Christine's Blog: FVRMA and Takeaways from Traveler Focus Groups (5/21/07)
Christine sounds off on why she's attending the Florida Vacation Rental Manager's Association conference and what she learned from focus groups conducted by HomeAway this past week.
Hi Everyone,
As I write this, I am on my way to Orlando to the Florida Vacation Rental Manager's Association conference. What the heck am I doing? Am I crazy? I'm putting myself in a room with property managers! As you can imagine, this is not a group that I expect will greet me with open arms.
Ok it seems rather odd that the Florida Vacation Rental Manager's Association (FVRMA) would invite me as a speaker, and perhaps even more odd that I accepted, but I here's why I said yes. FRVMA has been known to be an adversary of mine. Of course they are not happy that I'm going around the country teaching thousands of owners how to rent their properties without the use of a property manager. So I'm going to tell them why people come to my seminars and read my books.
So stayed tuned…I'll give you a report back on Wednesday when I return.
Last week, we conducted a focus group. We brought in two separate groups of travelers, the first group had never rented a vacation home and the other group had either booked an upcoming vacation or recently returned from renting a vacation rental.
It will take a few weeks for me to review the tapes and compile conclusions, but I wanted to clue you in on a few things that people said.
· Interestingly no one could remember the name of the hotel they last stayed in, but they absolutely remembered their experience.
· The renters who stayed in homes with high quality towels and sheets noted this as one of the "best things about the home". The others—who said the linens we horrible noted that this was one of their most memorable "bad" attributes of the home.
· Price didn't seem to be as much of a deal breaker as availability. Given the scenario that a home was available but was 1/3 more per night ($300/night) than their projected budget ($200/night), vs. one that fit their budget but open the following week. The majority said they would pay more to get the exact dates they needed.
So what does all this mean?
Don't spend too much time or effort on creating a catchy name for your property; it's more likely that they will remember you and your home for a memorable experience.
Spend the extra buck on some nicer sheets and towels. Your guests will remember and appreciate it.
Keep you calendar up to date.
Come back on Wednesday! I'll give my FVRMA Update then!
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine
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