Archive for March, 2010

SaveOnResorts.com partners with LeisureLink’s ABetterStay.com

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Edited Press Release

ABetterStay.com, a vacation rental website owned and operated by LeisureLink, today announced that SaveOnResorts.com has joined its affiliate program. SaveOnResorts.com expanded their offering of discounted stays by including ABetterStay.com properties.

abetterstay.com logo

abetterstay.com logo

“SaveOnResorts.com reaches a unique audience of frequent travelers looking for value-priced lodging. Our properties are a perfect fit for that audience, since they offer spacious accommodations, kitchen facilities, and family togetherness at low per-person prices. We expect this to be a valuable partnership for both companies and our respective customers,” said Erik Hovanec, CEO of LeisureLink, Inc, parent company of ABetterStay.com.

“Since we focus on vacation travel, ABetterStay.com is a natural partner for us. Their inventory supports our core mission of providing affordable vacations that are tailored to the individual traveler. We are always looking for ways to broaden resort choices for our customers, and our partnership with ABetterStay.com adds a wide variety of new properties,” said Kevin Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of SaveOnResorts.com.

“We are already hard at work with the SaveOnResorts.com team to add special promotions and packages that will provide real value to their consumers, while bringing new guests to our client properties,” Hovanec concluded.

ABetterStay.com properties went live on SaveOnResorts.com as of March 13, 2010.

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Swiss-based Vacando cooperates with vacation rental aggregator NextPax.com

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Edited Press Release

VACANDO, the Swiss-based Online Holiday Home Marketplace owned by Interhome has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Dutch operator NextPax.com. Thanks to this cooperation, VACANDO will be able to increase its offering to more than 100,000 holiday homes around the world. The available range is being greatly expanded in popular destinations such as Scandinavia and Croatia.

Nextpax Logo

Nextpax Logo

In order to fulfil its role as an online holiday accommodation marketplace with the most diverse possible range of accommodation, VACANDO also offers customers holiday accommodation from established agencies like Inter Chalet, Interhome and Sol og Strand. Well-known operators like Dancenter, TUI Ferienhaus and Villa Vacant will now be added to this listed, thanks to the collaboration with NextPax.com, thus increasing the number of holiday homes on offer to more than 100,000. Most striking is the growth in Scandinavia as well as in popular beach destinations in Greece, Croatia and Hungary.

The Dutch operator NextPax.com is bundling the product data from leading European holiday home operators and will update and provide these every day to business partners. At the present time NextPax.com has integrated the offerings from Bungalow.net, Dancenter, Interhome, Topic Travel, TUI Ferienhaus, VipHolidays, Villa Vacant and others into its system. The intention is to integrate more operators, such as Inter Chalet or Muchosol. “By working together with NextPax.com we can save ourselves the trouble of making direct connections with each of the individual operators and so we can offer our customers an even more comprehensive range at minimal expense,” explains Kilian Eyholzer, CEO of VACANDO AG. The holiday homes of the new partners can be booked online via VACANDO from now on.

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Vacation Rental Facebook App Closes $1m Funding

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Edited Press Release

Today Second Porch, the vacation rental Facebook app, announced that it has closed a one million dollar Series-A investment, led by the Oregon Angel Fund. The investment will be used to continue the company’s expansion into the vacation home rental and home exchange markets, which are among the fastest growing segments in online consumer travel.

Second Porch seeks to harness two strong trends: the mainstreaming of social networking, and vacation home rentals, one of the fastest growing segments of online travel. Second Porch enables owners and renters to tap into real world relationships in order to rent and trade vacation homes, where trust between owner and guest is of paramount concern on both sides of the transaction.

Second Porch Facebook App

Second Porch Facebook App

Second Porch offers vacation homeowners an easy way to generate and manage high-value rental inquiries. According to the 2009 research report “Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change” published by travel research firm PhoCusWright Inc., homeowners who rent their own vacation homes reported that 73% of their inquiries come from friends, family, referrals and previous guests.

“Second Porch tackles the unsolved piece of the marketing opportunity for vacation homeowners by bringing an easy to use system to effectively and tastefully market to the best possible source of guests: people you already know and with whom you have some degree of trust”, said Brent Hieggelke, CEO of Second Porch, “The typical Facebook personal network comprised of ‘friends of friends’ reaches almost 17,000 people, all of whom can be vouched for by a friend in common. For a homeowner, this is an obvious opportunity to find prospective guests to rent to with a higher level of comfort and peace of mind. Second Porch also complements sites like HomeAway and VRBO, by giving homeowners the controls to integrate their existing calendars and even link back to their listings on those sites.”

Second Porch comes at an ideal time for the second home market. Due to the recession, many of the estimated 16 million second home owners globally who previously avoided renting or trading are now being forced into the market for an additional source of income. Second Porch provides a perfect entry point for travelers and owners who have hesitated to rent vacation homes due to trust concerns: renters can choose to view only homes owned by friends, and owners can choose to limit visibility to only friends only.

