The quote above appeared in the Spring 2008 Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) magazine. The article titled “Where and Why the Rain Falls“…”When it comes to visits to your website, don’t let “how much” distract you from more important information.” was authored by Steve Bjerklie and featured some great insight from Trent Blizzard - Blizzard Internet Marketing.

According to the article - “Internet statistics for travel and vacations keep piling up. In 2006, $86 billion worth of travel services — plane tickets, hotel reservations, vacation rentals, etc. — were purchased online…… “Merrill Lynch predicts that by 2010, 45 percent of all travel reservations of all kinds will be made over the Internet. And a report titled Web Trends Passport to Success — The Essential Guide to Marketing Analytics for Travel predicts that in 2009, online sales of leisure and unmanaged (non-business) travel will top $122 billion, up from $65 billion in 2005.”

Trent Blizzard also made important observations about Property managers and Rentals by Owner advertising opportunities. In reference to VRBO listings sites “…a lot of these sites (VRBO) sites have their exclusive, no management policies in flux, so Trent Blizzard says that it is his experience that, if you go and put a few units in, there generally doesn’t seem to be a problem with being a professional management company.” Trent goes on to discuss the benefits of taking the time to list your vacation rentals on as many vacation rental by owner sites and notes that a lot of these websites are free.

We especially enjoyed the article at Furnishedhomes.com as it further confirmed our findings and affirmed our development of a map based vacation rentals website that is free for travelers to search, free for owners and property managers alike to advertise their properties, and offers new innovative tools that today’s ever evolving, internet saavy travelers are looking for.

Furnishedhomes.com is a member of VRMA and encourages both managers and rentals by owner to list unlimited properties for free to the Furnished Homes Map.

“People want to know where that home is — they want to know precisely.” Trent Blizzard, Blizzard Internet Marketing