New data shows that holiday accommodation could be up to a quarter more expensive this summer, as baches on the beach top Christmas wish lists.

The first summer with open borders is predicted to see a surge in demand for rooms.

Kiwi holiday home managers Bachcare say that forward bookings and a shortage of rental accommodation is expected to make summer travel more expensive this year.

They have seen a 25 per cent increase on peak pricing on last year.

The Coromandel, Queenstown and the Bay of Plenty are the areas most in demand. Bachcare's head of revenue, Nick Peirce, says that they have already seen around a third (31 per cent) more summer bookings on this time last year.

Many top locations are likely to be full until February. A reason for this is the return of international travellers. 15 per cent of these bookings came from overseas - on par with pre-pandemic levels.

"While the 2021 season set new booking records for us, the arrival of overseas tourists could see February grow by a further 10 per cent this year," said Peirce.

In some areas, properties will be charging up to $1500 a night during the Christmas peak.

A further dig into preliminary booking data shows exactly what is on our wish lists this year. Large family gatherings are driving up the cost of bigger baches.

Accommodation options with five to six rooms will be almost twice as expensive as those with three to four rooms, says Bachcare.

"Our analysis shows that the ideal property is lakefront or beachfront, in close proximity to a population hub, is a larger home which caters for families or groups of friends, and has good outdoor entertaining areas and WiFi."

The shortage of rental properties has led to the company appealing for more baches to list with their business.

GST on your BnB

Holiday accommodation could become more expensive in the near future, after a proposal to levy GST on all listings.

A bill unveiled last week that proposed Goods and Service Taxes be added to purchases made on digital platforms. Airbnb, Uber and other travel platforms would. Currently GST is only levied against individual taxi drivers or properties once earnings $60,000 threshold per annum. The new proposal by the Minister of Revenue- which is thought to be a world first - would bring in an estimated $100m a year to the public coffers.

However it is likely to make the price paid by holiday makers and travellers more expensive, with some describing it as a digital "tourist tax".

If approved it could come into effect as soon as April 2024.