guest stays and elevated in-home support continue to rise, Gather continues to meet the moment, and the results speak for themselves in our reviews.
Through our investment in guest communication platform Akia in 2025, we’ve strengthened how we connect with guests at every stage of their stay. This has led to higher engagement, faster response times, and a meaningful lift in review conversion rates, helping drive greater visibility for both our brand and your home.
Year to date, we’ve collected more than 800 five-star reviews across our top booking platforms, Airbnb and Vrbo, with 91% of guests on Airbnb rating their stay five stars!
These results reflect a true partnership. They start with the care and attention you put into your home, are carried forward by the standards upheld by our property managers and field teams, and are elevated through the high-touch support provided by our Guest Experience team. These reviews not only help drive exposure for your home, but also build confidence in our future Gather guests.
Spring Refresh Savings with Lowe’s Pro
Spring is the perfect time to invest in thoughtful upgrades, whether for your personal home or investment property. Through our Gather partnership with HostGPO, homeowners can access exclusive pricing and benefits with Lowe's Pro.
Enjoy 5-15% savings on items like outdoor furniture, landscaping materials, and major appliances, along with convenient options such as fast, discounted shipping, bulk ordering, and free appliance haul-away with qualifying purchases.
A Lowe’s Pro account is required to participate. To get started, please contact us and we will extend access to both HostGPO and the Lowes Pro savings account!
If upgrades have been on your list, this is a great opportunity to refresh your home while maximizing savings.
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