Recently I had a conversation with a vacation manager about her strategy of week-to-week rentals.  We agreed that although that was a good strategy in the past, it might not be what she wants to do for 2009.  As a matter of fact, she already changed her business model to adapt to the changing traveler booking habits.

Here are some noteworthy stats – based on 2007/2008 bookings:

• For 1 Week 25% 
• For 6 days 20%
• For 3/4/5 days 15%

My expectation, and what i am observing across our many vacation managers is that the % of 7 day rentals is decreasing and travelers are looking for more flexibility.  While not being able to afford the full 1 week vacation, they do not want to forgo the vacation completely and a few days is much better than no vacation home at all.

So my advice is, put the old ‘week-to-week’ rental only strategy on the shelf while the economy and travelers are in recovery mode.

Ralf
www.LiveRez.com