Instant Software Blog

JUST RELEASED! February 2010 State and Regional Vacation Rental Industry Trends Report

Instant Software is pleased to announce the release of the February 2010 Vacation Rental Industry Trend Report. This monthly report discusses State and Regional trends, highlighting the top and bottom performing states in comparison with 2009 Vacation Rental activity, focusing on revenue streams, number of arrivals and length of stays.

This and all other ISI trend reports are the most useful and accurate resource in the vacation rental market because Instant Software is the largest technology provider in the industry. Our leadership position provides you with the greatest amount and broadest range of data available.

Instant Software releases Monthly, Semi-Annual, and Annual Trend Reports available for the Vacation Rental industry. Visit our website to get February's Trend Report and other industry reports and White Papers on a monthly basis!

Get the February 2010 Trend Report Now!

Instant Software Partners With RentExpert, Adding Additional Marketing Programs Through ISILink

Instant Software, Inc. (ISI) announces its partnership with RentExpert, a website that provides only “professionally managed” vacation rentals for popular destinations worldwide.  RentExpert offers free branding on their website for Vacation Rental Managers and promotes their properties through affiliate sites such as Yahoo and AOL, growing mobile device market, email campaigns, and on RentExpert.com.  RentExpert also has increased search engine optimization compared to Rent-By-Owner listings sites and a Hot Deals program to help Vacation Rental Managers sell their inventory at a discount with no commission to RentExpert.

RentExpert will be integrated with Instant Software’s ISILink, the largest web distribution system for the Vacation Rental Industry.  Through ISILink, RentExpert will have the ability to access over 200,000 vacation rental properties running on ISI’s market leading business management systems for real-time automated availability and reservations.

RentExpert is dedicated to promoting the advantages of renting professionally managed homes and firmly believes that professional vacation rental managers are the best in the industry when it comes to taking care of guests.  Some threats to the continued growth of the vacation rental industry are unmemorable guest experiences, poorly set expectations, and properties that are not well maintained. RentExpert enhances what managers already do well and helps grow the vacation rental business by properly setting the expectation of a guest’s vacation experience.

“Vacation goers are looking for professionally managed properties and our partnership with Instant Software gives us the ability to offer the greatest number of integrated properties,” said Ganapathy Krishnan, CEO of RentExpert. “Instant Software clients consist of first-class vacation rental managers and we are thrilled to send vacationers to them for bookings.”

“We welcome RentExpert into the Instant Software Channel Partner network because of their capability to work with the unique elements of the Vacation Rental industry and ability to guarantee great guest experiences,” explains Dave Hopcroft, CEO of Instant Software, “this partnership is yet another advantage that ISI offers our property managers through ISILink and adds to the growing dominance that ISILink represents as the Vacation Rental Industry’s only true Global Distribution System.”

RentExpert is a member of VRMA and only works with vacation rental managers who maintain high standards of cleanliness and hospitality. To learn more about RentExpert, please see this video:  http://www.rentexpert.com/video_intro.

Annual Report: State and Regional Trends for 2009

Instant Software Research Center is pleased to release its Annual Report: State and Regional Vacation Rental Trends for 2009:

• 2009 Guest Arrivals.  These reports analyze advance booking windows and the year-to-year trends that shape 2009 profit and loss statements: guest reservations, revenue, and nights.
• 2009 Bookings.  We also analyze 2009 booking activities, which influenced 2009 results and are the best measure of consumer booking trends going forward.

The attached report is the most useful and accurate resource for trends in the vacation rental market because Instant Software is the largest technology provider in the industry.  Our leadership position provides you with the greatest amount and broadest range of data available.

Another software company recently reported “national” trends.  While we commend them for their effort, we urge you to be careful making any conclusive business decisions based off of that report which only measures a small handful of industry data with a limited cross-section of client-types.   While there are similarities in the reports, that company reported markedly more volatile booking swings, different proportions of weekend arrivals, more 1-3 day stays, fewer 4-7 day stays, and a heavier balance toward short vs. longer advance booking windows. 

Moving forward, Instant Software will be making Monthly, Semi-Annual, and Annual Trend Reports available for Instant Software clients (Entech, PropertyPlus, First Resort, and V12.NET users).  If you are not currently an Instant Software client, and would like to receive these reports, please feel free to contact us at 866-746-6347 or Sales@InstantSoftware.com.

