Ski.com acquires VacationRoost from LeisureLink

August 10, 2016

LeisureLink today announced that it has reached an agreement to sell VacationRoost.com and its other mountain consumer brands and operations to Ski.com.

Ski.com is North America’s largest provider of mountain vacations and the addition of the new sites including MountainReservations.com, VacationRoost.com, ParkCityReservations.com, BreckenridgeDestinations.com and several others mountain travel sites will complement its strong consumer offering.

“Though it is hard to let go of a business that we have grown and loved for 10-years, we know that our customers and destination experts will thrive in the Ski.com family,” said Julian Castelli, CEO of LeisureLink. “Going forward, this transaction will allow us to focus even more of our resources on our core business of vacation rental distribution. Our distribution platform will allow more vacation rental suppliers to connect with great travel brands like Ski.com, Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia in the future.”

“We are very excited to bring VacationRoost and the websites under its umbrella into our portfolio of brands,” said Harry Peisach, Ski.com president and CEO. “We now have an even stronger relationship with LeisureLink, and we look forward to expanding our partnership with them to feed our websites with commerce-enabled vacation rental inventory in the future.”

Ski.com’s online reservations technology will be integrated into VacationRoost.com and other LeisureLink consumer websites, and Ski.com’s call center, manned by specialists who average more than two decades in the mountain-travel industry, will handle all calls starting August 10, 2016.

About LeisureLink

LeisureLink helps vacation rental companies maximize bookings online, offline, anywhere. Through industry leading online connectivity tools, such as distribution, yield management, and booking engines, LeisureLink drives better lead conversion without the time-consuming work of managing multiple extranets. With the industry’s largest distribution network, vacation properties have the opportunity to connect to top online travel channels like Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, HomeAway, all the major GDS players and travel sites. Suppliers can manage all of their listings from one platform – optimizing rates, availability, specials, and content changes. LeisureLink consolidates all accounting, payables, and receivables with a single, source of payment, providing clarity to the often-complex accounting issues. Founded in 2007, LeisureLink is a privately held company and headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT. For more information, please call 800-976-4925 or visit leisurelink.com.

About Ski.com

Founded in 1971 in the heart of Colorado Ski Country, Aspen-headquartered Ski.com is North America’s largest provider of mountain vacation packages and an industry leader in online travel technology. The company specializes in booking custom ski vacations at more than 120 of the most popular ski resorts and heli- and cat-skiing destinations in North America, Europe, Japan and South America and offers the largest collection of mountain lodging and ski-vacation components, including discounted lift tickets, flights, equipment rental, ski school, activities and more. Providing unsurpassed mountain-travel expertise, Ski.com’s 65+ Mountain Vacation Specialists average 26 years of experience in the ski travel industry.

NAVIS Taps Industry Expert Amber Mayer as Vice President of Product Solutions

VRM Intel Staff

August 9, 2016

NAVIS today announced a strategic new addition, Amber Mayer, to its executive team. As Vice President of Product Solutions, Amber will lead product strategy, product management, and all product launches as well as oversee the continued expansion of NAVIS Revenue Performance Solutions™ in response to the emerging demand for the company’s innovative solutions.

Amber has a proven expertise in product development in the hospitality space including telephony analytics, reservation booking engines, and CRMs. She has an impressive track record of success in online sales strategy and implementation, database marketing, digital marketing, email marketing and 3rd party channel distribution. Before joining NAVIS, Amber held executive leadership positions for such notable brands as Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Instant Software (now HomeAway), and TravelStorm. She also brings valuable hands-on experience, having served as Director of Rental Management for Seascape Resorts where she was directly responsible for the creation and growth of the Resort Vacation Rental Division.

“NAVIS is committed to providing powerfully integrated solutions that deliver profitability for our clients,” explains NAVIS CEO, Kyle Buehner. “Amber is joining as our VP of Product Solutions to help us better understand market/use trends and focus on defining the user experience and product requirements. Our NAVIS Revenue Performance Solutions™ have generated an incontrovertible ROI for our clients and with Amber on board, we will keep moving the needle to bring high-value solutions to the market. Our team and partners will benefit tremendously from her knowledge, keen market insights, and strategic approach and we are thrilled to have her on board.”

“NAVIS has a powerful platform that I used successfully for years as a former client and more recently as a consultant helping others to substantially increase revenue,” said Amber. “Using the latest technology and data-driven insights has become the only way to remain competitive in the hospitality industry. The more devices, channels, services, and applications that travelers are using, the greater the need to manage the complexity using automation, analytics, and engagement to create and convert more profitable direct demand. I’m honored and excited to play a role in helping NAVIS shape the future of hospitality marketing and guest experience.”

Expedia CEO on HomeAway: “Results have been better than expected.” Takeaways from Q2 Earnings Call

VRM Intel Staff

August 8, 2016

Last week, as part of its Q2 2016 earnings call, Expedia provided an update on HomeAway activity.

According to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, “The HomeAway transition continues to go very well. We have now implemented the traveler service fee in all major markets, allowing us to increase investments in technology and products as well as marketing in order to build our brand globally.”

Khosrowshahi continued, “HomeAway Q2 revenue grew 36% year on year on a pro forma basis, driven by strength in both subscription and transactional revenue. And based on current trends, we expect revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of the year.”

11 HomeAway Takeaways from Expedia’s Q2 2016 Earnings Call

1. Transition from Classified Advertising to a Travel Ecommerce Business

Dara Khosrowshahi: Although this transition is not easy, we believe the pivot from pure classified advertising to a travel e-commerce business is a winning plan that will allow us to create better products for consumers and drive more bookings through our homeowner and property manager partners. In addition, as we move more of HomeAway’s business to online bookable, we will be more aggressive in offering HomeAway inventory on our OTA brands which will drive even more bookings volume and will give our huge global customer base more places to stay.

2. Increase in Online Bookable Listings

Dara Khosrowshahi: The real focus for HomeAway right now is to build up the online bookable muscles. And we’re really, really pleased with the progress there, over 1 million online bookable listings, overall listings growing at 20% plus, actually accelerating versus how fast listings were growing there. That’s the focus right now is the HomeAway team and then taking some of that revenue and reinvesting in marketing to make sure that our homeowners and property managers get plenty of traffic.

Dara Khosrowshahi: When we look at HomeAway conversion versus, let’s say, Hotels.com or Expedia conversion in like destinations, HomeAway conversion is far lower. So, we think we’ve got plenty of work to do there. And we think that we have got plenty of upside there.

3. Impact of the Addition of Booking Fees

Dara Khosrowshahi: The reaction — when we did bring in the booking fees, etc. — we did see a conversion decrease initially. And the great news is that chain, the HomeAway technology team — now they have got traffic and they are able to optimize the site in a way that they were not able to. So conversion is actually up on a year on year basis, because of the optimization work and because of the feature work that the teams are embarking on. And I think that that momentum is going to continue for some period of time.

4. Subscription vs PPB Listings

Dara Khosrowshahi: The other factor that we want to look at is subscription renewals and subscription renewal rates. And again, things look good there. So I think, anytime you change your model you introduced some uncertainty into the marketplace. We’ve had to over-communicate to our homeowners and our workers, but I think now we’re settling down and we can both build a great business together.

Dara Khosrowshahi: As far as the HomeAway new subscriptions and the change between PPB and subscription, I think it remains to be seen. I do think that one way or the other, more and more players are going to come online and make their listings online bookable. Whether they want to go through subscription is — we’re fairly neutral to and really we just want to make it easier for our users to become online bookable. And then, once we have become online bookable for obviously over the long term, going to see the majority of demand in that marketplace because it’s clearly what our consumers want. And ultimately we think it’s going to be a win-win in this marketplace when consumer expectations are met with homeowners and property managers. That’s really what this model change is all about.

5. Growth in Professionally Managed Listings vs Owner Listings

Dara Khosrowshahi: I’d say that in general the professional managers group is probably engaged a little more quickly. They’ve got a bunch of volume and they are leaning forward into the traffic growth that HomeAway is delivering now. But we continue to work with our individual owners. They are an incredibly important component of our marketplace and we see excellent progress in bringing them online and making them online bookable. So it’s a process. It’s a communication and education process and I would say so far, so good.

6. Increase in Transactional Revenue

Dara Khosrowshahi: Last quarter we actually ordered a book to transactional revenue number, just to give you a sense of it. And what that represented is essentially the revenue that HomeAway derives from bookings that have been online, on a booked basis. Recognition happens on stay. That number this quarter was well north of 200% year over year. So we’re seeing really strong results there and we’re able to actually put that increased volume and increase revenue that HomeAway has back into the business.

