Escapia Blog - Vacation Rental News and Trends

New Video: Why did you attend the Escapia Vacation Rental Seminar?

By Kris Lande, Product Marketing Manager

Over the last few years, we've gotten the chance to meet hundreds of vacation rental managers at our Vacation Rental Seminar series.  Managers come from all areas of the country to learn about the state of the vacation rental industry, the latest technology being used, increasing revenue and expanding their web presence - among many other topics.  If you haven't yet had the chance to go to the Vacation Rental Seminar, we highly encourage you take advantage of it.   Of course, don't only take our word for it!  From over 90+ seminars, feedback from our past attendees has been 100% positive. 

To give you a better idea of what to expect from the seminar, I asked a handful of attendees "Why did you attend the vacation rental seminar?"  Below is a video of their answers...

To see a list of upcoming seminar locations and topics to be presented visit www.vrseminar.com. We hope to see you at an upcoming vacation rental seminar very soon!

Observations from Palm Springs

By Bryan Boice, National Sales Manager

Last week Mike Zaroudny, John Suzuki and I traveled to the desert for our annual Palm Springs vacation rental breakfast seminar. We had a great turnout of local vacation rental professionals excited to learn and improve their businesses. It was clear folks can see the “light at the end of the tunnel” and most are hopeful that the worst of the recession seems to be behind us. Here are several observations that I made during our visits with managers:

1. Lead times have shrunk in the Coachella Valley more noticeably this year than ever before. Our data confirms this; 
2. Guests are in the mood to bargain. Local and national media outlets have publicized 2009 as the “Year of the Travel Deal”. Travelers know we’ve got vacancies and their schedules are flexible enough to capitalize on higher than normal supply. Unlike other areas we’ve been recently, managers in Palm Springs are willing to provide those deals to attract clients and generate bookings; 
3. Yield Management techniques are being used to help increase occupancy and revenue. I was surprised at the number of property managers employing manual yield management techniques. What does this mean? It’s telling reservationists to offer 20% off for next week when they talk to guests. It’s looking at bookings today for August and deciding to decrease the nightly minimum from 7 nights to 3 to generate more bookings. We’ve all been doing this for years. Progressive managers of all sizes see a huge competitive advantage with Escapia’s automated yield management system; 
4. It’s hot in Palm Springs in June. You know this and I know it, but it’s always a shock to actually experience 110 degree desert heat in person. Can someone just follow me around with patio misters?  

Half way through 2009 and more than half way done with bookings

by Bill Furlong, CEO

Yesterday marked the first day of the second half of 2009.  While that means the year is 50% over, the vacation rental booking year is more than half way done.  Looking at bookings from 2008, we can see that July 1 marked the 56% point in the annual vacation rental booking calendar.  In other words, 56% of all the bookings received by agencies in our analysis were recieved in the first half of 2008.

Of course, given the challenges of the past six months and the hope for an economic recovery, with any luck we'll find that 2009 will be different with more than half of the year's bookings coming in the second half.  We can always hope!

Coming soon...Escapia's exclusive look at the vacation rental trends during the second quarter of 2009.

Get to Know an Escapian - Edsel Moraleja

by Bill Furlong, CEO

Note: This post is part of an occasional series profiling the members of the Escapia team.

Realizing the promise of the EscapiaONE platform begins with getting the system set up and learning how to put the power of the platform to work for your vacation rental agency.

Edsel Moraleja is the member of the Escapia team responsible for managing the implementation process for new Escapia clients.  With a rapidly growing client base and ever more powerful features, that makes Edsel a very busy guy!  Fortunately, he is also a very energetic and enthusiastic guy.

In addition to hearing Edsel talk about what he does at Escapia, you'll enjoy hearing him dream about his dream vacation.

Press Release: Escapia Exceeds Funding Goal; Raises $1.6 million To Expand Vacation Rental Software Platform and Online Distribution Network

Escapia (www.escapia.com), the leading provider of web-based management and marketing solutions for vacation rental managers, today announced the completion of a $1.6 million round of funding.  The new funding allows the company to extend its leadership in web hosted software for vacation rental managers and to capitalize on the breakneck growth in its consumer bookings business.  The round, which exceeded the company’s goals for the amount of new capital raised, is being led by existing investors including Steven D. Murch, Buerk Dale Victor, and Atlas Accelerator.

Escapia’s web-based vacation rental software platform simplifies how professional vacation rental managers market and manage their vacation homes.  Escapia streamlines reservations, accounting and property management, enables online reservations, provides fully integrated distribution reaching tens of millions of online travelers each month, delivers agencies world-class website solutions, enhances security and provides unparalleled flexibility in running vacation rental businesses.  Today Escapia powers the back office and websites for hundreds of vacation rental agencies, providing them with online availability, booking and direct integration with their reservation desks.  The Escapia web-hosted software platform has powered over half a billion dollars worth of vacation rental bookings.

