PhoCusWright Debunks Major Vacation Rental Myth: SNAD - Blog post by PhocusWrightConnect on client satisfaction for vacation rentals
Open Travel Alliance and the Future of Travel Distribution - Post by Phocuswright on distribution’s role for vacation rentals
Picking Topics For Your Vacation Rental Site Blog Is As Easy As 1-2-3! - Blog Post by Joel Fellman on topics for property manager blogs
Edited Press Release
Endless Vacation Rentals, one of the Wyndham Worldwide family of brands, today announced the launch of the Social Butterfly Network, which will offer travelers a fun and exciting way to save on vacation rentals worldwide by simply sharing the value of Endless Vacation Rentals with family and friends.
“The Social Butterfly Network is perfect for people who love to talk about travel and share great travel deals with others. We are excited to offer this opportunity for people to experience great vacations at our more than 200,000 vacation rentals around the globe,” said Geoff Ballotti, President and CEO of Group RCI, the parent company of Endless Vacation Rentals. “Endless Vacation Rentals provides excellent vacation deals to thousands of vacationing families and friends every year. We hope our Social Butterfly Network introduces a lot of fun-loving people to the quality and value that Endless Vacation Rentals offers.”
To be a Social Butterfly, participants can simply visit EVRentals.com and complete a short form to get a 10 percent-off VIP discount card that they then share with family and friends. When 10 trips are completed using their unique VIP discount card, the Social Butterfly will receive a $500 USD voucher, valid for one year, toward their next vacation with Endless Vacation Rentals. As a Social Butterfly, participants will also be among the first to learn of the latest products and promotions from Endless Vacation Rentals.
Tourism Week - Technology Tip #1 - The Costs of a Website - Blog Post on PhocusWrightConnect on the costs to build a travel website.
Tourism Week - Technology Tip #2 - Building On-line Credibility - Blog Post on PhocusWrightConnect on the importance of online credibility.
Yield Management - Its Time Has Come - Post on the Escapia Blog on Yield Management
Edited Press Release
Priceline.com and LeisureLink, the distribution and revenue management platform for specialty lodging suppliers, announced today that priceline.com’s published-price hotel service will offer its customers booking access to LeisureLink’s network of condos, timeshares, vacation properties and boutique resorts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Terms of the partnership were not announced.
LeisureLink Logo
“LeisureLink’s extensive inventories in the condominium and vacation property categories will enable priceline.com to offer our customers even more choice and value when it comes to making their vacation lodging reservations,” said Tim Gordon, priceline.com’s Senior Vice President, Hotels.
“Vacation rental management companies have taken a cue from hotels and the explosive growth in online lodging sales over the past decade. They are increasingly offloading legacy practices to adapt and compete in a more hotel-centric distribution landscape,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research and co-author of PhoCusWright’s Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change. “The step by priceline.com to incorporate vacation rentals in its lodging shopping path is a significant indicator of the transformation underway in the vacation rental industry marketplace.”
“We believe that LeisureLink’s broad array of vacation condo, timeshare and boutique resort properties will make a great addition to priceline.com’s lodging service,” said Erik Hovanec, president and CEO of LeisureLink. “LeisureLink’s properties also mesh well with priceline.com’s commitment to deliver quality and significant savings to the budget-conscious leisure travel market.”
About LeisureLink
LeisureLink powers global distribution and demand for the specialty lodging industry. LeisureLink enables property management companies to market and distribute their vacation lodging products across thousands of travel Web sites, travel agents and other distribution channels. LeisureLink’s proprietary Demand Management System™ empowers property managers to generate demand and optimize revenue across all channels. More than 1,400 vacation rentals, timeshares, condo hotels and independent resorts throughout North America and Europe build their bookings through LeisureLink.
About Priceline.com
Priceline.com provides online travel services in 28 languages in over 78 countries. Included in the priceline.com family of companies is Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service, priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Agoda.com, an Asian online hotel reservation service. Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.
Not worth a post, but worth a click …
Vacation Rentals by Owner Sites Are they Profitable - Interesting blog article by Jake Robinson on the profitability of vacation rental websites.
Vacation Rentals: What You Need to Know - Article in smartertravel.com explaining the term vacation rental
Agents ‘missing out’ on domestic boom - An article on ttglive on UK agents not benefiting from domestic tourism boom
Edited Press Release
BedandBreakfast.com, the leading specialty travel website focused on inns and B&Bs announced today that it has entered into an agreement to market the rooms of its 1,600 bookable inns on Travelocity. Travelocity customers will now have a greatly expanded selection of specialty lodging in unique destinations from Cape Cod to Newport, RI, to Savannah and Napa Valley. BedandBreakfast.com’s properties are spread across 1100 unique destinations in almost all countries, often in areas with very little in the way of chain hotels.
Bedandbreakfast.com logo
BedandBreakfast.com’s properties will be linked to the Travelocity Merchant Hotel program for rates, availability, and reservations, providing innkeepers with direct access to Travelocity’s users around the globe. Innkeepers will manage their inventory just as they have been in the past through the BedandBreakfast.com Global Online Reservations Program, but their availability will automatically be added to the Travelocity website. The parties are planning to make BedandBreakfast.com’s properties available on Travelocity in the fall of 2009. RezOvation GT and Webervations customers will also be able to enjoy the same access to Travelocity as they now have to BedandBreakfast.com’s current distribution network including Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, NexTag, Vast.com, Uptake, NileGuide, and thousands of other affiliate websites.
“Travelocity has always been a global leader in online travel and we look forward to giving our participating inns access to their distribution,” commented BedandBreakfast.com CEO Eric Goldreyer. “We think Travelocity consumers will benefit tremendously from the additional geographic coverage, and our participating inns will benefit from the increased international exposure that a site like Travelocity offers.”
According to David Levine, Director of Global Accounts for Travelocity; “As consumers look for more and more unique travel options, inns and B&Bs are increasingly in demand. We are happy to be able to bring such a large number and variety of these properties to our consumers through a company like
BedandBreakfast.com”.
About BedandBreakfast.com
Founded in 1994, BedandBreakfast.com is the leading specialty travel website, with over 7,000 B&Bs worldwide.
Interesting Findings on Vacation Rental Market by Phocuswright
Saturday, June 13th, 2009PhocusWright Blog
Click here to read the full blog post.
Tags: phocuswright, statistics
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