7. Increased Marketing Spend

Dara Khosrowshahi: And one of the most significant investments that HomeAway has been making is not only in product and technology to make the experience better for both owners and managers as well as consumers, but they have put a significant amount of money back into sales and marketing.

Dara Khosrowshahi: In the first half of this year, direct sales and marketing spend up over 80% year over year. So we’re really creating this flywheel and it just seems the more volume we create, the more attractive online bookability becomes for owners and managers. And we’re starting to get real traction there that we’re very pleased to see.

8. Online Payments and Traveler Guarantee

Dara Khosrowshahi: We’re working to introduce more payment methods, online payment methods, especially on the international front — PayPal, all kinds of credit cards, etcetera.

And we’re also looking to build out products like the traveler guarantee for HomeAway that incents travelers to book essentially on system because there are some bookings, obviously, that go off system which is to people talking to each other and writing a check and hoping that the check lands someplace.

So we think that we can create a safe and cheap environment for consumers to come together with homeowners within the HomeAway platform and we will be looking to optimize that a go-forward basis.

9. Vacation Rental Regulatory Impact

Dara Khosrowshahi: From a HomeAway standpoint, we tend to have a more significant portion of our business today in destinations that are not urban destinations and destinations that are mountain/beach destinations. And these are destinations that had had this business around for a long time. The majority, the vast majority of HomeAway’s business are whole homes. All of HomeAway’s business is whole homes.

They are usually second homes and they are usually in destinations where the home rental, the seasonal home rental business has been around for a long time and is a very significant contributor to local economies, etcetera. So we’re watching with interest what’s going on. Every single municipality is looking at this issue in a different way. We’re working closely with those municipalities. And we think, in the end, this is a product that consumers want. It attracts travelers to destinations.

Travelers bring jobs, they bring money. And we think that in working with these local municipalities ultimately we will come up with the appropriate laws to protect consumers and homeowners and the residence of those municipalities as well. This is a process that’s going to take a long time. But we’re in for the long haul. And at this point, the activity that we see is affecting us less than, let’s say, some of the other players out there.

10. Addition of Urban Destinations

Dara Khosrowshahi: As far as HomeAway inventory adding urban inventory to the mix, we’re looking at adding to inventory all over. I do think that our strengths tend to be in the resource area as far as sun destinations, mountain destinations, etc. But we’re adding urban listings as well. And I think that as we integrate more fundamentally with Hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity Orbitz, the pace of urban listing acquisition is going to increase.

11. Integration of HomeAway’s Inventory into Expedia’s Broader Network

Dara Khosrowshahi: We don’t have specific timing at this point on it…The thing that you should look for is a much deeper integration of the HomeAway inventory onto the Expedia platforms, in general. Prior, when we worked with HomeAway as partners before, the integration was more of a link-off experience.

It was a little bit of a shock for users. And this HomeAway inventory is going to be fundamental to our product on a long term basis. So we’re making the kinds of investments that we have to, to make sure that the integration is perfect and our clients who are online bookable and especially instant bookable get plenty more traffic the way they want that traffic.

We expected to be bringing in a really strong company and we wrote a big check to bring in HomeAway. And I’d say so far the results have been better than expected. So I think that this alternative lodging space is — it’s just a big space. And HomeAway is benefiting from that and obviously Airbnb which is the other player in the category, is clearly benefiting from it as well.

3 Ways to Overcome the Perception That OTAs Are Cheaper

VRM Intel Staff

August 4, 2016

It’s all too easy to blame OTAs for shrinking profits by pointing fingers at their costly commissions and frustrating policy of withholding customer contact information. But, in reality, the biggest battle you face isn’t so much against the OTAs, but rather the mindset of OTA customers.

The truth is, your profit margins are being squeezed because of the general public’s assumption that OTAs offer the cheapest rates! According to a Tnooz survey, 75 percent of travelers between the ages of 18-64 believe that they can find the best hotel prices on an OTA. It’s time to poke holes through this OTA myth and sway customer perception with the truth.

Here are 3 tips on how to convince your audience that booking direct is best:

1. Reinforce Best Price Guarantee

Consumers usually aren’t aware that your hotel offers the exact same price as OTAs for the same rooms. So, it’s up to you to continuously reinforce the message that booking direct is in their best interest. You’d be amazed how much your conversion rate can go up by simply placing a prominent reminder to consumers on your booking widgets that booking direct is better!

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to simply have a Best Rate Guarantee on your website. That has very little impact on the average consumer (and often requires them to go through the hassle of completing a form just to take advantage of it). Today’s guests are all about convenience, so the smartest tactic is to build your BRG into your booking engine itself, where OTA rates are displayed next to your own rate, proving to the visitor that only booking direct gets them the best prices. This type of feature will also automatically match the OTA’s cheaper rate if they are out of parity.

2. Simpler Design and Booking Process

Because OTAs cover so many aspects of the travel experience – hotels, airfare, car rentals, activities, cruises and bundle packages – their websites are naturally complicated, cluttered and overrun with content. You can use that to your advantage by ensuring that your hotel website design is easy on the eyes and simple to navigate. Create a visually arresting story. Select only your most stunning images, cut down on unnecessary text and reformat current text so it is easier to digest.

Most importantly, don’t make it complicated to book a room with you. There are plenty of antiquated booking engines that are littered with small text, redundant buttons, complicated design and too many fields to fill out. All of these elements can frustrate a traveler and irritate them enough to give up, abandon their reservation and find a better hotel that is easier to book with.

3. Highlight Direct Booking Benefits

Go beyond the standard Best Rate Guarantee and showcase the perks that only guests who book direct can enjoy. Is it complimentary WiFi? A complimentary upgrade (if available)? More loyalty points? Free daily breakfast? It’s about highlighting the value of booking direct and getting that message across in as many channels as needed. The first place a traveler goes after seeing a hotel that interests them on an OTA site is to the hotel’s website itself. So, publish your direct booking benefits visibly and prominently on your homepage, add it to your retargeting ad copy, include it in every post-stay email and remind your followers of it occasionally on social media.

About Tambourine

Tambourine uses technology and creativity to increase revenue for hotels and destinations worldwide. The firm, now in its 30th year, is located in New York City and Fort Lauderdale. Please visit: www.Tambourine.com

In Memory of Maui Rental Group Founder Paul Dobson (1955-2016)

VRM Intel Staff

August 2, 2016

In May, the vacation rental industry suffered an enormous loss with the passing of Paul Dobson, president and principal broker of Maui Rental Group.

Known for his intelligence, insight, kindness, friendship, bright smile and willingness to help others, Paul Dobson touched hundreds of vacation rental professionals and his legacy lives on in the industry that he loved.

In 1988, Dobson founded Maui Condo and Home Realty after picking up everything and moving to Maui after only a brief visit.

“My first fond memory of Paul Dobson was meeting him in 1991 in Hot Springs Arkansas,” said Lucy Kawaihalau, founder of Kauai Vacation Rentals & Real Estate, Inc. “It was his first VRMA Annual Conference. Being the only two from Hawaii, we shared many things, including a cab ride to the airport returning to Maui and Kauai. This began a wonderful friendship.”
Tim Cafferty, President at Outer Banks Blue Realty Services, also met Paul Dobson at this time. “I joined the organization in 1991, and Paul was one of the first folks I met and really one of the first people I hung around with in the organization,” said Cafferty. “He was one of the ‘cool guys’ that everyone wanted to hang out with.”

Cafferty added, “In my view, Paul was always the smartest guy in the room, but never showed his hand. He let others talk, and he just smiled.”

In 1997, Paul Dobson became the seventh President for the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA). According to Pedro Mandoki, President and CEO at Mandoki Hospitality in Gulf Shores, Alabama, “Paul was the one who jumped in and took care of things when our president resigned unexpectedly.

“Paul was on the Board of Directors and served as President from 1997 to 1999,” said Kawaihalau. “Paul was always interested in all things high-tech and was happy to report during his presidency that the VRMA website was developed.”

In 1998, Dobson’s Maui Condominiums, which had 430 units under management, became part of the initial rollup in the forming of ResortQuest International, where he served as Founding Board Member through many ups and downs in the industry.
“Paul was one of the most fun people to just sit around and talk shop with,” said Jim Olin, who served as CEO at ResortQuest. “I would seek him out at every event we attended together, and we would find a quiet place and exchange war stories. He was a consummate professional who shared his expertise generously, and was a ton of fun to be around.”

Doug Brindley, owner of Brindley Beach Vacations, was also part of the ResortQuest founding board. “Paul was great to work with, always kind and insightful,” said Brindley. “He visited me and my family on the Outer Banks, and we had the pleasure to visit him in Maui. Paul was a classy guy all the way!”