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HomeAway receives $8.2m funding

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

The Austin Business Journal reports that vacation rental web site operator HomeAway Inc. closed a $8.2 million round of financing that’s related to one of its recent acquisitions.

According to a March 12 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission HomeAway received the funding from two investors.

To read the full article click here: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/03/15/daily8.html

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Interhome’s parent company reports 2009 financial results

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Swiss-based travel holding Hotelplan Group, the parent of vacation rental operator Interhome, today announced their 2009 results. Hoteplan recorded a turnover of CHF 1,618m (~ USD 1,537m) at a negative EBIT of CHF -21.6m (~ USD 20.5m).

Its vacation rental operations under the Interhome and Vacando brand reported CHF 212m (~ USD 201) in revenues (0% growth), that is 13% of Hotelplan’s total revenue. EBITDA was positive at CHF 4.3m (~ USD 4.1m), down 11% vs last year.  While Interhome acts as a travel operator, Vacando’s business model is more similar to that of HomeAway.

Interhome 2009 results

Interhome 2009 results

Here is an excerpt of the press release about the performance of Interhome and Vacando:

“Positive developments are apparent from the holiday home firm Interhome and generally from increasing online sales. [...] Interhome, operating today in 27 destinations, proves to be a robust business model, highly resistant to the economic crisis. After adjustment due to exchange rate effects, the company produced a higher turnover and result than in the previous year. The number of objects was increased from 19′500 to approximately 21′000. Distribution was expanded into the source markets Croatia, India and Israel. At the same time, all call centers were moved to Prague in summer 2009. [...] Vacando, the Online Portal for the unorganized market in the area of Self-Catering is growing and the Cost per Order (CPO) is decreasing constantly”

Vacando Website

Vacando Website

To read the full media release click here: http://www.hotelplan.com/en/media/news.aspx?nr=796#start

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HomeAway enters Brazil by acquiring AlugueTemporada.com.br

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Edited Press Release

HomeAway, Inc.,the leading online vacation rental marketplace, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Qualimidia Veiculacao e Divulgacao Ltda, publisher of AlugueTemporada.com.br, a leading vacation rental site in Brazil. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

aluguetemporada.com.br website

aluguetemporada.com.br website

With its acquisition of the largest vacation rental website in South America, HomeAway extends its virtual borders beyond North America and Europe and increases its total vacation rental listings to more than 475,000.  A recognized vacation rental brand among Brazilian travelers, AlugueTemporada, which means “vacation rentals” in Portuguese, features more than 12,000 property listings located in Brazil.

“HomeAway is committed to offering a global inventory of trusted vacation rental homes, giving travelers more affordable alternatives to hotels wherever they travel,” says HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples.  “Brazil has become one of the world’s most exciting markets and an increasingly favorite destination among HomeAway’s European travelers.  We’re looking forward to making Brazil more accessible to them and introducing this market to our U.S. customers.”

“AlugueTemporada has always provided a tremendous value for our travelers and owners in South America, but we feel we can now better serve them by joining the worldwide distribution network HomeAway has created and promoting these extraordinary vacation properties to a broader audience,” says Jed Alcure, President of Qualimidia.

The site will continue to operate as an independent brand from its office in the popular vacation destination of Rio de Janeiro, which hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

The acquisition of AlugueTemporada further strengthens HomeAway’s global leadership position in the fast-growing $48 billion vacation rental segment of the travel industry.

AlugueTemporada is published in and supported by a team that speaks English and Portuguese. HomeAway also operates HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the United States; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.co.uk (HomeAway Holiday-Rentals) and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de (HomeAway FeWo-direkt) in Germany; and HomeAway sites in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

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Visual Data Systems Launches Service for Mobile Phones

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Edited Press Release

Visual Data Systems, a provider of website design services for the vacation rental industry, has announced the successful launch of their first wave of Away Wee Go!™ Mobile Websites for clients.

The Away Wee Go! Mobile Website Solution was designed and built by Visual Data Systems to help its clients in the vacation rental industry take advantage of the over 29 million Americans that currently use smart phones such as the iPhone to access the internet. With that number expected to grow to over 50 million people by 2011, the Away Wee Go! Mobile Website will help build customer and homeowner loyalty for client’s by providing a real-time connection to their property and availability data that can be accessed by guests, prospects and staff from anywhere.

