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Newsletters #3- Oct/23/2001
Tips for Vacation Rental Homeowners
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========================================================================== Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Rentors LLC and the individual contributors. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form requires written permission. ========================================================================== This newsletter is emailed 6 times annually to 2,895 owners of vacation rental homes who have registered for a free universal availability calendar at: http://www.rentors.org TO UNSUBSCRIBE: See Article #12, at bottom of newsletter. 1 - Please Update Your Availability Calendar Today 2 - Inquiries Expected to Spring Back 3 - Fly, Fly Again 4 - Nearby Towns Add Bookings 5 - Promptness Is Paramount 6 - Compare Rates, Offer Specials 7 - All Your Eggs in One Basket? 8 - Audit Your Rates and Amenities 9 - Offer Your Own Booking Incentives and Specials 10 - Rentors.org Sponsor Information 11 - Please Refer a Friend to Rentors.org 12 - How to Unsubscribe ================================================== 1 - Please Update Your Availability Calendar Today ================================================== Your self-service universal availability calendar at Rentors.org has no value if it is incorrect. Please follow the link below to login to Rentors.org and update your vacation rental calendar today. RENTORS login: http://www.rentors.org/login.cfm If you've forgotten your Rentors.org PASSWORD, check the bottom-left text in the yellow box at the login screen. ===================================== 2 - Inquiries Expected to Spring Back ===================================== There's been a distinct downturn in vacation rental inquiries since 9/11. Early feedback suggested that anyone having to fly to a destination was afraid and who could blame them? Clearly, our industry and our personal lifestyles have taken a huge hit. Even prior to 9/11/01, the economy was not thriving. Right now, vacation homeowners should focus on increased advertising of their vacation rentals to become more visible on the internet. Redundancy is necessary in this business. The number one method to advertise on the internet is via search engines. Each vacation rental web site can be found on different search engines and some rank higher than others. Depending on the location of your rental, you may be better off with several web pages. Conventional travel wisdom can be found each Friday in the Destinations and Diversions supplement in USA Today. This past summer, it stated that people would give up many extras before giving up their much-needed vacation time. During the Depression, that was unheard of -- putting food on the table was most important and travel was a luxury and not even considered. The October 5 issue of USA Today featured article was "Staying Closer to Home": "While big-city tourist destinations have suffered greatly since the September 11 skyjackings, small towns and backyard destinations are drawing travelers who would rather go by car." Overseas travel and destinations that require flying, such as Hawaii and the Caribbean, may not fare as well initially, but barring more attacks affecting the airlines, inquiries should pick up when people begin focusing ahead to the Christmas Holidays, the Park City Olympics and Spring Break. -- Pat Van Voorhis, GreatRentals ================== 3 - Fly, Fly Again ================== Of course, the industry that has been hit hardest by the Sept 11 attack is the airline industry (not just in the US but all over the world). But now airlines are doing their best to get people flying again. If your vacation rental guests often arrive by air, it might be good to be aware of some of the airfare deals that are now available (some of the lowest fares in YEARS are now being offered by many airlines). Let your prospective renters know that there are some great deals on airfare available NOW. Here's a couple web sites your might want to check out. http://www.bestfares.com/ http://www.orbitz.com/ If you find an especially good fare available to your location, think about posting that information on your web site or any advertising sites that you use. Let prospective renters know that you can tell them where to get more details about the best fares when they contact you. -- David Clouse, Vacation Rentals by Owner ============================= 4 - Nearby Towns Add Bookings ============================= If you mention nearby towns and cities at the end of your vacation property description, plus driving distances to each of them, you'll book more rentals. Include nearby tourism destinations, because the search engines will eventually index these city names as part of your web page. Drive times will help rental prospects compare driving and flying costs and times. Example: We're about 4 hours drive time from Washington DC, 2.5 hours from Richmond VA, 6 hours from Virginia Beach, and 8 hours from Atlanta GA. -- Brian Raub, A1Vacations =========================== 5 - Promptness Is Paramount =========================== Vacationers, especially cautious these days over their travel