Cafferty added, “We hung out a lot in the ResortQuest days, and whenever there was a meeting, Paul would be the person I would go to first to ask ‘so what do you think about what we just heard?’ Invariably, he was on point, and whatever he told me usually came true. Whenever I needed a straight answer about something happening in the industry (or in ResortQuest), he was the guy I called.”

In 2005, after Gaylord Entertainment purchased ResortQuest, Dobson left the company and founded Maui Rental Group.

“He was always thinking out of the box and trying new things,” said Kawaihalau. “He was happy to share his discoveries with his associates. I would love receiving his calls. He would say, ‘Hey, Lucy, how are you doing?’ and then go on to say, “I have been thinking about…,” sharing one of his latest ideas.”

Paul Dobson, while best known to most of us for his insight and contributions to the vacation rental industry, was a family man first.

“I remember when he met Kim and how happy he was to be married,” said Kawaihalau. “We all had many fun times at VRMA events over the years. He took great pride in raising Chandler and Myles. His family and their schedule took priority in his life.”

Cafferty agreed, “He was so personable, smiling all the time. He had this smirk he would have on his face when he had an inside joke, like he was 14 years old again and couldn’t wait to tell me what he was getting ready to burst out laughing about. He rarely had a bad day, and he really loved his family. Whenever we compared notes about children he just beamed when he was talking about his kids and wife. We both have sons about the same age, and it would always be our conversation starter about what our boys were up to.”

“Paul was a friend above all,” added Cafferty. “I last spent time with him in San Diego at the VRMA conference in 2014. We had a blast, as usual. Some of the former presidents had sort of drifted away from the organization over the years and were really disconnected. Lucy gets credit for getting us all back involved. Lucy, Paul, Pedro, and some of the other old timers had about a four hour dinner together, and he was the same old Paul. Happy guy, content and still the coolest, smartest guy in the room. That’s the memory I will always have of Paul.”

“He was a very successful businessman and property manager on Maui and so well thought of by everyone,” said Lucy Kawaihalau. “He was a wonderful kind man, an awesome dad, and a loving husband. Paul was an inspiring coach and mentor – both in sports and for our vacation rental managers – and a good friend to so many. He is greatly missed, and I am grateful to have called him my friend all these years.”

Paul is survived by his wife and his sons, Myles and Chandler. Our thoughts, prayers and appreciation go out to his friends and family.

By Amy Hinote

Save the Date: Events, Conferences and Seminars for Vacation Rental Managers

VRM Intel Staff

August 1, 2016

The vacation rental industry is transforming.

Don’t miss an opportunity to learn more about the industry, network with other vacation rental managers and find out what’s new in the space at one of the upcoming events for professional property managers.

September

September 13

Webinar: Five Formulas to Audit Your Revenue Performance

2 ET/ 11 PT — Register for September 13, 5 Formulas for Auditing Performance

September 20

Webinar: Intro to Dynamic Pricing and Yield Management for Vacation Rentals

2 CT/ 11 PT — Register for August 30, Intro to Dynamic Pricing and Yield Management for Vacation Rentals

September 21-23

RezFest

Orlando, FL — Renaissance Hotel

www.software.homeaway.com

September 28-30

Streamline Summit

Chandler, AZ –Sheraton Wild Horse Pass

www.streamlinesummit.com

October

October 10-13

LiveRez Partner Conference

Austin, TX –Lost Pines Resort and Spa

http://www.liverez.com/2016Conference/

October 16-19

Annual VRMA Conference

Chandler, AZ — Sheraton Wild Horse Pass

www.vrma.com

October 26

VRM Intel Live! East Coast

Wilmington, NC — Hilton Wilmington Riverside

vrmintellive.com

November

November 7-9

VRHP National Conference

Las Vegas — Excalibur Hotel and Casino

www.vrhp.org

November 9-11

OPMA Fall Executive Summit

Destin, FL — The Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

http://theopma.org

November 30

VRM Intel Live! Gulf Coast

Destin, FL — Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Baytowne

vrmintellive.com

December

December 4-5

NEVRMA

Lincoln, NH — Mountain Club on Loon Resort & Spa

To add your event to the calendar, email the information to amy.hinote@vrmintel.com.

Expedia Q2 Earnings: Revenues Fall Short Of Estimates

VRM Intel Staff

July 29, 2016

By Adam Clark, Zacks.com — Expedia Inc. (EXPE) just released its second quarter fiscal 2016 earnings results, posting earnings of $0.40 per share (excluding special items) and revenue of $2.195 billion.

Currently, EXPE has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but it is subject to change following the release of the company’s latest earnings report. Here are 5 key statistics from this just announced report below.

1. Missed earnings estimates. The company posted earnings of $0.40 per share (excluding special items), just below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.44 per share. Diluted earnings per share came in at $0.21.

2. Missed revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of $2.195 billion, below our consensus estimate of $2.24 billion and increasing 32% year-over-year.

3. Gross bookings increased $3.8 billion, or 25% year-over-year, excluding eLong, to over $18.8 billion in the second quarter.

4. Global lodging portfolio increased by 25,000 properties, or 2-% year-over-year, bringing total hotel property count to over 307,000 available on Expedia Inc. sites.

5. EXPE was down $7.77, or 6.51%, to $111.50 as of 8:30 PM ET in after-hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/expedia-inc-expe-q2-earnings-revenues-fall-short-of-estimates-cm656919#ixzz4Fkk4vGiZ

SoCoastal Vacation Rentals: Hyper-Local Marketplace Takes Aim at Myrtle Beach

VRM Intel Staff

July 26, 2016

VRM Intel interviewed Justin Urich, CEO of SoCoastal, a hyper-local booking platform about his new venture and the value proposition it offers.

How would you explain what your company does in 15 words or less?

We find the perfect vacation rental so you don’t have to.

Where did the name SoCoastal originate from?

The name is actually a tribute to the birthplace of the business; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. So is short for Southern. Coastal is an elongated version of Coast. SC is the abbreviation for the state of South Carolina. (Pronounced so-co-stuhl)

What inspired you to start your own business?

In May of 2014, I lost my older brother (Nathan) to an extremely rare form of Leukemia. That experience made me realize that I wanted to spend the rest of my life pursuing ideas and relationships that I am nothing less than ridiculously-passionate about.

When did you officially launch and how many vacation rentals do you currently represent?

Not too long ago. We launched on June 27th of this year. Currently, we have a little over 600 instantly-bookable condos and beach homes.

How does your company generate revenue?

Currently, we receive a commission on confirmed bookings. Our commission percentage is negotiated exclusively with each property manager we partner with.

In the upcoming months, we plan to rollout new features and offerings that will allow us to diversify our sources of revenue.

What problem(s) do travelers suffer from currently that your service solves?

To put it bluntly: The process related to searching for and booking the “right” vacation rental is nothing short of a nightmare. We don’t believe there is just one singular problem we need to solve in order to create differentiation, which is why hope to address a few different problems:

Fragmented Inventory: We work to mitigate this by consolidating inventory from various property managers, in a single region, into a singular resource for travelers. The Myrtle Beach area is home to over 40 different vacation rental companies and we look forward to the opportunity to work with each of them.

Lack of “Real” Support: I’m not talking about the type of support you need when you’re having payment issues. I’m referring to the intricate level of support travelers need when trying to navigate crucial parts of the vacation rental selection process.

Help with questions like: What city? What neighborhood within that that city? Which resort? Which rental within that resort? What time of the year? All questions that end with “is best for me?”.

In my opinion, no automated travel bot or some guy/girl sitting in a call center that has never actually been to the destination that you’re interested in, is going to be able to effectively and authentically answer those questions. That’s where SoCoastal comes in.

We work with a team of hand-picked destination experts to offer guidance and recommendations based on real experiences. Each destination expert currently lives in, has lived in previously or frequently visits the Grand Strand. Not only is our team familiar with the area, but they are also familiar with the local property management industry and the specific vacation rental options available.

No Booking or Service Fees: I think it’s best to learn from the recent public backlash towards HomeAway and their implementation of these types of fees. SoCoastal is and always will be “booking fee free” for travelers.

What advantages does SoCoastal offer property management companies in the Myrtle Beach area that the big guys like HomeAway, FlipKey and AirBnB currently don’t?

We focus on the areas where we feel the larger players aren’t doing so well — specifically, in accommodating the complex relationships with property management companies.

