Vacation Rental Market On the Comeback
This guest post was provided by Rob Dalton, owner of Kolea Vacation Rentals at Waikoloa Beach Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Vacation Rental Market On the Comeback
After having one the worst years the US vacation rental market has ever faced in 2009, 2010 has started off very well. Many people attribute this to two factors, stabilization of the economy and enhanced marketing of vacation rentals.
The first quarter saw an increase in reservations by 7% and revenue by 10% from the first quarter of 2009. The states that fared the best were Texas, Utah, and Hawaii. Texas fared the best in large part to a great portion of its inventory being rehabilitated from the hurricane. It is speculated that Utah fared well due to it being a less expensive alternative to luxury ski resorts. Hawaiis’ increase was due in large to the decrease in average nightly rate and the decrease in vacationers staying in hotels. The states that fared the worst were Arizona and Massachusetts. These two stats decreased spending on tourism greatly, which was the main attributing factor.
In January 2010 HomeAway, one of the largest vacation rental advertising companies, started a large advertising campaign promoting vacation rentals over hotels. It featured the first vacation rental Super Bowl advertisement as well as a strong online campaign. While the first quarter was strong for the vacation rental industry, the hotel industry saw a decrease. This is partially due to vacation rentals being a less expensive alternative to a hotel as well as the efforts of HomeAway.
It appears that as long as specific states are hurt by the economy that they will continue to cut tourism costs and the tourism industry as a whole will suffer. On the other hand, tourism as a whole is up and a vacation rental is a great option for accommodations.
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