The new funding allows the company to build on an impressive track record of growth.  Over the past year Escapia has dramatically expanded its consumer business, added to its client base, and expanded its suite of services.  Consumer bookings driven by the Escapia platform to vacation rental managers has increased by over 400% compared to a year ago.  The number of vacation rental agencies using the leading Escapia web-hosted vacation rental software platform has increased by 25%, even in the midst of a sharp recession.  And the company has released innovative technology including the first integrated yield management system available to vacation rental managers.

The company’s CEO Bill Furlong said, “We’re thrilled to have closed additional funding to accelerate development of our software platform and expand the breadth and sophistication of our online distribution.  Our investors see the opportunity to dramatically improve the ability of vacation rental managers to serve travelers looking online for vacation homes.  We’re focused on expanding what is already the most advanced property management and online distribution capability available to vacation rental managers.”

Escapia in 5 Minutes

By John Suzuki, VP of Sales

For you who wonder how we get so much done at Escapia, this 5 minute video will show you how everything fits together for professional vacation rental managers. It's all about a great team of people helping you do better business and do business better.

Oh, and if you can't stand the first 45 seconds of me, you can always fast forward!

VR Managers in the OC Combat the Recession with Deals & Discounts

By Kris Lande, Product Marketing Manager


The OC Register recently published this article on vacation rental companies in Orange County that are using deals to stay afloat during the recession. The article revealed that in Orange County, the vacationers are still coming - they are just waiting until the very last minute to book their vacation rentals.  

Escapia customer Craig Batley of Burr White Realty stated "What's happening is rather than people planning a trip 92 to 100 days ahead, we are getting a good amount of last-minute people."  Burr White found that bookings are down 10 to 15 percent this year, so to fill those vacancies, they are offering last minute discounts and deals of up to 15 percent. 

Discounts?  Last-minute deals?  Yep - you know where I'm headed, to one of our favorite things: Yield Management using Escapia's Advanced Rate Engine.  The economic climate has most definitely changed the landscape of travel recently, so being able to offer discounts and deals to take advantage of last minute bookings is key.  Just ask the OC!

Don't Quit

By John Suzuki, VP Sales

To you who are challenged in these tough economic times,
To you who have been beaten up by stressed out owners,
To you who seek solutions to help those you serve, don't give up.
The answers to your challenges may be within your grasp at any moment. This is one of my favorites. Enjoy.

Don't Quit
When thing go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with one more blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver lining in the cloud of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
                    -Anonymous

It's easy to give up. Just don't.

Yield Management Video for Escapia Clients

By John Suzuki, VP Sales

It's one of the hottest topics of discussion in vacation rentals today and a popular segment of our breakfast seminars: Yield Management.

This video was produced for our customers and covers what Yield Management is, and why it is the single most important tool in today's competitive market. It's all about setting the right rates at the right time, and offering your vacation homes with the right discounts AND premiums based on constantly changing business conditions.

I hope you will find this interesting and informative.

Press Release: Escapia Names the Top Ten Vacation Rental Satisfaction Superstars

By Kris Lande, Product Marketing Manager

It's no secret, at Escapia we LOVE guest reviews.  We feel that guest reviews are one of the most powerful tools vacation rental managers have to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.  Guest reviews drive additional bookings by giving online travelers the confidence they need to book your vacation rentals.  In fact, our data shows that the ratio of bookings for units with reviews is 41% higher than for those without reviews. 

That said, we wanted showcase some vacation rental managers that are guest review superstars, so we compiled a top ten list of vacation rental managers who are getting the highest satisfaction ratings from past guests.  The ratings, done using the EscapiaOne ratings and review system, are 100% verified to come from past guests and reflect the opinions of more than 50,000 guests.

And the winners are...(drumroll please!)

• Mountain Vista Luxury Rentals (Gatlinburg, TN)
• Cannon Beach Property Management, Inc. (Cannon Beach, OR)
• Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations (Oakland, MD)
• ResorticaHawaii.com (Kamuela, HI)
• Breen Vacation Station (Cambria, CA)
• Sliding Rock Cabins (Ellijay, GA)
• Coastal Escapes (Cambria, CA)
• BeachFront Only Vacation Rentals (San Diego, CA)
• The Vacation Company (Hilton Head, SC)
• Palm Island Resort (Cape Haze, FL)
• South Padre Beach Houses & Condos, Inc. (South Padre Island, TX).

Congratulations to our winners; and job well done for taking excellent care of their guests and giving vacation rentals a great reputation! 

Click here to read the entire press release.