SoCoastal absorbs the time and cost related to developing a custom API connection from our partner’s property management software to our platform. There’s no need for manually updating property data — everything is automated. We require just a short amount of their time in order to get them fully-integrated and receiving booking requests.
We handle everything related to the pre-stay process including: pre-screening guests, inquiries, customer support, recommendations on things to do, payment processing & management as well as emailed communications to guests.
Our platform was built from the ground up to be universal. We understand that each business operates differently and we can accommodate just about any pricing and policy structure you can throw at us. And if we currently can’t support it — we’ll customize our system to fill the gap.
We’re constantly updating and improving our platform. SoCoastal can roll out new features in just days or weeks, as opposed to months or even in excess of a year for the larger companies.

For more information about SoCoastal, please contact Justin at justin@socoastal.com or (843) 779-5533.

Additional Insured Requirements: Saying Goodbye to the Idea of the Additional Insured Requirements for Vacation Rental Managers 

Darren Pettyjohn

July 23, 2016

Every day, we receive the same calls from property owners asking, “I need an insurance policy for my vacation rental, and my vacation rental manager has asked to be additionally insured. Can you do that?” 

Our answer is always the same. “Yes, we can insure your property, and yes, we can add your property manager as additionally insured.” 

However, there is actually no need to add a property manager as additionally insured because they’re already a named insured. Unfortunately, there is confusion about this which can cause friction between the homeowner and the property manager.   

This may seem like a confusing topic of discussion, but it is actually fairly simple, so I’m here to ease the confusion and explain how this particular insurance topic works. 

Who is considered an Insured? 

The first thing to understand is that every insurance policy must define ”who is an insured.” It is also important to know that coverage is extended beyond the primary named insured on a policy.  

Example: John gets a loan from a bank and buys his first home. He also purchases homeowner’s insurance and is listed as the named insured on the policy. John also has a wife and a ten year old son who live at the home, but they are not listed on the policy. 

Question: Does John need to call and ask his agent to add his wife and son to the homeowner’s policy as additionally insured and then request a certificate of insurance showing proof of coverage? No. Any spouse and children under the age of 21 who are in the care, custody, and control of the named insured are automatically covered for personal liability as defined under the homeowner’s form.  

Standard homeowner’s forms define an insured as, and extend personal liability to: named insured, spouse, children and other residents. 

Note: By “forms,” I mean policy forms. Virtually all insurance companies use the same standard forms approved by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), including homeowner’s forms, landlord forms, and commercial forms.) 

You are probably thinking, “I don’t see a property manager or real estate manager listed there.” 

That is because the homeowner’s form does not define and extend liability to real estate managers, and a property manager wouldn’t want this because homeowner’s policies carry personal liability. 

Landlord Insurance Forms 

In Landlord Insurance Forms, who is defined as an insured? This is very relevant, as many vacation rental owners carry a landlord policy which covers premise liability, which would be a big upgrade from personal liability.  

Standard landlord forms define an insured as, and extend premise liability to, the named insured, family members and employees of the named insured in regards to the premise. The landlord insurance form does not define and extend liability to real estate managers. 

Commercial Insurance Forms 

Many vacation rental owners are seeking commercial insurance for their properties as a result of the maturation of the industry, the broader coverage and new regulations across the country. Standard commercial forms define an insured, and extend commercial liability to, the named insured, spouse, volunteer worker and any person or organization acting as your real estate manager in regards to the business. 

There it is. And I will state it again, “any person or organization acting as your real estate manager.” 

What this means is that, instead of property managers requiring to be added as additionally insured onto their owner’s policies, they should simply require proof of Commercial General Liability Insurance. 

That’s it.   

With that proof of insurance, property managers know that they are defined as an insured and that the commercial liability is extended to them and their company. There is no need to be added. 

Proof of this coverage is provided through a standardized document that all insurance agents use called “Certificate of Insurance (COI).” Just make sure this includes commercial general liability and not premise or personal liability. 

Advantages of having this proof of insurance for property managers: 

There is no longer a need to use the dreadful words “added as additionally insured.” It is human nature for owners to think they are purchasing insurance for their property manager, but now you can explain the coverage thoroughly.  
Commercial General Liability is far superior coverage to premise and personal liability. It extends beyond the premise by covering things like sexual assault, invasion of privacy, slander, dog bites and much more. Plus, it does not fall into the gray area of “business activity exclusion” found in premise and personal liability. It is also the highest level of liability insurance offered to a business.

As the industry continues to mature, it is beneficial for property managers to make adjustments to owner contracts to reflect the changes and correct verbiage. This commercial requirement is already starting to show up in communities across the county.

Commercial liability insurance for vacation rental owners is not as expensive as you would think and is actually comparable to the other forms. I’d like to tell you Proper Insurance is the only firm to offer this coverage to vacation rental owners, but then this would just turn into a PR piece. The truth is that there are many carriers currently offering commercial general liability to vacation rental owners, and I imagine there will be more coming as the industry continues to grow and more regulations come down our way. Currently, the main three insurance companies are Proper Insurance, CBIZ Insurance and Propel Insurance.

Insurance is not a secret thing. Insurance policies should be examined, dissected and fully understood.  Every carrier has slightly different enhancements and exclusions, but the base forms are the same.

Many property managers have already adopted this practice, and they often ask how much should be required. Most require $500,000, but $1,000,000 is the standard limit for commercial general liability and what most carriers offer.  It is actually more difficult for an owner to purchase $500,000 versus $1,000,000. The industry requirement should be $1,000,000, and that is what I recommend.

You often hear that insurance companies try to deny and wiggle out of claims, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Sure, there are exclusions and certain things are not covered, but the bottom line is that an insured pays a premium for a contract. In that contract, it clearly states what is covered and what is not. This contract also defines who is considered an insured. The recurring problem here is that oftentimes these policies aren’t read and understood — leading to false expectations. The insurance companies aren’t trying to scam you. In fact, they do exactly what they say they will do in the defined policy.

It is time for change in the vacation rental industry. Property managers, you can use this information to your advantage. When it comes to insurance for vacation rental owners, remind them that you are on their side by having the knowledge to help them dissect their policy. If your owners carry commercial general liability, then you are an insured on their policy as a real estate manager. Period. It is in the contract written in black and white, so say goodbye to the idea of the additional insured requirement.

Disclaimer: Personal and premise liability do not define a “real estate manager” as an insured. A property manager would need to be added to have coverage extended. Only commercial general liability defines a “real estate manager” as an insured. A property manager would want to verify coverage via a COI showing commercial general liability. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren Launches Inquiry Into Impact Of Short-Term Rentals On Affordable Housing

VRM Intel Staff

July 19, 2016

A group of three senators are concerned that the affordable housing market is being squeezed by the increasing number of short-term rentals.

Senators Brian Schatz (HI), Dianne Feinstein (CA), and Elizabeth Warren (MA)urged Federal Trade Commission chairman Edith Ramirez in a letter [PDF] to study the commercial manner in which individuals or firms are using online services to rent out entire residences or multiple residences at a time, potentially taking housing inventory off the market and driving up the cost of rent.

“In recent years, we have seen the emergence and rapid growth of companies like Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, and Flipkey,” the senators write. “On one hand, these firms have sparked innovation, increased competition, and have provided new means by which our constituents can earn extra income. On the other hand, we are concerned that short-term rentals may be exacerbating housing shortages and driving up the cost of housing in our communities.”

The letter raises concerns related to recent data provided by the New York Attorney General’s office that revealed commercial users in the state made up a significant share of revenue from the short-term rentals.

Commercial users accounted for only 6% of the hosts in New York City, yet generated 37% of the revenue. The report indicated that 72% of unique units rented in New York City appeared to violate state and local law.

Any inquiry by the FTC should focus on determining what percentage of hosts are “acting in a commercial manner by renting out entire residences and or multiple residences simultaneously.”

“This distinction is critical to Congress and state and local lawmakers as we seek to assess the wide-ranging impact of the short-term rental industry on the communities in which they operate,” the letter states.

The resulting data, like that from New York, will provide lawmakers and local authorities better information on how the services affect their neighborhoods.

We’ve reached out to Airbnb for comment on the letter, and will update this post when we hear back.

However, a spokesperson for the rental company tells BuzzFeed News that Airbnb welcomes “any opportunity to work with lawmakers and regulators who want to learn more about how home sharing helps the middle class address the issue of economic inequality.”

The spokesperson suggested that the vast majority of those using the site are not commercially related, pointing to a recent study that found 51% of its hosts rely on the money they make through rentals to “make ends meet.”

Of course, one could point out that a hotel owner or the landlord of an apartment building also relies on their income to “make ends meet.” That’s why most of us have jobs. Pointing out that someone relies on Airbnb rental money doesn’t directly lead to the conclusion that this person is not renting out five or six properties in the same building.

