Since our coverage of the vacation rental industry is expanding we decided to categorize each post more precisely to improve the reading experience. From now on we will add a flag representing the country the post is talking about and the type of vacation rental business, e.g. whether it’s a vacation rental chain, management, technology, marketing company, etc.
Archive for April, 2010
VacationRentalIndustry.com - quick update
Thursday, April 15th, 2010VRMA’s 2010 reports milestone developments for the industry
Sunday, April 11th, 2010Edited Press Release
The vacation rental lodging industry is in for a number of advancements this year, according to the nonprofit Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA), which celebrates its 25th anniversary through 2010. In fact, representatives of the organization say there are more tools and resources supporting vacation rental managers than ever before, all aimed to help businesses in this growing category to be more profitable in today’s challenging travel marketplace.
VRMA logo
Following are examples shared by the VRMA of new developments for vacation rental managers this year, which are detailed on VRMA.com:
FRESH TOPICS AND BEST IN INDUSTRY PRACTICES AT CONFERENCES
The Keynote address at the VRMA’s upcoming Regional Seminars will discuss a hot topic for the vacation rental industry – one that continues to challenge both the hotel and airline industries: the risks and opportunities of distribution through online travel agencies (OTA). This topic is among other new session content planned for this year, including a “Best in Class” panel session to be presented featuring speakers who have been nominated by industry peers.
NEW TOOLS TO LOWER OPERATIONAL COSTS
Wholesale distributor HD Supply Facilities Maintenance has joined forces with the VRMA to help members manage their operational costs, and in the initial six months of the partnership, VRMA members have saved more than $100,000 over HD Supply’s retail prices. The program includes specially negotiated rates for members on HD Supply’s inventory of more than 20,000 maintenance, housekeeping and operational products. Among other benefits, managers are provided with free delivery within two days on most items, to most areas. Through association membership, the VRMA offers opportunities for members to forge relationships with numerous supplier partners in the vacation rental industry.
FREE ACCESS TO LOCAL AND NATIONAL BOOKING TRENDS
Vacation rental managers in 2010 receive a brand new trending benefit from the VRMA: Geo-Analytics for the vacation rental industry. Courtesy of NAVIS Research, LLC, participating companies will receive free monthly reports that detail the sales trends of the nation as a whole, their region of the country, their specific state, as well as tailored local data. NAVIS reports that 14 reservation software companies support the program, automatically enabling members connected to such systems.
PUBLIC RELATIONS LEADS AND RESOURCES
The vacation rental industry’s public awareness initiative, “Discover Vacation Homes,” is open to all members of the VRMA this year, providing the first-ever representation of the industry through a concentrated PR effort. As a result, members receive media leads from the association with the chance to tell their story to journalists and, ultimately, to travelers. The program also provides resources on an ongoing basis to assist members with their individual company PR efforts including “how-to” articles, customizable press releases, new media tools, tips and more.
SUPPORT WITH LOCAL LEGISLATIVE CHALLENGES
The VRMA has formed a Committee to assist members in dealing with legislation changes in their communities. Not only have industry professionals shared their “How To” on recent successes with such challenges, they have assembled a collection of informational tools and resources, and readily volunteer to assist colleagues facing similar issues across North America.
About the Vacation Rental Managers Association - The Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) is a professional trade association for the vacation rental property management industry. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., the VRMA has more than 600 property management and associate members in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean representing approximately 150,000 vacation rentals, condos and villas.
HomeAway launches real estate website
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Edited Press Release
Recognizing that buyers and sellers of vacation properties are increasingly looking for specialized information on the rental income potential of prospective homes, HomeAway is launching HomeAway Real Estate. The online marketplace dedicated to buying and selling vacation homes, HomeAway Real Estate offers an extensive database of more than 200,000 vacation and second homes for sale in popular travel destinations, as well as specialized information including vacation home occupancy, rental rates throughout the year, and destination information.
homeawayrealestate.com
The Internet plays an increasing role in the purchase of vacation homes, with nearly a third (32 percent) of vacation home buyers first looking online for properties for sale, up from 22 percent in 2008. One out of four (26 percent) vacation home buyers found their home on the Internet, up from 21 percent in 2008.
“With more buyers looking to offset ownership costs with rental income, the HomeAway Real Estate platform uses HomeAway’s extensive knowledge of vacation rentals to help those buyers make better decisions about where to buy,” says Sharples, CEO of HomeAway.
Barefoot Technologies and Intelsys Announce Data Interface
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Edited Press Release
Barefoot Technologies and Intelsys Inc. are proud to announce a joint venture between their respective companies to establish a ‘data interface’ between Barefoot Technologies Agent 3.0c vacation rental property management software and Intelsys Inc.’s Status Tracker housekeeping management system. This interface will allow clients using both systems to automatically transfer information between the two programs, creating a synergism that will dramatically enhance the capabilities and user experience of both programs.
Barefoot and Intelsys team up
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to transfer information between Status Tracker and Barefoot Agent,” stated Ed Ulmer, Director of Business Development with Barefoot Technologies. “Our clients have been using Status Tracker successfully for quite awhile and had been requesting a way to share information between our two systems. This data interface will allow us to request the current housekeeping status of all properties from Status Tracker and integrate this into the Agent thereby consolidating property status information into one convenient location for non-housekeeping users.”
Barefoot Technologies and Intelsys Inc. Announce Data Interface Between Two Industry Leading Software Programs
The interface will also allow Status Tracker to transparently request a list of properties needing housekeeping attention directly from the Barefoot Agent. Seamlessly identifying these properties will significantly facilitate the housekeeping manager’s ability to automatically create all required housekeeping task assignments with a single button click.
“Providing the connection to systems like Barefoot’s Agent is the first step to integrating Status Tracker with vacation property management systems and will allow us to expand our market exponentially over the next 24 months,” stated Richard Winnick, CTO of Intelsys. “Implementing this information transfer between our two respective programs represents a significant step in facilitating our clients use of both systems.” Winnick further explained that this joint effort also demonstrates the commitment of both companies to creatively consider options and opportunities outside their own companies to provide the best services possible for their clients.
About Barefoot:
Barefoot is a provider of browser-based reservation and asset management systems in the vacation rental industry. It claims of being the first browser system in the industry, the first to provide online booking, tenant, owner access and to offer social media tools and is designed to be tailored to meet clients’ exacting needs.
HomeAway reveals selected stats and figures
Friday, April 2nd, 2010In a recent article in Travolution by Linda Fox HomeAway’s CEO Brian Sharples reveals updated stats and figures on HomeAway:
Read the full article at: http://www.travolution.co.uk/articles/2010/03/30/3368/homeaway-to-slow-acquisition-strategy.html
Tags: homeaway, statistics
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