USA Today Turns Attention to Luxury Vacation Rentals
November 14, 2007. One week after CNN published a story about the advantages of luxury vacation rentals, USA Today offered a more thorough examination of this rising phenomenon.
According to the story, homes and condominiums are gaining on hotel rooms as the preferred choice of many travelers, and major companies are taking note. Europe's two largest vacation rental companies have begun to eye the American market, and discount travel websites that previously focused on planes, hotels and rental cars are adding vacation rentals.
"The Internet is doing for vacation rentals what eBay and similar online marketplaces have done for merchandise sellers," the article said.
"Travelers are benefiting from more choices and better websites, including some with video tours of each property. They're also demanding and getting a higher degree of assurance that the vacation property they rent meets expected standards, and that they won't be fleeced."
Consider these numbers:
* $63 billion in revenue annually, or nearly half as much as the hotel industry.
* A 12% rise this year in the number of rental homes being managed.
* A 5% rise in the sale of vacation homes, to a record 1.07 million last year, with 18% of buyers saying they bought them to rent to others.