July 14, 2016 By Ashlee Kieler

VRM Intel Magazine Summer 2016 Issue is here! Look for it in your mailbox.

VRM Intel Staff

July 18, 2016

The 2016 VRM Intel Summer issue is officially in the mail and heading your way. With over 30 original articles, this magazine includes an inside look at Booking.com and the reverse auction site Tansler, and there are three feature articles that discuss how current market conditions are helping professional vacation rental managers gain a competitive advantage (Revenge of the Property Manager, Winning at Google and Winning at Email Marketing). Also, there are some amazing articles written by Sue Jones, Doug Kennedy, Amber Mayer, Evan Hammer, Ben Edwards, Steve Craig, Josh Guerra, Durk Johnson, Julian Castelli, Rod Fitts, Mike Copps, Matt Curtis, and more.

Take a special look at Winter Park Lodging Company’s Sarah Bradford’s “Questions to ask a VRM” and Carlos Corzo’s article about open APIs in VR software. We will be talking a lot in the coming weeks about software and integrations and how software companies are working behind the scenes to add value and -in some cases -restrict your ability to take advantage of new opportunities.

If you are a U.S. resident and are not already receiving this publication in the mail, sign up below and we will mail you a copy. For non-U.S. residents, we will send the digital issue.

Enjoy!

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SF Looking to Amend Vacation Rental Law to Avoid Airbnb Lawsuit

VRM Intel Staff

July 13, 2016

By Carolyn Said – San Francisco may revise its latest attempt to crack down on vacation rentals in private homes, hoping to stave off issues raised in a lawsuit filed by Airbnb that seeks to halt new enforcement measures.

Supervisors David Campos, Aaron Peskin, Eric Mar and John Avalos introduced new language at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to update a get-tough amendment that the supervisors passed unanimously in June. The June amendment, which is now facing legal challenges from Airbnb, was scheduled to take effect July 27. Its enforcement is on hold pending a judge’s ruling on Airbnb’s request for a temporary injunction, which will be heard in early September.

The latest revision, which must now go through the legislative process, directly addresses issues Airbnb raised in its lawsuit, which said the city was violating the First Amendment, the Communications Decency Act and the Stored Communications Act.

The ultimate aim of both sets of amendments is to impose steep fines and criminal penalties to hold services like Airbnb, HomeAway and FlipKey accountable when vacation-rental listings lack the city’s mandated registration number for hosts. Only about 1,472 hosts, out of many thousands, have met a requirement to register with San Francisco before renting rooms or homes to travelers.

Potential penalties

The newest revision says those consequences would kick in only once a hosting service accepts a fee for booking a tourist to stay in an unregistered home. In the previous version, companies were on the hook for up to $1,000 a day per listing just for showcasing unregistered properties. Airbnb said that was a penalty for publishing content and therefore a violation of the federal Communications Decency Act, which shields Internet companies from liability for user-generated material. The latest update would remove the prohibition on displaying unregistered listings — but companies would be fined up to $1,000 each time an unregistered property is booked by a guest.

“These commonsense amendments aim to address some of the legal arguments that Airbnb has made in its lawsuit, and they strengthen the city’s legal position,” Campos said. “I think these amendments make the lawsuit moot.”

“The introduction of today’s amendment acknowledges the legal infirmities with the city’s recent changes to the short-term rental law,” Airbnb said. “The fact remains that the ordinance as it stands today violates federal law, and these new proposed amendments still wouldn’t resolve the legal shortcomings that were raised in our complaint. We remain hopeful that we can work together to find solutions that address our shared policy concerns.”

The revision would allow the city’s Office of Short-Term Rentals to subpoena records from hosting services when it discovers possible violations of the city’s vacation-rental laws. Airbnb’s lawsuit said it could not legally provide information on its hosts without being subpoenaed.

In another change, companies like Airbnb, HomeAway and FlipKey would have to submit monthly affidavits affirming that all their guest stays in San Francisco were in “lawfully registered” properties. The update would also require the companies to keep three years’ worth of records on hosts and guest stays in San Francisco.

Possible exemptions

While Airbnb and FlipKey handle all transactions for their hosts, HomeAway and its VRBO subsidiary function more like classified-listing sites, similar to Craigslist. That could exempt HomeAway from the new requirements.

“If a platform does not get a fee for booking services, it would be outside the purview” of the revised law, said Robb Kapla, a deputy city attorney.

Expedia’s HomeAway and TripAdvisor’s FlipKey had expressed interest in joining Airbnb’s lawsuit against the city. U.S. District Judge James Donato gave them until Tuesday to file motions. Although sources said they were expected to so, those motions had not been submitted by late Tuesday afternoon. The companies did not respond to requests for comment.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

Palm Springs votes to secure vacation rental rights

VRM Intel Staff

July 7, 2016

By Skip Descant – For now there will be no moratorium on new vacation rentals in Palm Springs as city leaders opted to explore changes to the proposal to better accommodate the tourism industry and neighborhood groups.

The move keeps in place Palm Springs’ vacation rentals policy, and the city will resume issuing new permits Thursday.

City Council had been prepared to explore placing a temporary moratorium on new vacation rentals, a move that galvanized opposition and support and drew hundreds to Palm Springs City Hall on Wednesday.

Sensing the passion from each side, Mayor Robert Moon announced via Facebook, that the council will limit the number of speakers to 10 persons from each side. However, at the start of Wednesday night’s meeting the item was pulled from the agenda.

The crowd – filling the main council chambers and an overflow conference room – erupted in applause after learning the issue has been put on hold and City Hall would resume issuing permits.

The move to restrict rentals bubbled to the surface over the weekend, prompting sharp criticisms from the tourism industry, saying such a significant issue should not be rushed as an “urgency ordinance” without hearing thoroughly from stakeholders.

“This has also been about due process,” remarked Kelly McLean, of McLean Company Rentals, one of the longest running vacation rentals management firms in the city.

“We want to work with the subcommittee process,” said McLean.

“This proposed ban, though temporary, has already created economic turmoil in the real estate industry and business communities,” wrote the Palm Springs Vacation Rental Tourism Association in a statement Wednesday. “It does nothing to address the main concerns of residents and the root problem of enforcement, and poses the real threat of creating more problems by forcing future rentals underground with no accountability to the city and residents.”

A moratorium would have required approval from a super-majority of four out of five council members. It could have placed a moratorium on new vacation rentals until March 31, 2017, according to city documents.

From July 2015 to April, Palm Springs collected $21,769,881 in transient occupancy taxes. The city’s 1,819 registered vacation rentals accounted for more than 25 percent of Palm Springs’ TOT collections.

Since the city of Palm Springs began tracking the number of vacation rental properties in 2009, it has seen a 94 percent increase in the number of certified vacation rental properties. The city estimates that almost 10 percent of all the “roof-tops” in the city are now certified vacation rental properties.

Marla Malaspina, part of the steering committee for Protect Our Neighborhoods, said in an email that the moratorium on all short-term vacation rentals gives the city time to meet with more stakeholders and learn about the impact vacation rentals have on the city.

Protect Our Neighborhoods, an organization representing people who feel short-term rentals are bad for the city, disputes that these ordinances will depress property values and believes the only people hurt by this moratorium “is the vacation rental industry and its outsider clients who couldn’t care less about the quality-of-life issues facing residents,” Malaspina said earlier this week.

By Skip Descant, Desert Sun

Airbnb Plans Dual Stock Sales to Push Off IPO

VRM Intel Staff

June 30, 2016

WSJ -By Rolfe Winkler, Douglas Macmillan and Maureen Farrell – Airbnb Inc. lined up investors for a new funding round and an employee stock sale that will value the room-rental website at up to $30 billion and help defer an initial public offering, said people familiar with the matter.

The San Francisco company plans to raise between $500 million and $1 billion from more than a half dozen large, investors in the coming weeks, the people said. The deal is expected to value Airbnb at about $30 billion, up from $25.5 billion a year ago.

One of the people familiar with the deal later clarified the company expects to raise up to $750 million.

In a separate transaction, investors are planning to buy about $200 million in stock from Airbnb employees, one person said. Because those investors will be purchasing common shares, rather than preferred shares which grant certain investor protections, the employee stock sale is expected to value Airbnb at less than $30 billion, the people said.

That transaction could value Airbnb as low as $25 billion, one of the people familiar with the deal said.

Airbnb has already selected investors and expects both deals to close this summer. It is unlikely to pursue an IPO in 2016 or 2017 as it continues to expand aggressively, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Airbnb projected an operating loss of about $150 million last year. The company also told prospective investors last year that it expected to achieve $3 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by 2020.