DOWNLOAD REPORT NOW

ISI Announces Partnership with One-of-a-Kind Vacation Rental Website, ParadiseHunter.com

Instant Software’s relationship with ParadiseHunter.com brings together technology, property management companies, and vacation travelers for a new and unique travel planning experience.


Instant Software (ISI) proudly announces its partnership with ParadiseHunter.com, a vacation planning search engine that offers a variety of resources  to help  vacationers plan the perfect trip. By combining Detailed Destination Information, a television series, and the ability to book travel directly on their website, ParadiseHunter.com is unique in its ability to connect travelers to the people and services who will create their memorable travel experience.

ISILink, ISI’s global distribution system for the Vacation Rental industry, will provide ParadiseHunter.com with the information needed to seamlessly create and maintain Vacation Rental listings, including property information, rate cards and up-to-date availability calendars.

ParadiseHunter.com’s President, Dennis Kambeitz is excited about the benefit this relationship will have for their customers. “ISI’s property management solutions manage more than 250,000 properties throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean.  Our affiliation will increase the number of destinations represented on our website, as well as provide an influx of top-rated and quality rentals for our website’s visitors to choose from.”

ParadiseHunter.com is a comprehensive website for travelers, inspiring and educating them with information, videos, and photos on destinations worldwide.  It features a powerful search engine for Vacation Rentals and International Real Estate, making it enjoyable and easy for visitors to find the perfect destination.  In addition, website visitors can watch the Paradise Hunter TV Show online to learn more about the different locations and activities.

“Paradise Hunter brings a unique and  wide-spread approach to the marketing of Vacation Rentals, which we feel will greatly benefit our clients,” said Dave Hopcroft, CEO of ISI.  “With the economy still sluggish in the United States, Paradise Hunter’s popularity with Canadian travelers will help our clients tap into a growing customer base of thirty million people, resulting in increased occupancy rates.”

Instant Software to Provide Technology for RockyMountainVacationRentals.com

Instant Software (ISI) announces strategic partnership with Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals to power their network of websites by integrating ISI’s V12.NET with ISILink


Instant Software (ISI), announced a partnership with RockyMountainVacationRentals.com, formerly known as VailSkiVacations.com, where ISI will provide the technology and infrastructure to integrate multiple technologies managing over 5,500 vacation rental properties for real-time reservations.  RockyMountainVacationRentals.com selected ISI’s market leading technology because of its unique ability to aggregate vacation rental property data from these multiple technology platforms and enable real-time reservations on their new website.

The website will have landing pages for each resort destination specifically, Vail, Beaver Creek, Aspen, Snowmass, Breckenridge and Summit County, Colo. After opening offices in these locations, it has strategic plans to follow them by Telluride and Steamboat Springs, Colo. and Park City, Utah this summer. Thirty additional destinations, designated on the newly launched website, will follow in the Rocky Mountain region.

RockyMountainVacationRentals.com has operated as a vacation rental company, concierge service, and real estate company better known as VailBeaverCreekLuxuryProperties.com, working exclusively in the Vail and Beaver Creek markets. There will be seven total websites aggregated under the name RockyMountainVacations.com to book vacation rentals in these destinations that generate over $1 Billion in annual Vacation Rental business.

"Instant Software views this partnership as a major step in the consolidation of winter vacation destinations.  We have seen a significant increase in guests taking multiple vacations,” says Dave Hopcroft, CEO of Instant Software. “Many of these vacations are weather dependent, and the immediacy of the Internet allows bookings to be placed with more confidence when the unpredictability of the sun or snow is removed.”

RockyMountainVacationRentals.com has integrated ISI’s leading browser-based property management system V12.NET and ISILink, the leading web distribution technology for the vacation rental industry, to manage and integrate properties from multiple vacation rental sources, creating the largest single supply of bookable vacation rentals in these top markets of Colorado. 

“ISI is the only solution provider in the industry that could help us manage our aggressive expansion into the top vacation rental markets of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains,” explains Tommy Z. Hoffman, Owner and Founder of RockyMountainVacationRental.com, “V12.NET is now the most robust browser-based property management system in the vacation rental industry, and ISILink is unparalleled in its web distribution capabilities.  It was the only combination we could find to successfully power our hyper growth businesses.”
 Through ISI’s web marketing and global distribution system ISILink, they are able to seamlessly bridge vacation rental marketing information, rates and availability to prominent consumer travel sites and web portals.  By consolidating, normalizing, and interpreting data from several vacation rental reservation systems ISILink is able to provide seamless real-time bookings between Vacation Rental managers and a network of travel-related web-sites. 

