Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

We know you have heard the saying “It takes a village.”  In the vacation rental industry, it takes the world for companies to be successful.  At Barefoot, we could not manage without our many partners who count on our vacation rental management software to ensure their rental business is accurate and up to date.  Over the next few weeks, as a way to say thank you, we are going to feature several of our partners without whom we would not be where we are today. 

First up, is Canada’s largest vacation rental resource, CanadaStays.  This successful outfit offers up over 40,000 vacation rental properties across all of Canada in addition to having access to rental properties in other parts of the world.  They work hard to provide a wide variety of accommodations to travelers who want to vacation in any part of Canada.  For property owners who want to increase exposure and, ultimately, reservations, CanadaStays is probably one of the top resources to achieve those goals.  In a recent interview with us, Mark Bordo, CEO and Founder of CanadaStays, took some time to answer a handful of questions about his business and our partnership.  Here is what he had to say:

At the annual PhoCuswright conference last week, HomeAway’s CEO Brian Sharples made several announcements about additions to their mobile app, Glad to Have You, aimed at improving the customer experience.

In talking to many potential customers, especially people who are thinking about entering into this market, there is always the question of whether to do the website first or choose a vacation rental management system. What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

One of my favorite parts of attending conferences like VRMA, is the opportunity to talk with a wide array of people who are involved in shaping the vacation rental management industry. One of my conversations was with the accessible Brent Bellm, COO of HomeAway.com. Brent is responsible for leading the daily operations of HomeAway’s online vacation rental marketplaces in the United States, Europe and Brazil, as well as its HomeAwayRealEstate.com and BedandBreakfast.com websites.

We had a wonderful time last week meeting so many vacation rental and property
management companies at the Vacation Rental Management Conference in San Diego last week.  It is always wonderful to reconnect with familiar faces, speak with customers in person, and have discussions with our partners (have you see our partner page lately? The list is growing www.barefoot.com/partners). One main takeaway I took from the conference was that each and every one of you is unique in how you need to run their business.

The Franchise Herald reported last week that in a study conducted by the New York Attorney General’s office, 72 percent of rentals under Airbnb between early 2010 and June 2014 were illegal.  Citing that they many local and state laws, one of the stand out violations was that “an estimated 200 units were booked as short-term rentals for more than 365 days in a year, meaning multiple transients rented the space at the same night.”

Booking vacation rentals online via an online travel sites like Airbnb and others can be risky as everything is done online.  It is essential to remind property owners about the advantages of working with authentic, brick and mortar vacation rental management companies rather than a company on a cloud. 

Whether in the business for many years or just now beginning to dabble in it, the vacation rental management industry is growing by leaps and bounds.  No matter the size of your company, it is vital to stay on top of the latest technologies, trends and ways to effectively run your rental management business.  Let’s face it – this industry is one that requires more attention to detail than most any other business – except maybe accounting or medicine. 

What is a “hospitality market” anyway?  Simply put, the hospitality market consists of hotels, convention centers, visitors’ bureaus and any other category that helps grow the hospitality business and tourism industries.  Vacation rental management companies have become an integral part of the hospitality market by offering alternatives to hotels and resorts at and near their destination.  Whether locally-owned or as an online reservation company like Homeaway.com or VRBO.com, this segment of the industry has begun to move towards the hospitality market that hotels seem to have dominated. 

There is no better time to talk about cyber security than now.  After all October is National Cyber Security Month.  It seems that every time you turn on the television, there is another report of business computer systems being hacked in order to steal pertinent and private information from those who do business with that company or business.