All short-term rentals banned in Anaheim by City Council

VRM Intel Staff

June 30, 2016

By Joseph Pimentel – After a five-and-half hour special meeting Wednesday, the Anaheim City Council voted to ban the operation of short-term rentals.

The owners of the 363 permitted short-term rentals will have 18 months to stop operating. (HomeAway has over 1,500 listings, half of which are property managed).

Mayor Tom Tait and Councilmen James Vanderbilt and Jordan Brandman voted for the ban. Councilwomen Kris Murray and Lucille Kring voted against it.

“The sharing economy is exciting and something that gives people a chance to earn extra income but this is not really the sharing economy,”Tait said. “These are motels in residential neighborhoods.”

The meeting capped off years of debate between residents, who claimed that the steady stream of vacationers in their neighborhoods ruined their quality of life, and vacation rental owners, who say they invested heavily in turning eyesore properties into beautiful income homes.

An overflow crowd of residents lined up to take the podium Wednesday evening as the council weighed whether it would have a ban or impose stricter regulations on short-term rentals.

Wearing white T-shirts and holding up signs with “Ban STRs,” opponents packed City Hall for an indoor rally and picketed outside before the meeting started.

Organizers riled up a crowd of more than 150 people inside the chamber with chants of “Si Se Puede!” (Spanish for “Yes, we can!”) and yelled that these “businesses don’t belong in our residential neighborhoods.”

With popular destinations such as Disneyland, the Anaheim Convention Center, Angel Stadium and Honda Center, Anaheim has become a hot spot in the “sharing economy” as families look to websites such as Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway for ways to shave their vacation expenses.

Residents have pushed the city to step up enforcement, complaining that vacationers are staying in “mini-hotels” and holding rowdy all-night parties, littering the streets and taking up parking spots.

“STRs are a cancer, and they need to be banned,” said Peter Page, adding that the $200,000 enforcement cost the city pays overseeing the homes is not worth the $3 million they’ve brought into the city since July 2014. “This does not help the community.”

“For the past several years, Anaheim residents have suffered,” said Martin Lopez, a resident of Sherwood Village, where he says 50 of the 211 town homes are operated as short-term rentals. “I urge you to ban STRs, current and future.”

Short-term rental owners argue that they fix up properties that enhance the look of the neighborhoods, help surrounding home values and bring in much-needed revenue for the city.

“Before my husband and I moved into our home, some of the homes in our neighborhood were not kept up. Some were abandoned,” said resident Beth Farnell. “Ever since STRs became more prevalent, those unsightly homes have become some of the most beautiful homes in our neighborhood.”

The council weighed two options:

A complete ban of short-term rentals, with current permits phased out in three years, which was later changed to 18 months.

Or enhanced regulations to limit the number of people staying at a home; extended “quiet time” hours; providing neighbors with a contact who responds “around the clock,” and increasing the age of renters to 21. Owners would also lose a permit if they are cited for two major violations in a 12-month period.

City officials also said they would enhance its current regulations. Anyone caught operating an unpermitted short-term rental would have their home’s power and water turned off. Anaheim runs its own electric and water systems.

Anaheim began handing out permits to operate homes as short-term lodgings in 2014. Operators pay an annual $250 registration fee, and guests pay a 15 percent tax on their bill, the same as those staying at a local hotel. After the number of permits doubled to 400 within a year, the city in 2015 issued an emergency moratorium on more permits.

After the vote, several short-term rental owners cried and stood, stunned, outside the council chamber.

“The sad thing is we worked so hard to do the right thing,” said Valerie Van De Zilver, who represents 23 short-term rental owners. “We’ve taken care of our properties … it’s tough to lose when you’re doing the right things.”

LeisureLink® Releases New Guide to Help Vacation Rental Property Management Companies Make More Money

VRM Intel Staff

June 29, 2016

In their continuing effort to give Property Management Companies (PMCs) the tools they need to successfully market their vacation rentals online, LeisureLink has published a free guide titled “Make More Money: Turning Your Property Management Company into a Revenue Generating Machine”. LeisureLink has been the global leader in innovative vacation rental technology and distribution since 2007 and has delivered over $1 billion in bookings to its clients.

PMCs are responsible for marketing rentals, serving guests and satisfying owners, often with minimal staff and strict budgetary constraints. At the end of the day, these efforts must result in profits. To do this, PMCs have to stay competitive to increase revenue in all possible ways. The 19-page eBook is available for free download at leisurelink.com/make-more-money-ebook and explores the most effective strategies to make more money in the following chapters:

Making the Most Out of Mobile
The Value of Data and Consolidated Reporting
Understanding True Competition to Increase Vacation Rental Revenue and Profitability
What Hospitality and Channel Management Technology Have in Common
LeisureLink FastPay: Increasing Profitability in the Midst of Unpredictable OTAs
A Deep Dive into Single Contracts & OTA Performance: Precious Time, Pooled Inventory, and Preventative Maintenance
Ancillary Services: Essential in the 2016 Hospitality Industry

According to LeisureLink CEO, Julian Castelli, the emerging nature of the vacation rental market has provided unparalleled growth opportunities for PMCs. “Online marketing, distribution, and mobile are proving to be the wave of the future as it is significantly impacting the vacation rental industry today. We are excited to have the opportunity to help PMCs discover how the latest trends and technologies align with their critical business objectives and driving revenue.”

As the preferred choice for top performing vacation rental suppliers, LeisureLink offers three main products to help grow revenue for hotels, vacation rentals, timeshares, and resorts: Managed Distribution, Reservation Services, and Booking Engine Technology. In addition to providing access to the industry’s largest distribution network, LeisureLink owns a family of consumer brands including VacationRoost, Mountain Reservations, Mexican Destinations and Hawaiian Beach Rentals.

“We’ve learned a lot working with hundreds of PMCs over the years, so it was a pure pleasure for us to compile highlights of our revenue enhancing expertise into this book,” Castelli adds. “We encourage all PMCs to download a copy today.”

The complimentary guide filled with actionable tips and strategies is available at www.leisurelink.com/make-more-money-ebook/. To learn more or request a live demo of the LeisureLink suite of solutions, please visit www.leisurelink.com/schedule-a-demo/ or call 800-976-4925.

ABOUT LEISURELINK
LeisureLink helps vacation rental companies maximize bookings online, offline, anywhere. Through industry leading online connectivity tools, such as distribution, yield management, and booking engines, LeisureLink drives better lead conversion without the time-consuming work of managing multiple extranets. With the industry”s largest distribution network, vacation properties have the opportunity to connect to top online travel channels like Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, HomeAway, all the major GDS players and travel sites. Suppliers can manage all of their listings from one platform – optimizing rates, availability, specials, and content changes. LeisureLink consolidates all accounting, payables, and receivables with a single, source of payment, providing clarity to the often-complex accounting issues. Founded in 2007, LeisureLink is a privately held company and headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT. For more information, please call 800-976-4925 or visit leisurelink.com.

Unless indicated otherwise, all trademarks and service marks herein are trademarks of LeisureLink or an affiliate thereof.

Airbnb’s Michael Endelman Joins LiveRez Partner Conference as Key Instructor

VRM Intel Staff

June 28, 2016

LiveRez.com, today announced that Airbnb’s Michael Endelman will join its growing roster of instructors at the company’s annual Partner Conference October 10 through October 13 at the Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Austin, TX.

Endelman, a content and experience strategist for Airbnb, is a highly-regarded expert in using content to engage travelers. His past experience includes a stint as a senior content strategist for Google, as well as editor gigs at Rolling Stone Magazine, Food & Wine Magazine and Spin Magazine.

“Securing Michael as an instructor was a huge goal for us,” said LiveRez VP of Operations Tina Upson. “Not only does he have deep experience in writing and editing content that engages travelers, but he’s tuned in on a daily basis to what’s helping hosts get more bookings on Airbnb.”

In 2015, LiveRez was selected by Airbnb as the first North American property management software it would integrate with. This came after Airbnb Head of Global Vacation Rentals Shaun Stewart met with 87 different software providers worldwide.

In the past year, hundreds of professional property managers using LiveRez (called partners) have found success advertising their properties on Airbnb through LiveRez’s real-time integration with the global leader. In addition to the convenience and cost savings of the integration, LiveRez partners are also seeing an uptick in revenue.

At the 2016 LiveRez Partner Conference, Endelman will teach a variety of classes on how managers can further optimize their properties listings on Airbnb and elsewhere, and use this content to better engage travelers and earn more bookings.

Endelman joins a stacked lineup of instructors at this year’s conference. In fact, he’s the second high-profile instructor LiveRez has announced in just the past week. On Thursday, the company released the news that it had secured vacation rental marketing expert Matt Landau as a key instructor for its marketing classes.