V12.NET is ISI’s browser based property management system that helps property management companies manage all aspects of their vacation rental business.  It is the most robust and feature-rich hosted solution in the vacation rental market.

Volsky's View: Cost-Cutting in Vacation Rentals -- Protecting Profits in a Slow Economy

By George Volsky, Instant Software - Director of Research

The lead story in Wall Street Journal’s November 16 Money & Investing section on was captioned “Earnings are Strong, Sales are Another Story.”  Eighty percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index beat analysts’ expectations during a period when revenue is on pace to fall 10%.

“Cost-cutting” drove profits for these major companies.  Cost cutting is similarly a priority for many vacation rental managers, which leads to the point of this blog:

The most direct paths to cost-cutting in vacation rentals can lead to a reduction in a company’s long-term profits and competitive stature.  The paths that best protect profits are often counter-intuitive.  So pick your path cautiously.

• “Knee-jerk” cost cutting often jeopardizes future profit and growth;
• It generally costs money to properly find and implement cost cuts;
• The best cost-cutting opportunities arise from industry changes.

What to Expect from Cost-Cutting.

• As pointed out by the referenced WSJ article, cost cutting can only boost profits so long, but companies that learn to run lean in bad times can expect to see profits surge when sales do improve.
• In my view, Cost-cutting is “reckless” when it is the goal; it is “safe” when it is the byproduct (intended) of a goal to make your company more efficient. 
• Your goal must be to become more efficient pursuant to a plan that all players understand and buy into.

When Does It Cost Money to Cut Costs Properly?  When you are trying to become more efficient:

• Time.  Generating plans and buy-in is expensive because staff must stop doing something they may not want to stop doing--making their jobs harder--and devote time, money and energy to developing a new plan, acquiring any required resources, testing the plan, and implementing it.
   E.g., the woodsman who responds to the well-meaning passerby’s suggestion that he might cut a lot more wood if he sharpened his ax:  “I can’t—I’m too busy.”
• Systems Development.  Often, the best efficiencies require your company to change the way it does business, requiring an investment in new systems design, technology, training, promotion and customer hand-holding.

Why Do You Need Staff “Buy-In?”   

• If a player doesn’t understand how your plan will work, he can’t execute well.  
• If he doesn’t buy in, he won’t execute well.  He’ll be happy to let it fail so he can return to the system he is used to. 

Trimming Fat.  Successful companies can get “fat” during good years because they can afford to hire people and buy services.  I know a company that trimmed several top managers without losing a beat.  But the most common pitfalls arise when you ask people to do more with less, without a plan they buy into.  

• This causes tension among employees, increases turnover (reducing your staff’s skills), reduces service quality, saps energy required to get new customers, and—ultimately—makes it difficult to keep and attract homeowners and renters. 

Look at Competitors Before Identifying Cost Cuts.   Difficult times are problems for some companies and opportunities for others who find ways to use them to leapfrog ahead of their nearest competitors.  You can’t decide which expenses to cut without knowing whether your competitors are redistributing their resources.  Are they:

• Going hard after your homeowners?
• Soliciting your renters?
• Trying to get extra bookings from their existing renters?
• Offering new services to existing renters and homeowners?
• Replacing expensive staff services with computer services?

Categories of Promising Cost Cuts.  Look carefully at the following: 

• Use of the technology to free staff to do other jobs;
• Elimination of services to renters or homeowners  who don’t need them;
• Downsizing of promotional activities that may no longer be cost effective;
• Trimming of fat to become more lean and fit.
• Changing your business model.

I’ll elaborate more about these categories in my next blog...

Generate Revenue and Streamline Operations with First Resort Modules

by Linda Hess - Business Consultant, Instant Software

There is more functionality to FRS, the industry leading, legacy software solution, than many users realize.  In challenging times, modules such as Work Orders and Report Generator can be used to streamline operations, create revenue streams and track every aspect of your business.  Shrewd property managers have been relying on the tracking and reporting capabilities of these modules for years and say that they are even more valuable today.

Report Generator offers a plethora of reporting tools in key areas of business needs.  Forecasting reports give information on revenue and ADR while Monthly reports focus on occupancy by state and source code.   Reservation and Revenue reports hone in on where bookings came from, the dollar amount and lead time of the booking – relevant information to help make important marketing and advertising decisions.

