Collaborative Vacation Rental Switch Will Offer Unprecedented Online Vacation Rental Shopping
DALLAS, LONDON, (January 5, 2012) – Pegasus Solutions and the Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) have partnered to launch a groundbreaking Vacation Rental Switch (VRS) in the next 150 days. The new interface will improve online vacation rental shopping, while also enabling vacation rental managers to more easily merchandise their properties.
The VRS will first launch with VRMA’s www.DiscoverVacationHomes.com, its official public resource on vacation rental travel. With the VRS, the site will be capable of allowing travelers to find and book professionally managed vacation rental properties from hundreds of the world’s most reputable companies in real-time.
“For travelers seeking and booking vacation rentals online, the millions of diverse choices can certainly seem overwhelming,” explained Steve Trover, president of the VRMA. “Working together with Pegasus, we’re developing a solution that improves the shopping experience by setting new, consistent standards for how vacation rentals are presented and sold online. This also streamlines the process for vacation rental managers themselves, who will be able to automate the distribution of their properties through a single platform for the first time.”
Representing one of the fastest-growing hospitality markets*, the vacation rental industry faces many distribution challenges as managers must navigate disparate standards, methods of rate management, inventory and other content. Distribution channels, for their part, are challenged with providing a consistent shopping experience across a highly fragmented and specialized supplier base.
“As the vacation rental market has grown in popularity, it makes sense for the professionally managed vacation rental segment to adopt the same revenue generating tools hotels have,” added Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. “We’re pleased to have a committed partner in VRMA that is willing to pave this way for all professional vacation rental management companies.”
The VRS will be offered to professional vacation rental management companies, who will also enjoy a facilitated booking process by leveraging Pegasus’ award-winning RezView® NG central reservations system, as well as its UltraSwitch and UltraDirect distribution products. Development of the VRS was announced at the VRMA’s 2011 Annual Conference October 9-12 in Orlando, Florida.
