Vacation rentals: Gunning for the leisure hotel shopper
November 18, 2008 | Online Travel
OTAs take notice. Hotels watch out. And online travelers get ready for an upgrade. The vacation rental marketplace is gearing up to go after all of you, according to PhoCusWright.
This vast and complex universe of vacation rental “suppliers,” however, should not be underestimated. According to PhoCusWright’s Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change, vacation rentals accounted for more than 333 million available unit nights in the U.S. market in 2007 and nearly US$24.3 billion in rental revenue. Approximately 10% of all U.S. adults and nearly 20%1 of all online travelers have booked a vacation rental.
Hundreds of millions of investor dollars have flowed into this space in recent years, whether to rental-by-owner behemoth HomeAway (which just announced a staggering $250 million placement on Tuesday) or B2C and B2B online players such as Escapia, LeisureLink, VacationRoost and Zonder. Vacation rental management companies across the industry have identified online distribution and investment in technology among their top strategic business priorities. Wyndham’s concerted push with its Endless Vacation Rentals brand is but one of many.
But there are also hurdles. Legacy practices of the vacation rental industryseven-night minimum stays, hefty upfront deposits, lack of industry standards for service and property ratings, low incidence of revenue managed pricingdo not merchandise well in a hotel-centric online distribution environment. A two-bedroom condo may be more expensive than a room at a comparable hotel (and thus display lower in search results), but it may offer a better value to a family of four looking to book two rooms. And even the very top-of-the-line vacation rental properties may not qualify as a three-star hotel if they don’t offer 24/7 front desk check-in.
Get the full story at PhoCusWright FYI
Related Articles
The incredible shrinking airline
02 Jul, 2009 | Online Travel
Amadeus unveils new mobile solutions
02 Jul, 2009 | Online Travel
Kayak to Bing: Stop copying us!
30 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Booking business trips directly from Microsoft Outlook
30 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Information key feature for tourism social networking
25 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Tech, price, family drive US vacationers
25 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Hotel reviews and objectivity
25 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Summer travel trends according to hotels.com
23 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
S.F. 1 Expedia 0
23 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
U.S. spending on travel, tourism dropped 5.9% in first quarter
18 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Most Popular Articles
How to maximize your hotel’s GDS distribution
30 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
PKF sees hotel rates continuing to fall in 2010
17 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
If you discount, do so carefully
18 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Summer travel trends according to hotels.com
23 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Luxury brands waking to a new reality
18 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
New hotel review site launches with independent, expert reviews
24 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Hotel technology moving into the cloud
24 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Destination marketing in the age of Web 2.0 and beyond
16 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
Information key feature for tourism social networking
25 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
“Thriving” not just “surviving” in a depressed economy: Tips for the independents
17 Jun, 2009 |
Economic Downturn
Rate integrity in a down market
02 Jul, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
The incredible shrinking airline
02 Jul, 2009 | Online Travel
U.S. spending on travel, tourism dropped 5.9% in first quarter
18 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
If you discount, do so carefully
18 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Luxury brands waking to a new reality
18 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Travelocity says book now
17 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
LHW courting guests discreetly with sweet deals
16 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
The new normal, according to McKinsey
11 Jun, 2009 | Internet Marketing
Pressure on hotel rates not likely to go away soon
04 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Travelocity issues ‘Traveler Confidence’ report
03 Jun, 2009 | Online Travel
New study reveals changes in leisure travelers’ online search behavior
02 Jun, 2009 |
Marriott launches ‘Deal of the Day’, exclusively on Twitter
02 Jun, 2009 | Hospitality Industry
Expedia makes airline no-fee policy permanent, eliminates hotel cancel/change fees
28 May, 2009 | Online Travel
The new high-end consumer
28 May, 2009 | Internet Marketing
Hoteliers most concerned with marketing ROI
26 May, 2009 |