On the operations side, there are a number of helpful reports for tracking owner stays, occupancy and arrivals.  Comparative reports give year over year statistics that can be sorted by date ranges.  Additional reports include activities reports; rate groups; source codes, labels and an exportable guest list.  There are a number of work order reports that will help you manage maintenance as well as any other tasks associated with the properties.

The Work Order Module is a very helpful tool for managing, tracking, assigning and expensing work orders through FRS.  If you are not currently handling maintenance for homeowners, this may be an opportune time to create a new revenue stream!  From assigning a job to billing the owner, this program manages it all.  You can enter labor, materials, mark-up costs, status, notes and more. To save time, policy codes can be applied to control labor, mark-up, taxes and accounting.  In addition to saving time, setting up policy codes can  help to prevent errors in data entry and to control costs internally.  Specific information can also be entered manually.   Three categories -- work orders, tasks and no charge orders -- give even more flexibility to the system.  A number of reports in the work order module allow you to quickly and easily see the status of ongoing projects and history reports are available as well. 

If you are looking for ways to increase revenue in this challenging economy, look no further than the work order module to help you provide services for your guests and owners while having an easy and seamless way to track and bill these services.   As an added bonus, providing maintenance services will give you greater control over the condition of your properties resulting in happier guests and owners.

For more information about Report Generator and the Work Order Module for FRS, contact the FRS client care team or Linda Hess at 866-746-6347, ext 4007.

Instant Software Expands Into the Web-Design and Hosting Industry

By Amy Regnier, Director of Marketing

Instant Software, Inc. recently completed its acquisition of a majority holding in TravelStorm, further positioning Instant Software as the largest player in the Vacation Rental industry offering an unmatched suite of technology, services and marketing solutions.

Instant Software, Inc. (ISI), the leading supplier of technology for the Vacation Rental industry, announced today that it has completed a strategic  acquisition of TravelStorm Website & Marketing Company, an online development and marketing firm specializing in the travel industry, to bring the most powerful and all-inclusive property management and marketing solutions available worldwide. 

As the Vacation Rental industry continues to focus on the importance of gaining National and International exposure as a mainstream travel option, vacation rental managers around the country are eager for a property management and website solution that gives them a competitive edge and unique online brand.  ISI’s market dominance and TravelStorm’s leading edge make joining the companies a natural fit and can together, offer clients the services they need to both compete and prosper in this difficult environment.

“This is an extremely important move for both companies. TravelStorm will allow us to enter an arena where we have long been a spectator, with the ability for us to offer a total suite of services our clients need, from comprehensive PMS software through web design, marketing, and analytics to best practices with increased reservations,” said Dave Hopcroft, CEO of Instant Software. “I am extremely pleased that TravelStorm has become an Instant Software company and very excited at the prospects of what we can achieve for our clients.”

ISI is the leading provider of technology solutions to the Vacation Rental industry. Offering diverse products with flexible options based on client needs including Entech, First Resort, PropertyPlus and V12.NET, which produce powerful, organized databases and operational interfaces to optimize the capabilities and profitability of its client portfolio, ISI has kept the pulse of the industry as the cornerstone of development and partnerships.

TravelStorm is the result of an eight year journey and the brainchild of two business partners, Joe Scurto and Amber Leto.  Both have extensive hands-on experience in the Vacation Rental industry in property management, online marketing, website development and Search Engine Optimization.  With the unique perspective of the day to day needs and challenges of the typical Vacation Rental company, TravelStorm has created a revolutionary booking engine and content management system; Rezolution. Rezolution seamlessly integrates with ISI’s business solutions and provides clients with powerful tools that are intuitive and simple to use so vacation rental manager’s can reclaim control over their marketing future and website presence.  Current TravelStorm clients on the Rezolution platform dominate their respective market and have industry leading website technologies.

The inertia created by this significant partnership provides endless possibilities to harvest the unparalleled power of ISI’s five software platforms.  TravelStorm’s budget-conscious Rezolution sites outperform any other product on the market and has capabilities to create fully customized website solutions.

For more information on Instant Software, TravelStorm or Rezolution, please visit www.InstantSoftware.com. 

Research Defining State and Local Economic Impact of the Vacation Rental Industry Released by Instant Software and VRMA

Industry leaders publicize recent research to aid vacation rental managers and tourist offices in understanding and measuring the economic impact of the Vacation Rental industry on their communities.