To learn more about the 2016 LiveRez Partner Conference, visit Conference.LiveRez.com.

About LiveRez.com

LiveRez.com is a complete, online, vacation rental property management solution, focused on making vacation rental property managers fully operational online and thereby increasing bookings. LiveRez.com offers an all-in-one cloud-based platform, featuring best-in-class websites optimized for online bookings, a full-featured reservation and property management system, a robust CRM system, an exclusive connection to QuickBooks for trust accounting, and a unique “Pay-for-Performance” approach, which provides a mutually beneficial partnership between LiveRez.com and its vacation rental manager partners. The company’s largest competitor is HomeAway Software for Professionals.

NEW VRM Intel Live! Coming to Wilmington and Sandestin

VRM Intel Staff

June 28, 2016

VRM Intel Live! is coming this fall to Wilmington and Sandestin, and you are invited to see some of your favorite writers LIVE and in person.

October 26 in Wilmington, NC
November 30 in Sandestin, FL

With a high-level agenda designed to provide top-tier education about the issues that professional property managers care about in today’s vacation rental marketplace. VRM Intel Live! is designed with three educational tracks to give your team a full day of information and intel for vacation rental managers.

Click here to view the Live! full agenda with sessions such as:

Toppling the Competition with Park Brady
Company-Wide Customer Service Goals with Doug Kennedy
Listing Site Optimization and Independence with Amber Mayer
2017 Marketing Plans with Amy Hinote
Cutting Costs and Increasing Profitability with Ben Edwards
SEO/SEM with a panel of top online marketers in the vacation rental industry
Compensation, Subcontractors and Overtime with Sue Jones
and Revenue Management, Marketing Automation, Q&A with Experts, Live Product Demos and much more!

Plus Breakfast, Lunch, Friends and Networking!

View the full agenda.

The cost is $79 per attendee. Bring four or more attendees and receive 25% off.

Register for Wilmington

Click here to register for VRM Intel Live! in Wilmington

The Hilton Wilmington Riverside is offering a group rate of $139 per night. Use VRMintel when making your reservation at 910-763-5900.

Registration for Sandestin is opening soon!

Making the Most of Off-Season Business

VRM Intel Staff

June 26, 2016

By Josh Guerra, Bizcor – Vacation off-season can be one of the most frustrating times for rental owners, especially if their property isn’t in a year-long destination, such as somewhere tropical. Vacation rentals tend to sit vacant more than you’d think, actually: up to 85% of the year for most properties. When you include the nearly six million vacation homes throughout the country, that adds up to an incredible amount of vacancy. While this is completely normal throughout the vacation rental business, that doesn’t mean you have to accept it!

Every vacation rental owner and property manager knows to plan for the off-season, but often, this just consists of gritting their teeth and bearing the slow period. For those of you who are tired of staring at an empty booking schedule, it’s time for a new plan! Wherever there are people, there are bound to be attractions; it’s all in how you highlight them. Read on for a list of our top tips and tricks that can help you draw in customers to your property during the off-season!

Bring Back Previous Guests

The first and most lucrative pool for you to tap into to help improve your off-season rental rates are your previous guests. Because they have already seen (and most likely enjoyed) how nice your property and the surrounding area are, they don’t have to be convinced that they will have a good time; your goal here is to draw them in with a convincing deal. There are a few ways you can do this, such as:

Personal Calls – If you have plenty of information collected from previous guests—put it to good use! A personalized call to ask how they enjoyed their stay is a great opportunity for you to ask them to come back—with an incentive, of course! Sweeten the deal with a limited time customer appreciation rate or added amenities.
Email Specials – A monthly email newsletter is one of the best ways to get guests back to your property during the off-season. You can include and highlight the interesting activities available during these off-season months, as well as include special deals and packages that will draw anyone’s interest.

Highlight Off-Season Draws

Despite it being the off-season, there are still bound to be plenty of things to do and see nearby your vacation rental. After all, locals are there all year long, and they don’t want to be bored, either! Find those interesting things to do and places to visit, and then promote them to your potential guests relentlessly. Local museums, theaters, or concert venues make great highlights for indoor activities, while hiking trails, swimming pools, or skiing opportunities are good points to sell for outdoor enthusiasts.

No matter what you choose to promote, keep one thing in mind: Off-season is still the off-season. Even the most amazing marketing can’t completely counteract the fact that there’s a reason for a lull in business. Temper your expectations, but set yourself up for success anyway!

Utilizing Paid Search Ads to the Fullest

Online marketing through the use of paid search can be extremely effective at generating traffic for your property, especially if used correctly. Sure, there is something to be said for high saturation advertising, but in order to truly maximize the effectiveness of your ads, you’ll need to target the proper demographics—those who will convert on your site. For off-season vacations, you should target your ads towards people looking for special rates and cheap deals.

By letting people haggle and “name their price,” a popular method recently, you can attract deal hunters and other guests you may not have previously converted. Since the rooms you will be filling would have been empty otherwise, you aren’t really losing money by offering cheaper rates. The most important thing is to drum up new business and fill your rentals!

Charity Auction Demand – Geronimo

The final tip for filling your rentals during off-season involves something you may have never considered: charity auctions. In fact, charity auctions and fundraisers frequently raffle off vacations as prizes; they happen to be the most popular prize! This enormous market is just waiting for you to dip your toes into its waters, but how do you get started?

Services such as Geronimo.com are the perfect way for you to get into the charity auction game. You can promote your off-season properties to non-profits for both profit and visibility. Thousands of organizations will be able to see your property, including through slideshows and video footage promoting your property at these auctions, giving you significantly more chances to fill vacancies in your bookings calendar.

Through Geronimo’s vacation certificate platform, your property will be marketed to non-profits across the country, creating an entirely new market for your rentals. With easy setup and integration (you will receive calls from certificate holders to book your property) there’s nothing but upside to using this type of marketing system.

Charleston officials starting short-term rental task force

VRM Intel Staff

June 26, 2016

To Lauren Packert, the charm of Charleston is mostly meant for people who live in the Holy City.But she’s torn, when it comes to whether short-term rentals websites, like Airbnb and VRBO, are good or bad.”If you’re bringing in more visitors and tourists, it might take away from the charm of Charleston.

But then again, it could bring in tourists to bring in more revenue for the city,” she said.

A task force is now studying this issue at city hall; do short-term rentals push out people who live in the Lowcountry to make room for visitors?Planning director Jacob Lindsey admits the task force’s mission is vague for a reason.”We don’t really understand the effects of short-term rentals or residential hotels on the city. So this process of studying how they work will give us better insight about effects on quality of life,” he said.

He said 18 people appointed by city council and the mayor would comprise the task force. The mayor will appoint six members while council members appoint the rest.

“The most important thing for us is the quality of life for residents who live here. So we want to make sure that our neighborhoods are protected, that city doesn’t become one giant hotel,” he said.

Right now, short-term rentals for less than a month are not allowed in most of the city, except for the Cannonborough-Elliotborough neighborhood. But the president of the S.C. Vacation Rental Managers Association hoped the task force would find a way to accommodate its members.

Charleston chapter president Denise Holtz released a statement Thursday:

Making short-term rentals a legal and effectively regulated travel option is a win-win for everyone. It addresses the concerns of the community, protects local homeowners looking to make ends meet, and it preserves a critical lodging option for travelers. Charleston short-term rental operators want to pay taxes, follow the rules, improve our neighborhoods, and continue to offer travelers the unique opportunity to stay local. We look forward to continuing our conversations with the city and working with the Task Force to craft an ordinance that protects local property rights and preserves the long-standing vacation rental industry here in Charleston.

The task force will start meeting in about a week, Lindsey said. He did not know how long the work would last.

Vacation Rental Pros Rapidly Expanding with Acquisition of Waterfront Vacation Rentals

VRM Intel Staff

June 26, 2016

Vacation Rental Pros, LLC, one of the fastest growing vacation rental management companies in North America, reached an agreement to acquire Waterfront Vacation Rentals, based in St Petersburg, Florida.

The move adds an additional 185 St Petersburg Beach-area vacation rental properties to the management portfolio of Vacation Rental Pros, giving the company over 1,650 total properties under exclusive management contract.

“We are thrilled to expand our existing presence in the Tampa/St Petersburg market, which plays host to more than 21 million travelers per year,” said Steve Milo, founder and owner of Vacation Rental Pros. “In addition to Waterfront’s existing client base, their top-notch management team brings a wealth of experience in new and growing markets of St Petersburg Beach, Clearwater Beach, Madiera Beach and Indian Shores, and puts us in an excellent position for even more growth in the near future in Southwest Florida.”

