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As of today, the Escapia.com homepage has a new look! We've worked hard on refreshing the look and layout of the Escapia.com homepage to make the site easier to use. Escapia's core offerings (vacation rental software, website solutions and online marketing) are now front row and center on the homepage making it easier to find what you're looking for. Please visit our new homepage and let us know what you think!
By Kris Lande, Product Marketing Manager
In the wake of the big vacation rental Super Bowl commercial, it seemed like everyone was talking about vacation rentals this week! And... we loved it! Here is my round-up of interesting vacation rental industry links, as well as some general travel industry links. Enjoy and have a great weekend.
USA Today shows you just how much you can save by staying in a vacation rental in various vacation destinations.
The VRMA (Vacation Rental Managers Association) gives helpful planning tips for travelers booking vacation rentals.
ClearStay.com releases its six tips to saving money on a vacation rental, as well as why vacation rental managers want to give you a great deal.
In honor of Valentines' Day, MSNBC shares seven secrets for a romantic vacation and their top ten romantic getaways. If you're not feeling Valentine's Day this year, check out their top ten singles vacation destinations!
Feel like you're not making the most of your Facebook Fan Page? Visual Data Systems is hosting a webinar next week to give you tips to a great page (I'm looking forward to it!).
Escapia was busy this week launching LOTS of new vacation rental websites. Check out the new sites for: Windermere Exclusive Vacation Rentals, Dream Vacation Rentals, Alpine Chalet Rentals, Discover Sunriver, Vacasa, and Bayshore Rentals. Phew - busy week!
By John Suzuki, VP Sales
Did you see it? It happened in the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl game. For the first time ever, vacation rentals were featured in the biggest way possible: A Super Bowl ad!
HomeAway has brought the Griswolds back, and they're promoting vacation rentals: "Rent a house for half the cost of a hotel." Thus marks the beginning of vacation rentals entering the mainstream of travel. To date, vacation rentals have always been considered "specialty lodging" options. But the cat's out of the bag, and mainstream, here we come!
This can be a tremendous opportunity for you if you are positioned for this. On the other hand, it will be a challenge if you're not. Doing business in the mainstream requires a different mindset and involves different expectations:
1. How are mainstream travelers different from what we're used to?
2. How do they book travel? Are you positioned to capitalize on this opportunity?
3. How are their expectations different from specialty lodging travelers?
To learn more, give Escapia a call or email for more information on the top five things you can do to take advantage of HomeAway's multi-million dollar advertising campaign, and get your company positioned for doing mainstream business!
By Bill Furlong, CEO
If you're like us, 2009 feels like ancient history by now. With 2010 now officially 10% over, you are probably much more focused on how business is doing this year. So here is Escapia's instant analysis of the results from January 2010 compared to a year earlier:
Hawaii and the Mountain West showed the strongest increase in the total number of bookings from the very weak month of January 2009. Other regions were narrowly changed from a year ago.
All regions other than the Mountain West saw declines in the length of stay for the bookings they received in January compared to a year ago. Some of the declines, mainly in California and the Northeast, were notably large.
Putting together the number of bookings and the average length of stay results in the total number of days booked. In this measure, the Mountain West was the clear leader this month with a 50% gain compared to a year ago. Hawaii saw the growth in days booked lag the growth in bookings since the average length of stay for Hawaian vacation rentals declined. The Southeast, which held up better than other regions a year ago came in exactly equal to where it was last January. And California took the biggest hit with a major drop in days booked compared to a year ago.
Pricing strengthened in most markets with a 14% increase in average daily rent in California. The Southeast, Hawaii and the Northeast also lodged gains. The Mountain West and the Pacific Northwest saw pricing erode even more than a year ago.
Combining the average daily rent with the average length of stay provides a look at the amount of rent earned per booking. Good news for California, Hawaii and the Southeast. Lower rent per booking elsewhere.
Together, price (average daily rent) and volume (the number of days booked) shows which regions had agencies that came out ahead on the total rent they brought in for their units. All but the Pacfic Northwest are ahead of a year ago with the biggest gains from the two regions -- Hawaii and the Mountain West -- that suffered the most in the recession.
When you add in fees, charges and tax to rent, the trends are largely the same. Hawaii and the Northeast appear to have gained a bit through more use of charges while the Mountain West gave up some of the gains relative to rent.
Finally, the average lead time between booking and arrival date increased significantly in Hawaii and the Mountain West and made gains in the Southeast as well. Lead times shortened in California, the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
By Kris Lande, Product Marketing Manager
This month we'll be starting up the Vacation Rental Seminar series again with an exciting new theme for 2010: Vacation Rentals 3.0. In this year's seminar series, we'll be discussing state-of-the-art techniques of vacation rental management that meet the expectations of today's consumers. We have a great schedule lined up this year with seminars located in 18 locations across the country. Our first few locations will be:
February 23rd: Rehoboth Beach, DE
March 4th: Gatlinburg, TN
March 16th: Duck, NC
March 18th: Wilmington, NC
Visit our vacation rental seminar website at www.vrseminar.com to see more upcoming locations near you!