Mobile screenshot

Mobile screenshot

Visual Data Systems Brings Professionally Managed Vacation Rentals to Mobile Devices
Clients involved in the first round of mobile website launches include amongst others:

  • Dunes Realty – Garden City, South Carolina
  • Sunset Properties – Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina
  • Sunset Beach Rentals
  • Ocean Isle Beach Rentals
  • Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates – Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

Visual Data Systems is now preparing to launch sites for clients located in such varied areas as North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Galveston, Texas; and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

The Away Wee Go! Mobile Website will provide powerful but practical solutions that while being optimized for the iPhone will work on the most popular platforms for mobile web browsing. Visitors to the mobile website will be able to:

  • Access Real-time availability with the state of the art Away Wee Go! Mobile Search.
  • Search for specific properties through an alphabetic or unit number search.
  • Access property detail pages.
  • Have the ability to make a ‘Reservation Request’ for specific properties through the mobile website.

The Away Wee Go! Mobile Search technology will work in conjunction with client’s fully integrated custom websites.

Click here for further screenshots: http://www.vdsys.com/mobile-website-development-screenshots.htm

Short comment from vacationrentalindustry.com:

We question the sustainability of the value added of this service with regards to the increasing ability of mobile devices to diplay normal browser based websites in full functionality…

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HomeAway enters B&B market by acquiring Bedandbreakfast.com

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Edited Press Release

HomeAway, the leading online vacation rental marketplace, today announced its acquisition of BedandBreakfast.com, a global site for finding bed-and-breakfast properties (B&Bs). With this acquisition, HomeAway strengthens its position as the No. 1 source for unique lodging alternatives to hotels. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bedandbreakfast.com website

Bedandbreakfast.com website

“HomeAway already provides the most trusted sites and broadest inventory for searching for the ideal vacation rental home,” says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer of HomeAway. “With the addition of BedandBreakfast.com, we’re providing travelers with another option to find home-like accommodations for a vacation experience that delivers far greater satisfaction than staying in a traditional motel or hotel.”

BedandBreakfast.com was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1995 by CEO Eric Goldreyer, and has grown into a top travel site listing more than 10,000 B&Bs across 100 countries. The site specializes in providing travelers with a way to have a more personal travel experience for a weekend getaway, business trip or extended vacation.

“We are thrilled to be joining the HomeAway family,” says Goldreyer. “The missions of our two companies are closely aligned – to help consumers easily find and experience a better lodging option than chain hotels and to help property owners effectively compete for and serve the traveler.”

HomeAway plans to operate BedandBreakfast.com as an independent brand.

About BedandBreakfast.com:
Founded in 1995, BedandBreakfast.com is a leading specialty travel website with detailed information on over 10,000 B&Bs worldwide. Travelers can research information including over 50,000 photos, over 100,000 unbiased consumer reviews, and make confirmed reservations instantly at almost 2,000 properties. Welcome at more than 4,000 B&Bs, BedandBreakfast.com Gift Cards have no restrictions or blackouts, and are available online or at over 20,000 retail locations. BedandBreakfast.com also owns and operates RezOvation, a PA-DSS and Microsoft Gold-certified leader in property management systems.

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LiveRez strikes deal with Discount Vacation Rentals Online

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Edited Press Release

LiveRez, the software provider for online reservations in the travel industry has signed up Discount Vacation Rentals Online, a leading local provider of Orlando vacation homes in the Disney World area.

The more than 1000 rental properties under the DVRO flag will be added gradually to the property inventory of LiveRez.  “With more than 50 pet friendly homes, condos and town homes, pet owners can now find appropriate accommodations for their needs as an example,” the owner of DVRO says.

Discount Vacation Rentals Logo

Discount Vacation Rentals Logo

The advanced search features are a blessing for the rental company, who had to abandon their old online reservation system for reasons of too slow and not being able to cope with the traveler’s demands and needs.

To accommodate the new booking engine, Discount Vacation Rentals Online has just announced their new web site, with the introduction of the www.discountvacationrentalsonline.net on February 1st. 2010.

The original web site will remain the focus for DVRO as their guests are used to the concept of the blog site and appreciate the blog aspect of the .com web site and its blog content on the back end.

The owner of DVRO adds: “the next step for us is to introduce the Human Search Engine feature.” The Human Search Engine according to DVRO is an online help function, where visitors to the web site can provide their specifics and details for what they are looking for in regards to accommodations and DVRO will go search beyond their own inventory to what is available on the market. A free service that will return options that match the guest’s requests. The guest can then decide whether they want to follow up on the rental suggestions or not.

Discount Vacation Rentals Online understands that a Google search for Orlando vacation homes returns millions of pages. “There is no need for more choices, there is need for more targeted search,” Peter Van den Broeck says. “The problem on the internet these days is no longer whether or not a search engine will return results for a search. It has become a quest if not a frustration for the visitor to filter a return for ‘their’ search. Hence the hype around the Google Personalized Search.” True, and may we add that many people on the internet today still need a little assistance in many cases.
About Discount Vacation Rentals:

Discount Vacation Rentals Online is a provider of vacation homes, condos and town homes in the Disney World Orlando area. Our goal is to find the perfect Orlando vacation homes match for the guest, not to sell “what we have”. Your Florida vacation experience starts before you even get here.

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