Prior to the acquisition of Waterfront, Vacation Rental Pros had expanded into Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Smoky Mountains with the acquisition Jackson Mountain Homes in March 2016, and into Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with the purchase of Hilton Head Rentals and Golf in December 2015.

Vacation Rental Pros is a growing and innovative property management and rental reservation system which leverages a proprietary technology platform to maximize occupancy and revenue. As a result of the Company’s integration platform and marketing expertise, the company is successfully expanding through both acquisition and organic growth into its new markets. The Waterfront Vacation Rental deal is the fourth major acquisition in 12 months for Milo’s company which forecast’s growth of 60% in 2016.

According to Steve Milo, there will be several additional acquisitions in 2016 with more in the 4th quarter which is the off season for many property management companies in North America.

“Vacation Rental Pros is getting approached by more and more sellers as the vacation rental market gets more and more complex due to technology and the significant changing business models with online travel sites,” said Milo. “The recent major changes at HomeAway with their business model as well as ongoing negative performance with TripAdvisor’s/Flipkey’s vacation rental platform have caused severe disruption in traditional relied upon marketing channels. A growing segment of vacation rental management companies and owners are becoming concerned that they are unable to navigate this disruption which has caused traditional revenue sources to decline, and which many fear will only continue to change at a pace that will be difficult for them to keep up. Many of the sellers we talk to started out when there was little technology, and advertising channels did not change their business models on the fly with little or no notice to their client.”

“Sellers are approaching Vacation Rental Pros because we have an exceptional reputation in understanding how to manage a vacation rental business that business owners worked so hard to build,” said Milo. “We know how to keep the property owners happy, and we are keeping their brands active in each market. Plus, we know how to leverage our technology platform in each market to increase revenue.”

Milo added, “And, when they talk to me, they are talking to the principle. I have built this business without venture capital partners or other outside equity partners. I am the decision maker.”

According to Milo, “Vacation Rental Pros has built the best technology platform model in the industry to expand in both a scaleable and sustainable manner. We have built this platform through a focus on technical efficiency which translates nicely to expanding incremental profitability. We have a powerful mix of robust growth, profit and no dilution of equity.”

Vacation Rental Marketing Expert Matt Landau Joins LiveRez Partner Conference as Key Instructor

VRM Intel Staff

June 25, 2016

LiveRez.com, the most widely used cloud-based software for professional vacation rental managers, today announced that Matt Landau will join its growing roster of instructors at the company’s annual Partner Conference October 10 through October 13 at the Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Austin, TX.

Landau’s Vacation Rental Marketing Blog (VRMB) is one of the top blogs in the vacation rental industry. Each month the publication attracts more than 15,000 visitors and its Inner Circle (a private community that financially supports the free blog) has grown to nearly 800 members.

“Matt is widely regarded as one of the world’s top experts in vacation rental marketing,” said LiveRez VP of Operations Tina Upson. “And, we’re thrilled to have him join the LiveRez community as a key instructor at our 2016 Partner Conference.”

This year LiveRez is splitting the conference into two different training tracks, a “Coaches Track” intended for company leaders that focuses on growing your business, and an “Athletes Track” that focuses on intensive system training and is designed for team members that are executing a company’s daily operations.

The instructors in the Coaches Track will be made up primarily of the industry’s top experts in different subject areas, whereas the Athletes Track will feature a mix of LiveRez software experts, ranging from LiveRez team members to professional property managers using LiveRez (called partners).

Landau will teach two classes in the “Coaches Track.” The first class will focus on creating a balanced marketing portfolio, with an emphasis on building your own brand. The second class will walk professional managers through the process of building their 2017 marketing plan.

“The definition of what it means to be a successful property manager today is dramatically different than what it meant only 10 years back,” Landau said. “Industry events like these are vital to the well-being and sustainability of the vacation rental industry as a whole because they bring progressive thinkers together under one roof, and they prove that you don’t have to run your business the way big corporations expect.”

In addition to two separate training tracks, the conference will also include a big reveal of new technology, as well as exciting keynote speakers, which the company will begin to announce in the coming weeks.

To learn more about the 2016 LiveRez Partner Conference, visit Conference.LiveRez.com.

About LiveRez.com

LiveRez.com is a complete, online, vacation rental property management solution, focused on making vacation rental property managers fully operational online and thereby increasing bookings. LiveRez.com offers an all-in-one, cloud-based platform, featuring best-in-class websites optimized for online bookings, a full-featured reservation and property management system, a robust CRM system, an exclusive connection to QuickBooks for trust accounting, and a unique “Pay-for-Performance” approach, which provides a mutually beneficial partnership between LiveRez.com and its vacation rental manager partners. The company’s largest competitor is HomeAway Software for Professionals.

Hey, Chicago: Here Come The Airbnb Regulations

VRM Intel Staff

June 24, 2016

Airbnb will be allowed to operate in Chicago after the city council passed two measures on Wednesday that allow short-term rentals, but there will be a few restrictions on that process.

Under the new rules, there’s a cap on how many listings are allowed in each building, the Chicago Tribune reports: buildings with fewer than five units will be allowed only one unit listed online at a time, while buildings larger than that will be limited to six units or 35% of the total number of units, whichever is less.

If you think you’re suffering “an extraordinary burden” by not being allowed to exceed the limit in smaller buildings, you can try to convince the city Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to make an exception.

In certain neighborhoods with single-family homes, individuals can also petition the city to either ban new Airbnb listings in the area outright, or allow them only in the “primary residences” of the people listing the properties. That process can be challenged, however, as the new ordinance lets residents within the precinct to get their own signatures on a petition to overturn it.

Airbnb will also have to pay fees to the city, including a $10,000 license the company will have to buy to operate in Chicago, and a 4% tax on each rental that will go toward providing services for homeless people. Each Chicago address listed on the site comes with a $60 charge as well, which the city says it will use to help cover the cost of enforcing the rules.

Airbnb rules easily pass Chicago City Council despite vocal opposition [Chicago Tribune]

InvitedHome Hires Head of Revenue Management

VRM Intel Staff

June 22, 2016

InvitedHome, one of the country’s growing multi-destination vacation home rental brands, announces that travel industry expert Owen Miller has been hired as Head of Revenue Management. The role will focus acutely on maximizing revenue for owners, refining rental processes, and delivering the best possible rates to vacationers all around the country.

Miller comes to InvitedHome from the airline industry, where he most recently headed revenue management and pricing for Frontier Airlines in Denver. There, his team was responsible for establishing pricing strategies, managing seat inventory, and initiating sales for the $1.6+ billion revenue airline. Prior to that role, Miller was part of Seabury Group in New York, where he spent five years as a management consultant working directly with airlines around the globe. He began his storied career working in revenue management at Continental Airlines in Houston, and has been building travel industry-related skills and experience ever since.

“Owen comes to us with a great deal of education and experience related to our industry,” said InvitedHome CEO, Michael Joseph. “We’re excited for him to lead our team in increasing revenue, optimizing calendars, and increasing efficiencies for our owners, our guests, and InvitedHome.” Miller holds a Master’s in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rice University.

An avid traveler, Miller has made good use of his airline flight benefits and business travels to see different corners of the world, and will bring a unique perspective to the already well-traveled InvitedHome team.

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11 HomeAway Takeaways from Expedia’s Q2 2016 Earnings Call

1. Transition from Classified Advertising to a Travel Ecommerce Business

2. Increase in Online Bookable Listings

3. Impact of the Addition of Booking Fees

4. Subscription vs PPB Listings

5. Growth in Professionally Managed Listings vs Owner Listings

6. Increase in Transactional Revenue

7. Increased Marketing Spend

8. Online Payments and Traveler Guarantee

9. Vacation Rental Regulatory Impact

10. Addition of Urban Destinations

11. Integration of HomeAway’s Inventory into Expedia’s Broader Network

Here are 3 tips on how to convince your audience that booking direct is best:

1. Reinforce Best Price Guarantee

2. Simpler Design and Booking Process

3. Highlight Direct Booking Benefits

About Tambourine

September

Webinar: Five Formulas to Audit Your Revenue Performance

Webinar: Intro to Dynamic Pricing and Yield Management for Vacation Rentals

RezFest

Streamline Summit

October

LiveRez Partner Conference

Annual VRMA Conference

VRM Intel Live! East Coast

November

VRHP National Conference

OPMA Fall Executive Summit

VRM Intel Live! Gulf Coast

December

NEVRMA

Potential penalties

Possible exemptions

Register for Wilmington

Bring Back Previous Guests

Highlight Off-Season Draws

Utilizing Paid Search Ads to the Fullest

Charity Auction Demand – Geronimo

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