Instant Software Blog

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.

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.

NC Announces Tax Increase, Affects Vacation Rental Companies

The North Carolina Department of Revenue announced today an increase in States Sales and Use Rate Taxes, effective in just over two weeks. If you are in North Carolina and an Instant Software user, do not forget that you must update your software solution to reflect this change. Please call Client Care for a "How-To" guide at 866.PHONE.ISI (746.6347).

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(North Carolina Department of Revenue) The 2009 North Carolina General Assembly has enacted legislation that provides for a temporary additional 1% State sales and use tax effective September 1, 2009 and will expire on July 1, 2011.  Senate Bill 202 was ratified by the House of Representatives and the Senate on August 5, 2009 and has been signed by Governor Perdue.

As a result of the additional 1% State rate increase, the combined State and county tax rate will increase to 8.25% in Mecklenburg County, 8% in Alexander, Catawba, Cumberland, Haywood, Martin, Pitt, Sampson, and Surry Counties, and 7.75% in the remaining ninety-one counties.

Read More from the North Carolina Department of Revenue 

ResortQuest Delaware Exceeds 2008 Reservations by August 2009 Through Online Distribution

ResortQuest Delaware, a property management company and Instant Software client, exceeds 2008 vacation rental reservations by early August through its online distribution and booking.

Instant Software, Inc. (ISI) and ResortQuest Delaware jointly announce a new booking record for vacation rentals, despite the economy and decline in travel. ResortQuest acknowledges one of the key attributes to this increase is its use of Instant Software’s ISILink, the Vacation Rental Industry’s largest distribution system for suppliers and distributors of online vacation rentals. 

By mid-day August 6, ResortQuest Delaware announced that it set a new record for the number of online bookings and guest stays. While only 218 days into the year, more reservations were made online than the total number of online reservations recorded in 2008. In addition, online bookings made in July 2009, by number and volume, were up approximately 45% over July 2008.

“To achieve success in online distribution and bookings, three things are key,” explains Cheryl Spezia, ResortQuest’s Corporate Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “The ability of ISILink for direct and immediate availability, an effective website, and optimization [of the website] are all critical to the success of our online marketing efforts.”

“Our accomplishments online in the last few years, and especially now in this economy, combined with our dedication to customer service, bodes extremely well for our continued success in this market,” says marketing manager of ResortQuest Delaware, Tim Fisher. “We can not lose sight that each one of these online bookings is a family placing their trust in us to deliver a truly memorable vacation.”

Overall, ResortQuest has experienced a dramatic increase in online bookings since using ISILink at a majority of their destinations. “I believe that when a  buyer can easily view and reserve a specific home or condominium on a website, it only increases their confidence in booking a vacation rental online.” Spezia says.

“Instant Software is proud of its relationship with ResortQuest. This proves that increased reservations can be accomplished with the right technology,” explains Dave Hopcroft, Instant Software’s CEO.

Vacation Rental Bookings Across the Industry Down 10% in the First Half of 2009

Vacation rental bookings across the industry were down 10% in the first half of 2009 compared to same period in 2008. Instant Software issues a trend report on the vacation rental industry compiled from the largest and most representative data pool in the industry.

Instant Software, Inc. (ISI) reports that the number of bookings during the first 6 months of 2009 in the U.S. vacation rental industry were down 10% compared to the same period in 2008.  Revenue from bookings decreased 15% during that same period as economic pressures drove the average daily rate for  Vacation Rentals from a 2008 average of $199 per night to $185 in 2009. 

These figures come from a Research report published by ISI using reservation statistics from its client base of over 1200 property management firms managing 200,000 properties, the largest aggregated network in the vacation rental industry.  Because of the size and geographic range of ISI’s data pool, this is the industry’s only truly reliable and accurate source of vacation rental data.  The free report is available on ISI’s website at www.InstantSoftware.com.

ISI launched this report as a tool for the vacation rental industry because of the recent issuance of Industry Trend reports that use so few data points that they may be skewed and inaccurate.  This resource offers the most accurate and representative stats for companies to make the most informed decisions.  ISI aggregates these stats using actual transaction data from the largest data pool in the industry.  The data is then cleaned to include only the most representative year-to-year comparisons in the industry so that the stats show true “apples to apples” comparisons.
 
“Beware of potentially skewed and misleading information from companies that draw conclusions from a small data sample,” warns Dave Hopcroft, Instant Software’s CEO. “Making decisions from a small data set may be dangerous and could, potentially, lead you in a direction that could harm your business, rather than help it – Remember, data can easily be skewed by certain outliers.  The only way to get reliable accurate data is from a large sample representing different sized organizations across a wide geographic range.”

Other interesting trends from the report are that the average length of stay in a vacation rental increased by 2% from 6.4 nights to 6.5 nights, bucking the industry perception that the length of vacation rental stays were actually decreasing.  And last minute bookings did not appear as prevalent as the industry thought they would be as the Average Advanced Booking Windows only reduced from 87 days in 2008 to 84 days in 2009.

ISI will continue to update its “Research” section of its website and will make more detailed data available specifically for its clients to compare their business performance with more localized stats.