plans, will appreciate speedy responses to their inquires. Spend the extra time to give more detail in your email replies. Prompt and complete responses may make the difference in converting an inquiry into a booking. If you don't have an answering machine, get one. Many owners even modify their messages on a weekly, or even daily basis, to provide that extra info to vacationers who inquire when they are not at home. Use the message to say that you'll be certain to return their call, and do so ASAP. It lets them know you that you value their call. Such consideration can often be decisive in whether they even leave their phone number for you to call back! -- Hunter Melville, Cyberrentals ================================= 6 - Compare Rates, Offer Specials ================================= To attract more rental inquiries, try this: Compare your rates or specials to other vacation rentals which are advertised on the same web site in your location. If they're offering the 7th night free, then try that. If they've reduced their rates for the next two months, try that. Try thinking from the standpoint of the potential renter looking for a good value for the next couple of months, and adjust your rates accordingly. -- Jan VanVoorhis, GreatRentals ================================ 7 - All Your Eggs in One Basket? ================================ Remember the old saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket"? The same thing goes for your advertising budget. Especially now that travel and tourism are experiencing a slump, it may be wise to "spread your eggs around" and advertise in more than one place. Some of the best places to advertise are the vacation rental web sites that sponsor RENTORS.ORG and this newsletter. Consider joining one or two additional sites to get more exposure for your vacation rental. -- David Clouse, Vacation Rentals by Owner ================================== 8 - Audit Your Rates and Amenities ================================== Vacation rental prospects usually compare rates and amenities of several internet-advertised properties. Before each season starts, you should review competing properties to compare rental rates and amenities. If most other 3BR/2BA properties at your destination rent for $1000/week or less, and yours is $1500, you may not book many rentals. And if most competing properties list Cable TV (or any other desired amenity), but yours doesn't, you should consider the benefit of adding that amenity. -- Lisa Raub, A1Vacations ================================================== 9 - Offer Your Own Booking Incentives and Specials ================================================== With the travel industry reeling from the affects of Sept 11th and with the stock market in decline after 3 years of expansion, now's the time to offer your best rates and specials. We're seeing the airline and hotel industry offering their best values; why not follow suit? Perhaps offering free nights of lodging for longer stays or special off-peak rates may entice vacationers to start traveling again. For those owners who raised their rates during the bull market, a return to last years' rates may help to secure more bookings. Attention to your rate structure and incentives during this period is the way to maximize rental revenues! -- Dave Bollinger, Cyberrentals ==================================== 10 - Rentors.org Sponsor Information ==================================== Rentors.org is sponsored by these experienced vacation rental advertising services. All will be pleased to help you advertise your vacation rentals on the Internet. Why not join all four sites to promote your vacation rental? The Rentors.org availability calendar works on all of them, and you'll have just ONE calendar to maintain! Great Rentals Home: http://www.greatrentals.com Join: http://www.greatrentals.com/Admin/Posting/Post.html VRBO - Vacation Rentals by Owner Home: http://www.vrbo.com Join: http://www.vrbo.com/global/owner.htm A1Vacations Home: http://www.a1vacations.com/ Join: http://www.a1vacations.com/advertise/ CyberRentals Home: http://www.cyberrentals.com Join: http://www.cyberrentals.com/signup.html ========================================= 11 - Please Refer a Friend to Rentors.org ========================================= This "Tips for Vacation Rental Homeowners" newsletter was emailed to 2,895 members of Rentors.org -- which offers FREE online availability calendars for vacation rental property homeowners and property managers. Please refer a friend to: http://www.rentors.org ======================= 12 - How to Unsubscribe ======================= To be removed from this mailing list, please log in to your Rentors.org account, then select "Delete this Account". Your free calendar(s) will be deleted, and your email address will be removed from this mailing list. ========================================================================== Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Rentors LLC and the individual contributors. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form requires written permission. ========================================================================== Click below to go to :
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