Instant Software, Inc.’s (ISI) research department, in conjunction with participating in a Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) committee, has released a comprehensive White Paper laying out a blue print for identifying the economic impact of vacation rentals on state and local economies.  While it targets state and local officials, it also hones in on educating vacation rental managers on how their industry plays a prominent role in resort economies.

This research outlines the many ways that vacation rentals generate substantial economic benefit in areas outside of the tourism segment, such as driving local construction, real estate, finance and insurance industries. In addition, it shows that economic contributions of vacation rentals are not fully understood and are poorly documented in analytical methodologies commonly used by state planners.

“Instead of vacation rentals being stereo-typed as inconsequential to the tourist economy, the research shows the many positive influences this sector of the market has on any community in which they reside,” says Alex Risser, president of the VRMA. “This is truly insightful information which allows those of us in this profession to see and communicate the large ripple effect our business operation has on the surrounding community’s economic environment.”

Unlike owners of hotels and motels, investors in vacation homes expect to subsidize rentals. For example, they expect mortgage and management costs to exceed rental revenue. This subsidized lodging can facilitate tourism growth and enhance tax revenues in resort areas where large hotels are not economically sustainable.  State and civic leaders will be better poised to manage their communities by understanding this and the other investment dynamics that tie vacation homes to a resort community’s economic health.

“The vacation rental industry is complex and its enormous dollar value is not adequately profiled by the standard economic forecasting models today used by most states,” states Dave Hopcroft, CEO of Instant Software. “Public policy debates over community growth seldom include any financial analysis of how tax increases or restrictions on vacation rentals will affect a resort’s construction, real estate, finance and insurance industries, or the related tax revenues. We hope this white paper will provide public officials with a better understanding of how this occurs.”

Officials can identify the numbers needed to calculate the economic impact on their community by using the research provided. These numbers serve to better inform state and local governments, who in turn will perhaps be more willing to recognize and support this industry as a major source of growing its economy.

The White Paper outlines how a better understanding of vacation rental homes can affect debates typically arising in resort communities over ideas such as distribution of tax burden among property owners, residents and tourists, large rental homes and other high-density accommodations, as well as tourism growth where hotels are not economically sustainable.

Click to download the full White Paper by ISI and VRMA.

Vacation Rental Bookings Increases 20% Over Year-to-Date 2008

By Amy Regnier, Director of Marketing

Instant Software leads the way to increasing reservations in the Vacation Rental Industry by helping clients generate over a quarter of a billion in year-to-date online reservations through ISILink.

Instant Software, Inc. (ISI) clients have experienced record breaking growth for online bookings of vacation rentals through the strength of ISILink. Despite the downturn in the economy, through the end of August, online reservations of vacation rentals through ISILink represented over $250 million, a 20% increase over year-to-date 2008.

Although total revenue from bookings across the vacation rental industry is down 15% in the first half of 2009, total online reservations year-to-date exceeded 2008 by 20%. This is evidence that more vacation rental companies rely on ISILink connectivity and internet distribution to drive business. ISILink, the Vacation Rental industry’s largest distribution system for suppliers and distributors of online vacation rentals, is becoming the industry’s most powerful Web Distribution System, and by far the best way to connect to web distribution channels.

“These figures prove what we have long believed - efficient distribution through established websites with comprehensive content will yield results,” stated Dave Hopcroft, CEO of Instant Software. “Early results and visit trends for the next part of 2009 are showing that this upswing in reservations is likely to continue.”

Instant Software is the leading supplier of technology solutions for property management companies which manage and rent other people’s homes, cottages, apartments, and condos for vacation travelers. ISILink is Instant Software’s web distribution system that bridges suppliers of vacation rental properties with distributors, such as travel sites and portals. 

“Through ISILink, our clients can now compete with hotel chains in the same arena the hotels have long controlled. This is an extremely important milestone for the vacation rental industry,” Hopcroft says.

ISILink is a unique data hub that consolidates, normalizes, and interprets data from suppliers’ reservations systems and enables seamless real-time automated bookings between the different parties’ systems in North America, the Caribbean and Europe.  Distributors connect to ISILink and automatically pull information such as property descriptions, availability, prices, and guest reviews to market to potential travelers.  When a traveler books a vacation property, the reservation information is sent back through ISILink to the property manager’s reservation system and automatically confirms the booking in real-time.